ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
Risks related to our business and strategy
We expect to continue incurring significant losses, and we may not successfully execute our plan to achieve or sustain profitability.
We have incurred substantial losses since our inception. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, we had net losses of $192.2 million and $181.9 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, our net losses were $3.1 billion, $379.0 million and $602.2 million, respectively. At March 31, 2023, our accumulated deficit was $5.0 billion. We expect to continue to incur significant losses as we invest in our business. We incurred research and development expenses of $62.0 million and $128.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and selling and marketing expenses of $44.5 million and $60.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We incurred research and development expenses of $402.1 million, $416.1 million and $240.6 million in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and selling and marketing expenses of $218.9 million, $225.9 million and $168.3 million in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Since 2021, widespread inflationary pressures were experienced across global economies, resulting in higher costs for our raw materials, non-material costs, labor and other business costs, and significant increases in the future could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, as a result of the integration of acquired businesses, we may be subject to unforeseen or additional expenditures, costs or liabilities, including costs and potential liabilities associated with litigation. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and may continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity, working capital and stock price. Our failure to achieve and sustain profitability in the future would negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
We began operations in January 2010 and commercially launched our initial assay in late November 2013. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in a similar stage of development, particularly companies in new and rapidly evolving markets such as ours. These risks include an evolving and unpredictable business model and the management of growth. To address these risks, we must, among other things, increase our customer base; continue to implement and successfully execute our business and marketing strategy; successfully enter into other strategic collaborations or relationships; obtain access to capital on acceptable terms and effectively utilize that capital; identify, attract, hire, retain, motivate and successfully integrate employees; continue to expand, automate and upgrade our laboratory, technology and data systems; obtain, maintain and expand coverage and reimbursement by healthcare payers; obtain and maintain sufficient payment by partners, institutions and individuals; provide rapid test turnaround times with accurate results at low prices; provide superior customer service; and respond to competitive developments. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in addressing these risks, and the failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Our inability to raise additional capital on acceptable terms in the future may limit our ability to develop and commercialize new tests and expand our operations.
We expect we will need to raise additional capital to finance operations prior to achieving profitability, or should we make additional acquisitions. We may seek to raise additional capital through equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations or licensing arrangements. Additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, the terms of our credit agreement restrict our ability to incur certain indebtedness and issue certain equity securities. If we raise funds by issuing equity securities, dilution to our stockholders would result. Any equity securities issued also may provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. The terms of debt securities issued or borrowings, if available, could impose significant restrictions on our operations.
The incurrence of additional indebtedness or the issuance of certain equity securities could result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability
to incur additional debt or issue additional equity, limitations on our ability to acquire companies or acquire or license intellectual property rights, and other operating restrictions that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. In addition, the issuance of additional equity securities by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. In the event we enter into collaborations or licensing arrangements to raise capital, we may be required to accept unfavorable terms. These agreements may require that we relinquish or license to a third party on unfavorable terms our rights to tests we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves, or reserve certain opportunities for future potential arrangements when we might be able to achieve more favorable terms. If we are not able to secure additional funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more research and development programs, selling and marketing initiatives, or potential acquisitions. In addition, we may have to work with a partner on one or more aspects of our tests or market development programs, which could lower the economic value of those tests or programs to our company.
Our strategic realignment and the associated headcount reduction have and are expected to significantly change our business, result in significant expense, may not result in anticipated savings, and will disrupt our business.
On July 18, 2022, we initiated a strategic realignment of our operations and began implementing programs to reduce operating costs and drive future growth aligned with our core genetic testing and data platform and patient network. This realignment involves a significant reduction in our workforce as well as other steps to streamline our operations, including exiting our distributed products business and significantly decreasing our global footprint outside of the United States to less than a dozen countries or territories. Management currently expects that the strategic realignment will be completed in 2023 and estimates that the total costs incurred may be up to $170 million for associated employee severance and benefits, losses on disposal of long-lived assets, and other restructuring costs including the write-off of prepaid assets related to the exit of certain product offerings, professional service fees and contract exit costs. Actual costs may be higher than we expect. We may not realize, in full or in part, the anticipated benefits, savings and improvements in our cost structure from our realignment 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. For example, our divestiture activities may divert management’s attention from our core business operations, result in significant write-offs and other charges, and have an adverse effect on existing relationships with partners, customers, patients and third-party payers. We have also terminated early, changed the scope of, or may not be able to perform under certain contracts as a result of our realignment efforts, and we could incur significant liability if we do not successfully negotiate wind-down provisions or new terms. For example, we have informed certain contractual counterparties that we will not be able to perform under our companion diagnostic development agreements. Any of these or other events could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may not be able to retain qualified personnel, which may negatively affect our infrastructure and operations or result in a loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. For example, our turnaround times in returning test results increased recently. Further, the realignment may yield unintended consequences, such as attrition beyond our intended workforce reduction, reduced employee morale, loss of customers or partners, and other adverse effects on our business.
If our management is unable to successfully manage this transition and realignment activities, our expenses may be more than expected and may vary significant from period to period 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 rely on highly skilled personnel in a broad array of disciplines and, if we are unable to hire, retain or motivate these individuals, or maintain our corporate culture, we may not be able to maintain the quality of our services or grow effectively.
Our performance, including our research and development programs and laboratory operations, largely depend on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization, including software developers, geneticists, biostatisticians, certified laboratory scientists and other scientific and technical personnel to process and interpret our genetic tests. In addition, we may need to continue to expand our sales force with qualified and experienced personnel. In July 2022, we initiated a strategic realignment of our operations and began implementing cost reduction programs that will ultimately reduce our workforce by approximately 1,000 employees. This reduction in workforce has and will continue to result 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 realignment has and may continue to yield unintended consequences, such as attrition beyond our intended workforce reduction and reduced employee morale. Competition in our industry for qualified employees is intense, and we may not be able to attract or retain qualified personnel in the future due to the competition for qualified personnel among life science and technology businesses as well as universities and public and private research institutions, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, our compensation arrangements, such as our equity award programs, may not always be successful in attracting new employees and retaining and motivating our existing employees. If the value of our common stock declines significantly, and remains depressed, as it has in the recent past, or if we do not have enough shares authorized to grant equity awards to new and existing employees, we may not be able to recruit and retain qualified employees. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience constraints that could adversely affect our ability to scale our business and support our research and development efforts and our clinical laboratory. We believe that our corporate culture fosters innovation, creativity and teamwork. However, as our organization grows and evolves, we may find it increasingly difficult to maintain the beneficial aspects of our corporate culture. This could negatively impact our ability to retain and attract employees and our future success.
If third-party payers, including managed care organizations, private health insurers and government health plans, do not provide adequate reimbursement for our tests or we are unable to comply with their requirements for reimbursement, our commercial success could be negatively affected.
Our ability to increase the number of billable tests and our revenue will depend on our success achieving reimbursement for our tests from third-party payers. Reimbursement by a payer may depend on a number of factors, including a payer’s determination that a test is appropriate, medically necessary, and cost-effective, and/or whether the patient has received prior authorization.
Since each payer makes its own decision as to whether to establish a policy or enter into a contract to cover our tests, as well as the amount it will reimburse for a test, seeking these approvals is a time-consuming and costly process. In addition, the determination by a payer to cover and the amount it will reimburse for our tests will likely be made on an indication-by-indication basis. To date, we have obtained policy-level reimbursement approval or contractual reimbursement for some indications for our germline tests from most of the large commercial third-party payers in the United States, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, provides reimbursement for our multi-gene tests for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer-related disorders as well as colon cancer. We believe that establishing adequate reimbursement from Medicare is an important factor in gaining adoption from healthcare providers. Our claims for reimbursement from third-party payers may be denied upon submission, and we must appeal the claims. The appeals process is time consuming and expensive and may not result in payment. In cases where there is not a contracted rate for reimbursement, there is typically a greater coinsurance or copayment requirement from the patient, which may result in further delay or decreased likelihood of collection.
In cases where we have established reimbursement rates with third-party payers, we face additional challenges in complying with their procedural requirements for reimbursement. These requirements often vary from payer to payer, and we have needed additional time and resources to comply with them. We have also experienced, and may continue to experience, delays in or denials of coverage if we do not adequately comply with these requirements. Our third-party payers have also requested, and in the future may request, audits of the amounts paid to us. We have been required to repay certain amounts to payers as a result of such audits, and we could be adversely affected if we are required to repay other payers for alleged overpayments due to lack of compliance with their reimbursement policies. In addition, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, delays in reimbursement when we transition to being an in-network provider with a payer.
We expect to continue to focus our resources on increasing adoption of, and expanding coverage and reimbursement for, our current tests and any future tests we may develop or acquire. If we fail to expand and maintain broad adoption of, and coverage and reimbursement for, our tests, our ability to generate revenue could be harmed and our future prospects and our business could suffer.
We need to scale our infrastructure in advance of demand for our tests and other services, and our failure to generate sufficient demand for our tests and other services would have a negative impact on our business and our ability to attain profitability.
Our success depends in large part on our ability to extend our market position, to develop new services, to provide customers with high-quality test reports quickly and at a lower price than our competitors, and to achieve sufficient test volume to realize economies of scale. In order to execute our business model, we intend to continue to invest heavily in order to significantly scale our infrastructure, including our testing capacity and information
systems, expand our commercial operations, customer service, billing and systems processes and enhance our internal quality assurance program. We expect that much of this infrastructure growth will be in advance of demand for our tests and other services. Many of our current and future expense levels are fixed. Because the timing and amount of revenue from our services is difficult to forecast, when revenue does not meet our expectations, we may not be able to adjust our spending promptly or reduce our spending to levels commensurate with our revenue. Even if we are able to successfully scale our infrastructure and operations, we cannot assure you that demand for our services will increase at levels consistent with the growth of our infrastructure. If we fail to generate demand commensurate with this growth or if we fail to scale our infrastructure sufficiently in advance of demand to successfully meet such demand, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The global macroeconomic environment could negatively impact our business, our financial position and our results of operations.
Adverse macroeconomic developments, including inflation, slowing growth, rising interest rates, or recession, may adversely affect our business and financial condition. These developments have caused, and could in the future cause, disruptions and volatility in global financial markets and increased rates of default and bankruptcy, and negatively affect business and consumer spending. Adverse economic conditions have and may continue to increase the costs of operating our business, including vendor, supplier and workforce expenses, and may limit our access to capital or may significantly increase our cost of capital. Management continues to evaluate the impact of macroeconomic events, including inflation, on our business and our future plans and intends to take appropriate measures to help alleviate their impact, but there can be no assurance that these efforts will be successful. A weak or declining economy also could strain our suppliers, possibly resulting in supply disruption, or cause our customers to delay making payments for our services. A severe or prolonged economic downturn, such as the global financial crisis, could also reduce our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. Presently, we have customers who have been adversely affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and we have experienced some disruption in our engineering productivity as we have sought to assist contractors in both Ukraine and Russia who have been dislocated or who have chosen to flee Russia. Likewise, the capital and credit markets have been and may continue to be adversely affected by the invasion, the possibility of a wider European or global conflict, and global sanctions imposed in response to the invasion. We cannot predict the future trajectory of these risks, including how the macroeconomic environment will evolve or how it will continue to impact us.
Specifically, difficult macroeconomic conditions, such as cost inflation, decreases in per capita income and level of disposable income, increased and prolonged unemployment or a decline in consumer confidence as a result of COVID-19 or otherwise, as well as limited or significantly reduced points of access of our tests, could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our tests. Under difficult economic conditions, consumers may seek to reduce discretionary spending by forgoing our tests. Decreased demand for our tests, particularly in the United States, has negatively affected and could continue to negatively affect our overall financial performance.
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry could adversely affect our current and projected business operations and our financial condition and results of operations.
Adverse developments that affect financial institutions have in the past and may in the future lead to bank failures and market-wide liquidity problems. For example, Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”), Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital Corp. were each placed into receivership in March 2023. In addition, on May 1, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) seized First Republic Bank and sold its assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Widespread demands for customer withdrawals or other liquidity demands may exceed other banks' access to cash and similarly be placed into receivership or sold. Additionally, it is uncertain whether the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board will provide access to uninsured funds in the future in the event of the closure of other banks or financial institutions, or that they would do so in a timely fashion.
While we have not experienced any material impact to our liquidity or to our current and projected business operations, financial condition or results of operations as a result of these matters, uncertainty remains over liquidity concerns in the broader financial services industry, and our business, our business partners or industry as a whole may be adversely impacted in ways that we cannot predict at this time.
Although we assess our banking relationships as we believe necessary or appropriate, our access to cash in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect the financial institutions with which we have banking relationships. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform obligations
under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets, or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. These factors could also include factors involving financial markets or the financial services industry generally. The results of events or concerns that involve one or more of these factors could include a variety of material and adverse impacts on our current and projected business operations and our financial condition and results of operations. These could include, but may not be limited to, delayed access to deposits or other financial assets or the uninsured loss of deposits or other financial assets; or termination of cash management arrangements and/or delays in accessing or actual loss of funds subject to cash management arrangements.
In addition, widespread investor concerns regarding the U.S. or international financial systems could result in less favorable commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby making it more difficult for us to acquire financing on acceptable terms or at all. Any decline in available funding or access to our cash and liquidity resources could, among other risks, adversely impact our ability to meet our operating expenses, financial obligations or fulfill our other obligations, result in breaches of our financial and/or contractual obligations or result in violations of federal or state wage and hour laws. Any of these impacts, or any other impacts resulting from the factors described above or other related or similar factors not described above, could have material adverse impacts on our liquidity and our current and/or projected business operations and financial condition and results of operations.
We maintain our cash at financial institutions, often in balances that exceed federally insured limits.
We maintain the majority of our cash and cash equivalents in accounts at banking institutions in the United States that we believe are of high quality. Cash held in these accounts often exceed the FDIC insurance limits. If such banking institutions were to fail, we could lose all or a portion of amounts held in excess of such insurance limitations. As noted above, the FDIC recently took control of SVB, Signature Bank, Silvergate Capital Corp and First Republic Bank. While we did have an account at SVB, our deposits were not affected as a result of such change. In the event of failure of any of the financial institutions where we maintain our cash and cash equivalents, there can be no assurance that we would be able to access uninsured funds in a timely manner or at all. Any inability to access or delay in accessing these funds could adversely affect our business and financial position.
We hold a significant amount of marketable securities in U.S. treasury notes and U.S. government agency securities.
At March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we had $171.2 million and $267.5 million, respectively, of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and marketable securities of $217.5 million and $289.6 million, respectively. Our marketable securities are held primarily in the form of U.S. treasury notes and U.S. government agency securities. The current statutory limit on U.S. debt, commonly known as the debt ceiling, of $31.4 trillion was reached in January, requiring the Treasury Department to take accounting measures to continue normally financing U.S. government obligations while avoiding exceeding the debt ceiling. It is expected, however, the U.S. government will exhaust these measures by June 2023. If the debt ceiling is not raised, the U.S. government may not be able to fulfill its funding obligations and there could be significant disruption to all discretionary programs and wider financial and economic repercussions. In addition, the value of our marketable securities could decline.
We face risks related to health epidemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our business has been and could continue to be adversely affected by a widespread outbreak of contagious disease, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Global health concerns relating to COVID-19 have negatively affected the macroeconomic environment, and the pandemic has significantly increased economic volatility and uncertainty. As discussed in our prior and current Form 10-K and 10-Q filings, our operations have been and will continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its related economic challenges. Even after COVID-19 has subsided, we may continue to experience an adverse impact to our business as a result of its global economic impact, including any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future.
There are no comparable recent events which may provide guidance as to the effect of the spread of COVID-19, and, as a result, the ultimate impact of COVID-19 or a similar health epidemic is highly uncertain and subject to change.
We face intense competition, which is likely to intensify further as existing competitors devote additional resources to, and new participants enter, the markets in which we operate. If we cannot compete successfully, we may be unable to increase our revenue or achieve and sustain profitability.
With the development of next generation sequencing, the clinical genetics market is becoming increasingly competitive, and we expect this competition to intensify in the future. We face competition from a variety of sources, including:
•dozens of relatively specialized competitors focused on genetics applied to healthcare, such as Ambry Genetics Corporation, a subsidiary of Realm IDx.; Athena Diagnostics, Inc. and Blueprint Genetics, subsidiaries of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (“Quest Diagnostics”); Baylor-Miraca Genetics Laboratories LLC; Caris Life Sciences, Inc.; Centogene AG; Color Health, Inc.; Connective Tissue Gene Test LLC, a subsidiary of Health Network Laboratories, L.P.; Cooper Surgical, Inc.; Emory Genetics Laboratory, a subsidiary of Eurofins Scientific; Foundation Medicine, Inc., a subsidiary of Roche Holding AG; Fulgent Genetics, Inc.; Guardant Health, Inc.; Integrated Genetics, Sequenom Inc., Correlagen Diagnostics, Inc., and MNG Laboratories, subsidiaries of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (“Labcorp”); Myriad Genetics, Inc.; Natera, Inc. (“Natera”); Perkin-Elmer, Inc.; and Sema4 Genomics; as well as other commercial and academic laboratories;
•a few large, established general testing companies with large market share and significant channel power, such as Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics;
•a large number of clinical laboratories in an academic or healthcare provider setting that perform clinical genetic testing on behalf of their affiliated institutions and often sell and market more broadly; and
•a large number of new entrants into the market for genetic information ranging from informatics and analysis pipeline developers to focused, integrated providers of genetic tools and services for health and wellness including Illumina, Inc. (“Illumina”), which is also one of our suppliers.
Hospitals, academic medical centers and eventually physician practice groups and individual clinicians may also seek to perform at their own facilities the type of genetic testing we would otherwise perform for them. In this regard, continued development of equipment, reagents, and other materials as well as databases and interpretation services may enable broader direct participation in genetic testing and analysis.
Participants in closely related markets such as clinical trial or companion diagnostic testing could converge on offerings that are competitive with the type of tests we perform. Instances where potential competitors are aligned with key suppliers or are themselves suppliers could provide such potential competitors with significant advantages.
In addition, the biotechnology and genetic testing fields are intensely competitive both in terms of service and price, and continue to undergo significant consolidation, permitting larger clinical laboratory service providers to increase cost efficiencies and service levels, resulting in more intense competition.
We also face competition as a result of our 2021 acquisition of Ciitizen Corporation ("Ciitizen"). Ciitizen competes with companies in the patient data platform business, including, among others, PicnicHealth, All Stripes Research Inc., Seqster PDM, Inc., Apple Inc. ("Apple"), Flatiron Health, Inc.
We believe the principal competitive factors in our market are:
•breadth and depth of content;
•quality;
•reliability;
•accessibility of results;
•turnaround time of testing results;
•price and quality of tests;
•coverage and reimbursement arrangements with third-party payers;
•convenience of testing;
•brand recognition of test provider;
•additional value-added services and informatics tools;
•client service; and
•quality of website content.
Many of our competitors and potential competitors have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, greater brand recognition and market penetration, higher margins on their tests, substantially greater financial, technological and research and development resources, selling and marketing capabilities, lobbying efforts, and more experience dealing with third-party payers. As a result, they may be able to respond more quickly to changes in customer requirements, devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their tests than we do, sell their tests at prices designed to win significant levels of market share, or obtain reimbursement from more third-party payers and at higher prices than we do. We may not be able to compete effectively against these organizations. Increased competition and cost-saving initiatives on the part of governmental entities and other third-party payers are likely to result in pricing pressures, which could harm our sales, profitability or ability to gain market share. In addition, competitors may be acquired by, receive investments from or enter into other commercial relationships with larger, well-established and well-financed companies as use of next generation sequencing for clinical diagnosis and preventative care increases. Certain of our competitors may be able to secure key inputs from vendors on more favorable terms, devote greater resources to marketing and promotional campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies and devote substantially more resources to website and systems development than we can. In the past, our competitors have been successful in recruiting our employees and may continue to recruit qualified employees from us. In addition, companies or governments that control access to genetic testing through umbrella contracts or regional preferences could promote our competitors or prevent us from performing certain services. Some of our competitors have obtained approval or clearance for certain of their tests from the FDA. If payers decide to reimburse only for tests that are FDA-approved or FDA-cleared, or if they are more likely to reimburse for such tests, we may not be able to compete effectively unless we obtain similar approval or clearance for our tests. If we are unable to compete successfully against current and future competitors, we may be unable to increase market acceptance and sales of our tests, which could prevent us from increasing our revenue or achieving profitability and could cause our stock price to decline.
The market for patient data software is competitive, and our business will be adversely affected if we are unable to successfully compete.
The market for patient data software is competitive. Other than product innovation and access to healthcare data, there are no substantial barriers to entry in this market, and established or new entities may enter this market in the future. While software internally developed by enterprises represents indirect competition, we also compete directly with packaged application software vendors. In addition, we face actual or potential competition from larger companies such as Apple, and similar companies that may attempt to sell customer engagement software to their installed base.
We believe competition will continue to be substantial as current competitors increase the sophistication of their offerings and as new participants enter the market. Many of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, broader brand recognition, and significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources. With more established and better-financed competitors, these companies may be able to undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies, and make more attractive offers to businesses to induce them to use their products or services. If we are unable to compete successfully, our business will be adversely affected.
Security breaches, privacy issues, loss of data and other incidents could compromise sensitive or personal information related to our business or prevent us from accessing critical information and expose us to liability, which could adversely affect our business and our reputation.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including protected health information, or PHI, personally identifiable information, genetic information, credit card information, intellectual property and proprietary business information owned or controlled by ourselves or our customers, payers and other parties. We manage and maintain our applications and data utilizing a combination of on-site systems, managed data center systems and cloud-based systems. We also communicate PHI and other sensitive patient data through our various customer tools and platforms. In addition to storing and transmitting sensitive data that is subject to multiple legal protections, these applications and data encompass a wide variety of business-critical information including research and development information, commercial information, and business and financial information. We face a number of risks relative to protecting this critical information, including loss of access risk, inappropriate disclosure, inappropriate modification, and the risk of our being unable to adequately monitor and modify our controls over our critical information. Any technical problems that may arise in connection with our data and
systems, including those that are hosted by third-party providers, could result in interruptions to our business and operations or exposure to security vulnerabilities. These types of problems may be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, intentional or accidental human actions or omissions, software errors, malware, viruses, security attacks, ransomware fraud, spikes in customer usage and denial of service issues. There continues to be a significant level of ransomware and cyber security attacks related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which could result in substantial harm to internal systems necessary for running our critical operations and revenue generating services.
The secure processing, storage, maintenance and transmission of this critical information are vital to our operations and business strategy, and we devote significant resources to protecting such information. Although we take what we believe to be reasonable and appropriate measures, including a formal, dedicated enterprise security program, to protect sensitive information from various compromises (including unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification or lack of availability), our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or viruses or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions. For example, we have been subject to phishing incidents in the past, and we may experience additional incidents in the future. Any such breach or interruption could compromise our networks, and the information stored therein could be accessed by unauthorized parties, altered, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen.
Unauthorized access, loss or dissemination could also disrupt our operations including our ability to conduct our analyses, provide test results, bill payers or patients, process claims and appeals, provide customer assistance, conduct research and development activities, collect, process and prepare company financial information, provide information about our tests and other patient and physician education and outreach efforts through our website, and manage the administrative aspects of our business.
In addition to data security risks, we face privacy risks. Should we actually violate, or be perceived to have violated, any privacy commitments we make to patients or consumers, we could be subject to a complaint from an affected individual or interested privacy regulator, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the FTC, a state Attorney General, an EU Member State Data Protection Authority, or a data protection authority in another international jurisdiction. This risk is heightened given the sensitivity of the data we collect.
Any security compromise that causes an apparent privacy violation could also result in legal claims or proceedings and liability and penalties under federal, state, foreign, or multinational laws that regulate the privacy, security, or breach of personal information, such as but not limited to HIPAA, HITECH, the FTC Act, state UDAP data security and data breach notification laws, the GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act of 2018.
There has been unprecedented activity in the development of data protection regulation around the world. As a result, the interpretation and application of consumer, health-related and data protection laws in the United States, Europe and elsewhere are often uncertain, contradictory and in flux. The GDPR took effect in May 2018. The GDPR applies to any entity established in the EU as well as extraterritorially to any entity outside the EU that offers goods or services to, or monitors the behavior of, individuals who are located in the EU. Among other requirements, the GDPR imposes strict rules on controllers and processors of personal data, including enhanced protections for “special categories” of personal data, which includes sensitive information such as health and genetic information of data subjects. Maximum penalties for violations of the GDPR are capped at 20.0 million euros or 4% of an organization’s annual global revenue, whichever is greater.
Additionally, the implementation of GDPR has led other jurisdictions to either amend or propose legislation to amend their existing data privacy and cybersecurity laws to resemble the requirements of GDPR. For example, in June 2018, California adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, or the CCPA. The CCPA, is a comprehensive consumer privacy law that took effect in January 2020 and was further amended as of January 1, 2023. The CCPA regulates how certain for-profit businesses that meet one or more CCPA applicability thresholds collect, use, and disclose the personal information of natural persons who reside in California. The CCPA does not apply to personal information that is PHI under HIPAA. The CCPA also does not apply to a HIPAA-regulated entity to the extent that the entity maintains patient information in the same manner as PHI. In addition, de-identified data as defined under HIPAA is also exempt from the CCPA. Accordingly, we do not have CCPA compliance obligations with respect to most genetic testing and patient information we collect and process. However, we are required to comply with the CCPA insofar as we collect other categories of California consumers’ personal information.
Several other states in the United States have either recently enacted or are currently considering similar consumer data privacy laws, which could impact our operations if enacted. Some observers have noted that the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States, which could increase our potential liability and adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
It is possible the GDPR, CCPA and other emerging United States and international data protection laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices. If so, this could result in government-imposed fines or orders requiring that we change our practices, which could adversely affect our business. In addition, these privacy laws and regulations may differ from country to country and state to state, and our obligations under these laws and regulations vary based on the nature of our activities in the particular jurisdiction, such as whether we collect samples from individuals in the local jurisdiction, perform testing in the local jurisdiction, or process personal information regarding employees or other individuals in the local jurisdiction. Complying with these various laws and regulations could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices and compliance procedures in a manner adverse to our business. We can provide no assurance that we are or will remain in compliance with diverse privacy and data security requirements in all of the jurisdictions in which we do business. Failure to comply with privacy and data security requirements could result in a variety of consequences, including civil or criminal penalties, litigation, or damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we are not able to continue to generate substantial demand for our tests, our commercial success will be negatively affected.
Our business model assumes that we will be able to generate significant test volume, and we may not succeed in continuing to drive adoption of our tests to achieve sufficient volumes. Inasmuch as detailed genetic data from broad-based testing panels such as our tests have only recently become available at relatively affordable prices, the continued pace and degree of clinical acceptance of the utility of such testing is uncertain. Specifically, it is uncertain how much genetic data will be accepted as necessary or useful, as well as how detailed that data should be, particularly since medical practitioners may have become accustomed to genetic testing that is specific to one or a few genes. Given the substantial amount of additional information available from a broad-based testing panel such as ours, there may be distrust as to the reliability of such information when compared with more limited and focused genetic tests. To generate further demand for our tests, we will need to continue to make clinicians aware of the benefits of our tests, including the price, the breadth of our testing options, and the benefits of having additional genetic data available from which to make treatment decisions. A lack of or delay in clinical acceptance of broad-based panels such as our tests would negatively impact sales and market acceptance of our tests and limit our revenue growth and potential profitability. Genetic testing can be expensive and many potential customers may be sensitive to pricing. In addition, potential customers may not adopt our tests if adequate reimbursement is not available, or if we are not able to maintain low prices relative to our competitors. Also, we may not be successful in increasing demand for our tests through our direct channel, in which we facilitate the ordering of our genetic tests by consumers through an online network of physicians.
If we are not able to generate demand for our tests at sufficient volume, or if it takes significantly more time to generate this demand than we anticipate, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially harmed.
We have devoted a portion of our resources to research and development activities related to our Personalized Cancer Monitoring, or PCM, service for cancer monitoring. The demand for this service is unproven, and we may not be successful in achieving market awareness and demand for these services through our sales and marketing operations.
Our success will depend on our ability to use rapidly changing genetic data to interpret test results accurately and consistently, and our failure to do so would have an adverse effect on our operating results and business, harm our reputation and could result in substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.
Our success depends on our ability to provide reliable, high-quality tests that incorporate rapidly evolving information about the role of genes and gene variants in disease and clinically relevant outcomes associated with those variants. Errors, such as failure to detect genomic variants with high accuracy, or mistakes, such as failure to identify, or incompletely or incorrectly identifying, gene variants or their significance, could have a significant adverse impact on our business.
Hundreds of genes can be implicated in some disorders, and overlapping networks of genes and symptoms can be implicated in multiple conditions. As a result, a substantial amount of judgment is required in order to interpret testing results for an individual patient and to develop an appropriate patient report. We classify variants in accordance with published guidelines as benign, likely benign, variants of uncertain significance, likely pathogenic or pathogenic, and these guidelines are subject to change. In addition, it is our practice to offer support to clinicians and geneticists ordering our tests regarding which genes or panels to order as well as interpretation of genetic
variants. We also rely on clinicians to interpret what we report and to incorporate specific information about an individual patient into the physician’s treatment decision.
The marketing, sale and use of our genetic tests could subject us to liability for errors in, misunderstandings of, or inappropriate reliance on, information we provide to clinicians, geneticists or patients, and has led and may lead to claims against us if someone were to allege that a test failed to perform as it was designed, if we failed to correctly interpret the test results, if we failed to update the test results due to a reclassification of the variants according to new published guidelines, or if the ordering physician were to misinterpret test results or improperly rely on them when making a clinical decision. In addition, our entry into the reproductive health and pharmacogenetic testing markets expose us to increased liability. A product liability or professional liability claim could result in substantial damages and be costly and time-consuming for us to defend. Although we maintain liability insurance, including for errors and omissions, we cannot assure you that such insurance would fully protect us from the financial impact of defending against these types of claims or any judgments, fines or settlement costs arising out of any such claims. Any liability claim, including an errors and omissions liability claim, brought against us, with or without merit, could increase our insurance rates or prevent us from securing insurance coverage in the future. Additionally, any liability lawsuit could cause injury to our reputation or cause us to suspend sales of our tests. The occurrence of any of these events could have an adverse effect on our reputation and results of operations.
Our industry is subject to rapidly changing technology and new and increasing amounts of scientific data related to genes and genetic variants and their role in disease. Our failure to develop tests to keep pace with these changes could make us obsolete.
In recent years, there have been numerous advances in methods used to analyze very large amounts of genomic information and the role of genetics and gene variants in disease and treatment therapies. Our industry has and will continue to be characterized by rapid technological change, increasingly larger amounts of data, frequent new testing service introductions and evolving industry standards, all of which could make our tests obsolete. Our future success will also depend on our ability to keep pace with the evolving needs of our customers on a timely and cost-effective basis and to pursue new market opportunities that develop as a result of technological and scientific advances. Our tests could become obsolete and our business adversely affected unless we continually update our offerings to reflect new scientific knowledge about genes and genetic variations and their role in diseases and treatment therapies.
Our success will depend in part on our ability to generate sales using our internal sales team and through alternative marketing strategies.
We may not be able to market or sell our current tests and any future tests we may develop or acquire effectively enough to drive demand sufficient to support our planned growth. We currently sell our tests primarily through our internal sales force. Historically, our sales efforts have been focused primarily on hereditary cancer and more recently on reproductive health. Our efforts to sell our tests to clinicians and patients outside of oncology may not be successful, or may be difficult to do successfully without significant additional selling and marketing efforts and expense. In addition to the efforts of our sales force, future sales will depend in large part on our ability to develop and substantially expand awareness of our company and our tests through alternative strategies including through education of key opinion leaders, through social media-related and online outreach, education and marketing efforts, and through focused channel partner strategies designed to drive demand for our tests. We also may continue to spend on consumer advertising in connection with our direct channel to consumers, which could be costly. We have limited experience implementing these types of marketing efforts. We may not be able to drive sufficient levels of revenue using these sales and marketing methods and strategies necessary to support our planned growth, and our failure to do so could limit our revenue and potential profitability.
We also use a limited number of distributors to assist internationally with sales, logistics, education and customer support. Sales practices utilized by our distributors that are locally acceptable may not comply with sales practices standards required under U.S. laws that apply to us, which could create additional compliance risk. If our sales and marketing efforts are not successful outside the United States, we may not achieve significant market acceptance for our tests outside the United States, which could adversely impact our business.
Impairment in the value of our intangible assets has and may in the future have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
We record intangible assets at fair value upon the acquisition of a business. Indefinite-lived intangible assets are evaluated for impairment annually, or more frequently if conditions warrant, by comparing the carrying value of a
reporting unit to its estimated fair value. Intangible assets with definite lives are reviewed for impairment when events or circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. Declines in operating results, divestitures, sustained market declines and other factors that impact the fair value of our reporting unit has and may in the future result in an impairment of intangible assets and, in turn, a charge to net income.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers or, in some cases, sole suppliers, for some of our laboratory instruments, materials and services, and we may not be able to find replacements or immediately transition to alternative suppliers.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers, or, in some cases, sole suppliers, including Illumina, Integrated DNA Technologies Incorporated, QIAGEN N.V., Roche Holdings Ltd. and Twist Bioscience Corporation for certain laboratory substances used in the chemical reactions incorporated into our processes, which we refer to as reagents, as well as sequencers and other equipment and materials which we use in our laboratory operations. We do not have short- or long-term agreements with most of our suppliers, and our suppliers could cease supplying these materials and equipment at any time, or fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of materials or materials that meet our specifications. Our laboratory operations could be interrupted if we encounter delays or difficulties in securing these reagents, sequencers or other equipment or materials, and if we cannot obtain an acceptable substitute. Any such interruption could significantly affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation. We rely on Illumina as the sole supplier of next generation sequencers and associated reagents and as the sole provider of maintenance and repair services for these sequencers. Any disruption in Illumina’s operations could impact our supply chain and laboratory operations as well as our ability to conduct our tests, and it could take a substantial amount of time to integrate replacement equipment into our laboratory operations.
We believe that there are only a few other manufacturers that are currently capable of supplying and servicing the equipment necessary for our laboratory operations, including sequencers and various associated reagents. The use of equipment or materials provided by these replacement suppliers would require us to alter our laboratory operations. Transitioning to a new supplier would be time consuming and expensive, may result in interruptions in our laboratory operations, could affect the performance specifications of our laboratory operations or could require that we revalidate our tests. We cannot assure you that we will be able to secure alternative equipment, reagents and other materials, and bring such equipment, reagents and materials online and revalidate them without experiencing interruptions in our workflow. In the case of an alternative supplier for Illumina, we cannot assure you that replacement sequencers and associated reagents will be available or will meet our quality control and performance requirements for our laboratory operations. If we encounter delays or difficulties in securing, reconfiguring or revalidating the equipment and reagents we require for our tests, our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation could be adversely affected.
We depend on our information technology systems, and any failure of these systems could harm our business.
We depend on information technology and telecommunications systems for significant elements of our operations, including our laboratory information management system, our bioinformatics analytical software systems, our database of information relating to genetic variations and their role in disease process and drug metabolism, our patient data platform, our clinical report optimization systems, our customer-facing web-based software, our customer reporting, and our various customer tools and platforms. We have installed, and expect to expand, a number of enterprise software systems that affect a broad range of business processes and functional areas, including for example, systems handling human resources, financial controls and reporting, customer relationship management, regulatory compliance and other infrastructure operations. In addition, we intend to extend the capabilities of both our preventative and detective security controls by augmenting the monitoring and alerting functions, the network design, and the automatic countermeasure operations of our technical systems. These information technology and telecommunications systems support a variety of functions, including laboratory operations, test validation, sample tracking, quality control, customer service support, billing and reimbursement, research and development activities, scientific and medical curation, and general administrative activities, including financial reporting.
Information technology and telecommunications systems are vulnerable to damage from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures, malicious human acts and natural disasters. Moreover, despite network security and back-up measures, some of our servers are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses and similar disruptive problems. Despite the precautionary measures we have taken to prevent unanticipated problems that could affect our information technology and telecommunications systems, failures or significant downtime of our information technology or telecommunications systems or those used by our third-party service providers could prevent us from conducting tests, preparing and providing reports to
clinicians, billing payers, processing reimbursement appeals, handling physician or patient inquiries, conducting research and development activities, and managing the administrative and financial aspects of our business. Any disruption or loss of information technology or telecommunications systems on which critical aspects of our operations depend could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Technical problems have arisen, and may arise in the future, in connection with our data and systems, including those that are hosted by third-party providers, which have in the past and may in the future result in interruptions in our business and operations. These types of problems may be caused by a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, viruses, security attacks, fraud, spikes in customer usage and denial of service issues. From time to time, large third-party web hosting providers have experienced outages or other problems that have resulted in their systems being offline and inaccessible. Such outages could materially impact our business and operations.
If our laboratories or other facilities become inoperable due to disasters, health epidemics or for any other reasons, we will be unable to perform our tests and our business will be harmed.
We perform all of our tests at our production facilities in San Francisco, California, in Iselin, New Jersey, and in Seattle, Washington. We also plan to open a new laboratory and production facility in Morrisville, North Carolina. Our laboratories and the equipment we use to perform our tests would be costly to replace and could require substantial lead time to replace and qualify for use. Our laboratories may be harmed or rendered inoperable or inaccessible due to natural or man-made disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, fire and power outages, or by health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which may render it difficult or impossible for us to perform our tests for some period of time. This risk of natural disaster is especially high for us since we perform the majority of our tests at our San Francisco laboratory, which is located in an active seismic region, and we do not have a redundant facility to perform the same tests in the event our San Francisco laboratory is inoperable. The inability to perform our tests or the backlog that could develop if our laboratories are inoperable for even a short period of time may result in the loss of customers or harm our reputation. If a natural disaster were to damage one of our facilities significantly or if other events were to cause our operations to fail or be significantly curtailed, we may be unable to provide our services, or develop new services. Although we maintain insurance for damage to our property and the disruption of our business, this insurance may not cover all of our potential losses and may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. The inability to open the planned facility in North Carolina, delays in opening such facility or failure to obtain required permits, licenses, or certifications could result in increased costs and prevent us from realizing the intended benefits of the new facility.
Development of new tests is a complex process, and we may be unable to commercialize new tests on a timely basis, or at all.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to develop and commercialize new tests on a timely basis. Before we can commercialize any new tests, we will need to expend significant funds in order to:
•conduct research and development;
•further develop and scale our laboratory processes; and
•further develop and scale our infrastructure to be able to analyze increasingly larger and more diverse amounts of data.
Our testing service development process involves risk, and development efforts may fail for many reasons, including:
•failure of any test to perform as expected;
•lack of validation or reference data; or
•failure to demonstrate utility of a test.
As we develop tests, we will have to make significant investments in development, marketing and selling resources. In addition, competitors may develop and commercialize competing tests faster than we are able to do so.
Ethical, legal and social concerns related to the use of genetic information could reduce demand for our tests.
Genetic testing has raised ethical, legal and social issues regarding privacy rights and the appropriate uses of the resulting information. Governmental authorities could, for social or other purposes, limit or regulate the use of
genetic information or genetic testing or prohibit testing for genetic predisposition to certain conditions, particularly for those that have no known cure. Similarly, these concerns may lead patients to refuse to use, or clinicians to be reluctant to order, genomic tests even if permissible. These and other ethical, legal and social concerns may limit market acceptance of our tests or reduce the potential markets for our tests, either of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We have acquired and may continue to acquire businesses or assets, form joint ventures or make investments in other companies or technologies that could harm our operating results, dilute our stockholders’ ownership, or cause us to incur debt or significant expense.
As part of our business strategy, we have pursued and expect to continue to evaluate acquisitions of complementary businesses or assets, as well as technology licensing arrangements. We also may pursue strategic alliances that leverage our core technology and industry experience to expand our offerings or distribution, or make investments in other companies. Since 2017, we have acquired numerous companies.
With respect to our acquired businesses and any acquisitions we may make in the future, we may not be able to integrate these businesses successfully into our existing business, and we could assume unknown or contingent liabilities. Acquisitions by us have, and may in the future, result in significant write-offs or the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, any of which could harm our operating results. Furthermore, as we experienced in the past, the loss of customers, payers, partners, suppliers or key management following the completion of any acquisitions by us could harm our business. In addition, as part of our strategic realignment, we have and may continue to divest assets acquired in previous acquisitions at substantial discounts to the price we paid, or without realizing the benefits we intended at the time of the acquisition. Changes in services, sources of revenue, and branding or rebranding initiatives may involve substantial costs and may not be favorably received by customers, resulting in an adverse impact on our financial results, financial condition and stock price. Integration of an acquired company or business also may require management’s time and resources that otherwise would be available for ongoing development of our existing business. We may also need to divert cash from other uses to fund these integration activities and these new businesses. Ultimately, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, technology license, strategic alliance, joint venture or investment, or these benefits may take longer to realize than we expected.
In connection with certain of our completed acquisitions, we have agreed to pay cash and/or stock consideration that is contingent upon the achievement of specified objectives, such as development objectives, regulatory submissions, regulatory approvals and revenue related to certain products. As of the date of the applicable acquisition, we record a contingent liability representing the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration we expect to pay. On a quarterly basis, we reassess these obligations and, in the event our estimate of the fair value of the contingent consideration changes, we record increases or decreases in the fair value as an adjustment to operating expense, which could have a material impact on our results of operations. In addition, in connection with our strategic realignment, we have recently divested or sublicensed certain product offerings, technologies and assets that we had acquired in prior years.
To finance any acquisitions or investments, we may raise additional funds, which could adversely affect our existing stockholders and our business. If the price of our common stock is low or volatile, we may not be able to acquire other companies for stock. In addition, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution as a result of additional securities we may issue for acquisitions. Open market sales of substantial amounts of our common stock issued to stockholders of companies we acquire could also depress our stock price. Additional funds may not be available on terms that are favorable to us, or at all.
Our international business exposes us to business, regulatory, political, operational, financial and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.
Doing business internationally involves a number of risks, including:
•multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations such as privacy regulations, tax laws, export and import restrictions, employment laws, regulatory requirements, and other governmental approvals, permits and licenses;
•failure by us or our distributors to obtain regulatory approvals for the use of our tests in various countries;
•complexities and difficulties in obtaining protection and enforcing our intellectual property;
•difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
•complexities associated with managing multiple payer reimbursement regimes, government payers or patient self-pay systems;
•logistics and regulations associated with shipping samples, including infrastructure conditions, customs and transportation delays;
•limits on our ability to penetrate international markets if we do not to conduct our tests locally;
•natural disasters and outbreaks of disease, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
•political and economic instability, including wars such as the current conflict in Ukraine, terrorism and political unrest, boycotts, curtailment of trade, government sanctions and other business restrictions;
•inflationary pressures, such as those the global market is currently experiencing, which have and may increase costs for materials, supplies, and services; and
•regulatory and compliance risks that relate to maintaining accurate information and control over activities that may fall within the purview of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, its books and records provisions, or its anti-bribery provisions.
Any of these factors could significantly harm our international operations and, consequently, our revenue and results of operations.
In addition, applicable export or import laws and regulations such as prohibitions on the export of samples imposed by countries outside of the United States, or international privacy or data restrictions that are different or more stringent than those of the United States, may require that we build additional laboratories or engage in joint ventures or other business partnerships in order to offer our tests internationally in the future. Any such restrictions would impair our ability to offer our tests in such countries and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
As of March 31, 2023, we have substantial deferred tax assets consisting of federal and state net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. At December 31, 2022, our total gross deferred tax assets were $795.5 million. Due to our lack of earnings history and uncertainties surrounding our ability to generate future taxable income, our net deferred tax assets have been fully offset by a valuation allowance. Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Internal Revenue Code, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its future taxable income may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” occurs if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5% stockholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Some of our prior acquisitions have resulted in an ownership change, and we may experience ownership changes in the future. Our existing NOLs and tax credit carryovers may be subject to limitations arising from previous ownership changes, and if we undergo one or more ownership changes in connection with completed acquisitions, or other future transactions in our stock, our ability to utilize NOLs and tax credit carryovers could be further limited by Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. The annual limitation may result in the expiration of certain net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards before their utilization. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limits the deduction for NOLs to 80% of current year taxable income and eliminates NOL carrybacks. Also, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.
Risks related to our indebtedness
The terms of our convertible senior secured notes will require us to meet certain operating and financial covenants and place restrictions on our operating and financial flexibility. If we raise additional capital through debt financing, the terms of any new debt could further restrict our ability to operate our business.
In February 2023, we issued $305.3 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.50% convertible senior secured notes due 2028, or the convertible senior secured notes. The convertible senior secured notes are secured
by a first priority lien on substantially all of our and our subsidiaries’ assets (including our intellectual property) and are guaranteed by our subsidiaries, in each case, excluding certain excluded assets and immaterial subsidiaries.
The indenture governing our convertible senior secured notes restricts our ability to, among other restrictions, pursue certain dispositions, mergers or acquisitions, encumber our intellectual property, incur indebtedness or liens, pay dividends or make other payments in respect of our capital stock, make investments and engage in certain other business transactions. In addition, the indenture contains financial covenants that will require us to maintain revenue in the prior four quarters of not less than $250.0 million and, starting with the quarter ending March 31, 2025, a minimum liquidity of at least 15% of the amount of our secured indebtedness then outstanding. If we fail to comply with these or any of the other covenants under the indenture and are unable to obtain a waiver or amendment, the holders of the convertible senior secured notes may, among other things, declare all of the convertible senior secured notes due and payable and exercise rights with respect to collateral securing those notes, each of which could significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects and could cause the price of our common stock to decline.
If we raise any additional debt financing, the terms of such additional debt could further restrict our operating and financial flexibility.
If our stockholders do not approve the conversion of the convertible senior secured notes, we may not have the cash necessary to settle such notes in cash upon conversion.
Our convertible senior secured notes will be convertible at any time at the option of the holders thereof, provided that the holders are prohibited from converting such notes into shares of common stock in excess of the limitations imposed by the rules of the NYSE prior to such time that we obtain stockholder approval for the issuance of such excess shares of common stock. In the absence of stockholder approval, we will be required, after the grace period specified under the indenture with respect to the convertible senior secured notes, to settle any conversion of the excess shares in cash at the then current fair market value, if the holders elect to convert. If we are unable to obtain the requisite stockholder approval and holders convert the convertible senior secured notes, we may not have sufficient cash to satisfy our obligations to the converting holders.
We have a large amount of debt, servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash, we may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to service our debt, and we may need to refinance all or a significant portion of our debt.
As of March 31, 2023, we had outstanding $44.3 million aggregate principal amount of our convertible senior notes due 2024, or the 2024 notes, $1,150.0 million aggregate principal amount of our existing convertible senior notes due 2028, or the unsecured 2028 notes, and $305.3 million aggregate principal amount of our new convertible senior secured notes due 2028. We refer to the 2024 notes and the unsecured 2028 notes as the unsecured convertible notes, and we refer to the unsecured convertible notes and the convertible senior secured notes collectively as the outstanding convertible notes.
Our substantial leverage could have significant negative consequences for our future operations, including:
•increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
•limiting our ability to obtain additional financial for working capital, acquisitions, research and development expenditures, and general corporate purposes;
•requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of our cash flow or our existing cash to service our indebtedness, thereby reducing the amount of our cash available for other purposes;
•limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we compete; or
•placing us at a possible competitive disadvantage compared to less leveraged competitors and competitors that have better access to capital resources.
Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance our indebtedness depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt, including paying off the principal when due, and make necessary capital expenditures. The respective conversion prices of our unsecured convertible notes are significantly higher than the prevailing market prices for our common stock, and our stock price would have to increase significantly in order for holders to convert our notes prior to maturity. If we are unable to generate cash flow necessary to service or repay our debt at maturity,
we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, including, but not limited to, selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time, and the terms of any such refinancing may be less favorable to us than the terms of our current indebtedness. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations.
We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to repurchase our outstanding convertible notes upon a fundamental change or major transaction, as applicable, and the indenture governing our current senior secured notes contains, and our future debt may contain, limitations on our ability to pay cash to repurchase our outstanding convertible notes and other debt.
Holders of our outstanding unsecured convertible notes have the right to require us to repurchase all or any portion of their notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, as defined in the respective indentures governing our outstanding unsecured convertible notes, at a fundamental change repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. The repurchase price for our unsecured 2028 notes will also include unpaid interest on such notes to the maturity date. Similarly, holders of our convertible senior secured notes will have the right to require us to repurchase all or any portion of their notes upon the occurrence of a major transaction, as defined in the indenture governing our convertible senior secured notes, for an amount equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest and a make whole amount as set forth in such indenture. The indenture governing our convertible senior secured notes will limit our ability to pay cash to repurchase our unsecured convertible notes, and we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make repurchases of notes surrendered for repurchase. In addition, our ability to repurchase our outstanding convertible notes may be limited by law, by regulatory authority or by agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase notes at a time when the repurchase is required by the respective indentures governing the notes would constitute a default under the relevant indentures. A default under an indenture or the occurrence of the fundamental change or major transaction itself could also lead to a default under the indentures governing our other convertible notes or any agreements governing our future indebtedness. If the repayment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and to repay or repurchase our convertible notes.
The conditional conversion feature of our convertible senior notes due 2024, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In the event the conditional conversion feature of our convertible senior notes due 2024 is triggered, holders of such notes will be entitled to convert the notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
Risks related to government regulation
If the FDA regulates the tests we currently offer as LDTs as medical devices, we could incur substantial costs and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We provide many of our tests as laboratory-developed tests, or LDTs. CMS and certain state agencies regulate the performance of LDTs (as authorized by CLIA, and state law, respectively).
Historically, the FDA has exercised enforcement discretion with respect to most LDTs and has not required laboratories that furnish LDTs to comply with the agency’s requirements for medical devices (e.g., establishment registration, device listing, quality system regulations, premarket clearance or premarket approval, and post-market controls). See Part I, Item 1. of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, under the heading "Regulation—Federal oversight of laboratory developed tests" for a description of applicable federal regulations, which is incorporated by reference herein.
If the FDA ultimately regulates certain LDTs whether via individualized enforcement action, more generally as outlined in final guidance or final regulation, or as instructed by Congress, our tests may be subject to certain additional regulatory requirements. Complying with the FDA’s requirements can be expensive, time-consuming and subject us to significant or unanticipated delays. Insofar as we may be required to obtain premarket clearance or approval to perform or continue performing an LDT, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain such authorization. Even if we obtain regulatory clearance or approval where required, such authorization may not be for the intended uses that we believe are commercially attractive or are critical to the commercial success of our tests. As a result, the application of the FDA’s requirements to our tests could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Failure to comply with applicable FDA regulatory requirements may trigger a range of enforcement actions by the FDA including warning letters, civil monetary penalties, injunctions, criminal prosecution, recall or seizure, operating restrictions, partial suspension or total shutdown of operations, and denial of or challenges to applications for clearance or approval, as well as significant adverse publicity.
If we fail to comply with federal, state and foreign laboratory licensing requirements, we could lose the ability to perform our tests or experience disruptions to our business.
We are subject to CLIA, a federal law that regulates clinical laboratories that perform testing on specimens derived from humans for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any disease or impairment of, or the assessment of health of, human beings. CLIA regulations establish specific requirements and standards with respect to personnel qualifications, facility administration, proficiency testing, quality control, quality assurance and inspections. CLIA certification is also required in order for us to be eligible to bill state and federal healthcare programs, as well as many private third-party payers, for our tests.
We are also required to maintain certain in-state and out-of-state laboratory licenses and approvals to conduct testing. For more information about our federal (CLIA) and state laboratory licenses and approvals, please see Part I, Item 1. of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, under the headings "Regulation—Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988, or CLIA" and “Regulation—State laboratory licensure requirements,” which are incorporated by reference herein. We may also be subject to regulation in foreign jurisdictions as we seek to expand international utilization of our tests or such jurisdictions adopt new licensure requirements, which may require review of our tests in order to offer them or may have other limitations such as restrictions on the transport of samples necessary for us to perform our tests that may limit our ability to make our tests available outside of the United States. Complying with licensure requirements in new jurisdictions may be expensive, time-consuming, and subject us to significant and unanticipated delays.
In order to eventually market certain of our current or future products and services in any particular foreign jurisdiction, we must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis regarding quality, safety, performance and efficacy. In addition, clinical trials or clinical investigations conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory clearance, authorization or approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory clearance, authorization or approval in any other country. For example, the performance characteristics of certain of our products and services may need to be validated separately in specific ethnic and genetic populations. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods.
Seeking foreign regulatory clearance, authorization or approval could result in difficulties and costs for us and our collaborators and require additional preclinical studies, clinical trials or clinical investigations which could be costly and time-consuming. Regulatory requirements and ethical approval obligations can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of certain of our products and services in those countries. The foreign regulatory clearance, authorization or approval process involves all of the risks and uncertainties associated with FDA clearance, authorization or approval. If we or our collaborators fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required regulatory clearances, authorizations or approvals in international markets, or if those approvals are delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our products and services will be unrealized.
Failure to comply with applicable clinical laboratory licensure requirements may result in a range of enforcement actions, including license suspension, limitation, or revocation, directed plan of action, onsite monitoring, civil monetary penalties, criminal sanctions, cancellation of the laboratory’s approval to receive Medicare and Medicaid payment for its services, exclusion from some healthcare systems' programs, as well as significant adverse publicity. Any sanction imposed under CLIA, its implementing regulations, or state or foreign laws or regulations governing clinical laboratory licensure, or our failure to renew our CLIA certifications, a state or foreign
license, or accreditation, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even if we were able to bring our laboratory back into compliance, we could incur significant expenses and potentially lose revenue in doing so.
The College of American Pathologists, or CAP, maintains a clinical laboratory accreditation program. CAP asserts that its program is “designed to go well beyond regulatory compliance” and helps laboratories achieve the highest standards of excellence to positively impact patient care. While not required to operate a CLIA-certified laboratory, many private insurers require CAP accreditation as a condition to contracting with clinical laboratories to cover their tests. In addition, some countries outside the United States require CAP accreditation as a condition to permitting clinical laboratories to test samples taken from their citizens. We have CAP accreditations for our laboratories. Failure to maintain CAP accreditation could have a material adverse effect on the sales of our tests and the results of our operations.
Complying with numerous statutes and regulations pertaining to our business is an expensive and time-consuming process, and any failure to comply could result in substantial penalties.
Our operations are subject to other extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations, all of which are subject to change. These laws and regulations currently include, among others:
•HIPAA and HITECH, which set forth comprehensive federal standards with respect to the privacy and security of protected health information, breach notification requirements, and requirements for the use of certain standardized electronic transactions;
•the GDPR, which imposes strict privacy and security requirements on controllers and processors of personal data, including enhanced protections for “special categories” of personal data, including sensitive information such as health and genetic information of data subjects;
•the CCPA and other, similar state consumer privacy laws, which, among other things, regulate how subject businesses may collect, use, and disclose the personal information of consumers in the regulated state, afford rights to consumers that they may exercise against businesses that collect their information, and require implementation of reasonable security measures to safeguard personal information of consumers;
•the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce or in return for the referral of an individual, for the furnishing of or arrangement for the furnishing of any item or service for which payment may be made in whole or in part by a federal healthcare program, or the purchasing, leasing, ordering, arranging for, or recommend purchasing, leasing or ordering, any good, facility, item or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program;
•The Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018, or EKRA, which prohibits payments for referrals to recovery homes, clinical treatment facilities, and laboratories and reaches beyond federal health care programs, to include private insurance;
•the federal physician self-referral law, known as the Stark Law, which prohibits a physician from making a referral to an entity for certain designated health services covered by the Medicare program, including laboratory and pathology services, if the physician or an immediate family member has a financial relationship with the entity unless an exception applies, and prohibits an entity from billing for designated health services furnished pursuant to a prohibited referral;
•the federal false claims law, which imposes liability on any person or entity that, among other things, knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the federal government;
•the federal Civil Monetary Penalties Law, which prohibits, among other things, the offering or transfer of remuneration to a Medicare or state healthcare program beneficiary if the person knows or should know it is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of services reimbursable by Medicare or a state healthcare program, unless an exception applies;
•the HIPAA fraud and abuse provisions, which create new federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, defrauding health care benefit programs, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense and falsifying or concealing a material fact or making any materially false statements in connection with the payment for healthcare benefits, items or services;
•other federal and state fraud and abuse laws, such as anti-kickback laws, prohibitions on self-referral, fee-splitting restrictions, insurance fraud laws, anti-markup laws, prohibitions on the provision of tests at no or
discounted cost to induce physician or patient adoption, and false claims acts, which may extend to services reimbursable by any third-party payer, including private insurers;
•the 21st Century Cures Act information blocking prohibition, which prohibits covered actors from engaging in certain practices that are likely to interfere with the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information;
•the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires reporting of certain payments and other transfers of value made by applicable manufacturers, directly or indirectly, to or on behalf of various healthcare professionals (including doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) and teaching hospitals, and requires reporting of certain ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members as well as similar state laws that require reporting of information in addition to what is required under the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act;
•state laws that limit or prohibit the provision of certain payments and other transfers of value to certain covered healthcare providers;
•the prohibition on reassignment of Medicare claims, which, subject to certain exceptions, precludes the reassignment of Medicare claims to any other party;
•state laws that prohibit other specified practices, such as billing clinicians for testing that they order; waiving coinsurance, copayments, deductibles and other amounts owed by patients; billing a state Medicaid program at a price that is higher than what is charged to one or more other payers; and
•similar foreign laws and regulations that apply to us in the countries in which we operate or may operate in the future.
We have adopted policies and procedures designed to comply with these laws and regulations. In the ordinary course of our business, we conduct internal reviews of our compliance with these laws. Our compliance may also be subject to governmental review. The growth of our business and our operations outside of the United States may increase the potential of violating these laws or our internal policies and procedures. The risk of our being found in violation of these or other laws and regulations is further increased by the fact that many have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of interpretations. In October 2021, we received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts requesting that we produce certain documents regarding our sponsored testing programs. We have produced documents and information in response to the subpoena and are cooperating fully with the investigation. Although we remain committed to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, we cannot predict the outcome of this investigation or any other requests or investigations that may arise in the future regarding these or other subject matters. Any action brought against us for violation of the above-referenced or other laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws and regulations, we may be subject to any applicable penalty associated with the violation, including significant administrative, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in Federal healthcare programs, refunding of payments received by us, and curtailment or cessation of our operations. Any of the foregoing consequences could seriously harm our business and our financial results.
Healthcare policy changes, including legislation reforming the U.S. healthcare system, may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In March 2010, the Affordable Care Act, was enacted in the United States, which made a number of substantial changes in the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. Policy changes or implementation of new health care legislation could result in significant changes to health care systems. In the United States, this could include potential modification or repeal of all or parts of the Affordable Care Act.
In April 2014, Congress passed the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, or PAMA, which included substantial changes to the way in which clinical laboratory services are paid under Medicare. Under PAMA, as amended, and its implementing regulations, clinical laboratories must report to CMS private payer rates beginning in 2017, and then in 2024 and every three years thereafter for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests that are not advanced diagnostic laboratory tests and every year for advanced diagnostic laboratory tests.
We do not have "advanced diagnostic laboratory test" status for our tests, but in the event that we obtain designation for one or more of our tests as an advanced diagnostic laboratory test and the tests are determined by CMS to meet these criteria or new criteria developed by CMS, we would be required to report private payer data for those tests annually. Otherwise, we will be required to report private payer rates for our tests on an every three-
years basis starting in 2023. Laboratories that fail to timely report the required payment information may be subject to substantial civil money penalties.
See Part I, Item 1. of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, under the heading "Regulation—Reimbursement" for a description of how public and private payers pay for our products and services, which is incorporated by reference herein. Changes in these payments and the methodologies used to determine payment amounts could have a significant impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We cannot predict whether future healthcare initiatives will be implemented at the federal or state level, or how any future legislation or regulation may affect us. For instance, the payment reductions imposed by the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of the federal and state governments’ role in the U.S. healthcare industry as well as changes to the reimbursement amounts paid by payers for our tests and future tests or our medical procedure volumes may reduce our profits and have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Congress has proposed on several occasions to impose a 20% coinsurance on patients for clinical laboratory tests reimbursed under the clinical laboratory fee schedule, which would increase our billing and collecting costs and decrease our revenue.
If we use hazardous materials in a manner that causes injury, we could be liable for resulting damages.
Our activities currently require the use of hazardous chemicals and biological material. We cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury to employees or third parties from the use, storage, handling or disposal of these materials. In the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources or any applicable insurance coverage we may have. In 2018, we decommissioned our laboratory in Massachusetts; however, we could be held liable for any damages resulting from our prior use of hazardous chemicals and biological materials at this facility. Additionally, we are subject on an ongoing basis to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. The cost of compliance with these laws and regulations may become significant, and our failure to comply may result in substantial fines or other consequences, and either could negatively affect our operating results.
We could be adversely affected by violations of the FCPA and other worldwide anti-bribery laws.
We are subject to the FCPA, which prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making payments in violation of law to non-U.S. government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing any other improper advantage. We use a limited number of independent distributors to sell our tests internationally, which requires a high degree of vigilance in maintaining our policy against participation in corrupt activity, because these distributors could be deemed to be our agents, and we could be held responsible for their actions. Other U.S. companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical fields have faced criminal penalties under the FCPA for allowing their agents to deviate from appropriate practices in doing business with these individuals. We are also subject to similar anti-bribery laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including the United Kingdom’s Bribery Act of 2010, which also prohibits commercial bribery and makes it a crime for companies to fail to prevent bribery. These laws are complex and far-reaching in nature, and, as a result, we cannot assure you that we would not be required in the future to alter one or more of our practices to be in compliance with these laws or any changes in these laws or the interpretation thereof. Any violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction, involve significant costs and expenses, including legal fees, and could result in a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. We could also incur severe penalties, including criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement and other remedial measures.
Risks related to our intellectual property
One of our competitors has alleged that our Anchored Multiplex PCR, or AMP, chemistry and products using AMP are infringing on its intellectual property, and we may be required to redesign the technology, obtain a license, cease using the AMP chemistry altogether and/or pay significant damages, among other consequences, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business as well as our financial condition and results of operations.
Our AMP chemistry is the foundation of our PCM service. One of our competitors, Natera, Inc., or Natera, has filed complaints against ArcherDX, Invitae and Genosity alleging that our products using AMP chemistry, and the manufacture, use, sale, and offer for sale of such products, infringe certain patents. A description of this
ongoing litigation is provided in Note 7, “Commitments and contingencies” in Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report.
If any of our products or our use of AMP chemistry is found to infringe any of Natera's patents, we could be required to redesign our technology or obtain a license from Natera to continue developing, manufacturing, marketing, selling and commercializing AMP and related products. However, we may not be successful in the redesign of its technology or able to obtain any such license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving Natera and other third parties the right to use the same technologies licensed to us, and Natera could require us to make substantial licensing, royalty and other payments. We also could be forced, including by court order, to permanently cease developing, manufacturing, marketing and commercializing our products that are found to be infringing. In addition, we could be found liable for significant monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed Natera's asserted patents. Even if we were ultimately to prevail, litigation with Natera could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business.
We cannot reasonably estimate the final outcome, including any potential liability or any range of potential future charges associated with these litigations. However, any finding of infringement by us of Natera's asserted patents could have a material adverse effect on our business, as well as our financial condition and results of operations.
Litigation or other proceedings or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement or misappropriation will require us to spend significant time and money, and could in the future prevent us from selling our tests or impact our stock price.
Our commercial success will depend in part on our avoiding infringement of patents and proprietary rights of third parties, including for example the intellectual property rights of competitors. As we continue to commercialize our tests in their current or an updated form, launch different and expanded tests, and enter new markets, competitors might claim that our tests infringe or misappropriate their intellectual property rights as part of business strategies designed to impede our successful commercialization and entry into new markets. Our activities may be subject to claims that we infringe or otherwise violate patents or other intellectual property rights owned or controlled by third parties. For example, as discussed in the preceding risk factor, we are currently engaged in litigation with a competitor of ArcherDX alleging infringement. We cannot assure you that our operations do not, or will not in the future, infringe existing or future patents. We may be unaware of patents that a third party, including for example a competitor in the genetic testing market, might assert are infringed by our business. There may also be patent applications that, if issued as patents, could be asserted against us. Third parties making claims against us for infringement or misappropriation of their intellectual property rights may seek and obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to perform our tests. Further, if a patent infringement suit were brought against us, we could be forced to stop or delay our development or sales of any tests or other activities that are the subject of such suit. Defense of these claims, regardless of merit, could cause us to incur substantial expenses and be a substantial diversion of our employee resources. Any adverse ruling or perception of an adverse ruling in defending ourselves could have a material adverse impact on our business and stock price. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us by a third party, we may have to (1) pay substantial damages, possibly including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed patents; (2) obtain one or more licenses, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms (if at all); (3) pay royalties; and/or (4) redesign any infringing tests or other activities, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure, all of which could have a material adverse impact on our cash position and business and financial condition.
If licenses to third-party intellectual property rights are or become required for us to engage in our business, we may be unable to obtain them at a reasonable cost, if at all. Even if such licenses are available, we could incur substantial costs related to royalty payments for licenses obtained from third parties, which could negatively affect our gross margins. Moreover, we could encounter delays in the introduction of tests while we attempt to develop alternatives. Defense of any lawsuit or failure to obtain any of these licenses on favorable terms could prevent us from commercializing tests, which could materially affect our ability to grow and thus adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Developments in patent law could have a negative impact on our business.
Although we view current U.S. Supreme Court precedent to be aligned with our belief that naturally occurring DNA sequences and detection of natural correlations between observed facts (such as patient genetic data) and an understanding of that fact’s implications (such as a patient’s risk of disease associated with certain genetic
variations) should not be patentable, it is possible that subsequent determinations by the U.S. Supreme Court or other federal courts could limit, alter or potentially overrule current law. Moreover, from time to time the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal courts, the U.S. Congress or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, may change the standards of patentability, and any such changes could run contrary to, or otherwise be inconsistent with, our belief that naturally occurring DNA sequences and detection of natural correlations between observed facts and an understanding of that fact’s implications should not be patentable, which could result in third parties newly claiming that our business practices infringe patents drawn from categories of patents which we currently view to be invalid as directed to unpatentable subject matter. For example, on August 2, 2022, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced a bill entitled The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2022 that would overrule current U.S. Supreme Court precedent concerning the scope of patentable subject matter. If the proposed bill were to be enacted into law, there could be an increase in third-party claims to patent rights over correlations between patient genetic data and its interpretation and such third parties may assert that our business practices infringe some of those resulting patent rights.
Our inability to effectively protect our proprietary technologies, including the confidentiality of our trade secrets, could harm our competitive position.
We currently rely upon trade secret protection and copyright, as well as non-disclosure agreements and invention assignment agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties, and to a limited extent patent protection, to protect our confidential and proprietary information. Although our competitors have utilized and are expected to continue utilizing similar methods and have aggregated and are expected to continue to aggregate similar databases of genetic testing information, our success will depend upon our ability to develop proprietary methods and databases and to defend any advantages afforded to us by such methods and databases relative to our competitors. If we do not protect our intellectual property adequately, competitors may be able to use our methods and databases and thereby erode any competitive advantages we may have.
We will be able to protect our proprietary rights from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that our proprietary technologies are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets. In this regard, we have applied, and we intend to continue applying, for patents covering such aspects of our technologies as we deem appropriate. However, we expect that potential patent coverage we may obtain will not be sufficient to prevent substantial competition. In this regard, we believe it is probable that others will independently develop similar or alternative technologies or design around those technologies for which we may obtain patent protection. In addition, any patent applications we file may be challenged and may not result in issued patents or may be invalidated or narrowed in scope after they are issued. Questions as to inventorship or ownership may also arise. Any finding that our patents or applications are unenforceable could harm our ability to prevent others from practicing the related technology, and a finding that others have inventorship or ownership rights to our patents and applications could require us to obtain certain rights to practice related technologies, which may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. If we initiate lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, or litigate against third-party claims, which would be expensive, and, if we lose, we may lose some of our intellectual property rights. Furthermore, these lawsuits may divert the attention of our management and technical personnel.
We expect to rely primarily upon trade secrets and proprietary know-how protection for our confidential and proprietary information, and we have taken security measures to protect this information. These measures, however, may not provide adequate protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other confidential information. Among other things, we seek to protect our trade secrets and confidential information by entering into confidentiality agreements with employees and consultants. There can be no assurance that any confidentiality agreements that we have with our employees and consultants will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets and confidential information or will provide adequate remedies in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of such information. Accordingly, there also can be no assurance that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or be independently developed by competitors. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, trade secrets may be independently developed by others in a manner that could prevent legal recourse by us. If any of our confidential or proprietary information, such as our trade secrets, were to be disclosed or misappropriated, or if any such information was independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position could be harmed.
We may not be able to enforce our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
The laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and many companies have encountered significant challenges in establishing and enforcing their proprietary rights outside of the United States. These challenges can be caused by the absence of rules and methods for the establishment and enforcement of intellectual property rights outside of the United States. In
addition, the legal systems of some countries, particularly developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, especially those relating to healthcare. This could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents, if obtained, or the misappropriation of our other intellectual property rights. For example, many foreign countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner must grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against third parties, including government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, patents may provide limited or no benefit. Patent protection must ultimately be sought on a country-by-country basis, which is an expensive and time-consuming process with uncertain outcomes. Accordingly, we may choose not to seek patent protection in certain countries, and we will not have the benefit of patent protection in such countries. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate. In addition, changes in the law and legal decisions by courts in the United States and foreign countries may affect our ability to obtain adequate protection for our technology and the enforcement of intellectual property.
As an example, the complexity and uncertainty of European patent laws have increased in recent years. In Europe, a new unitary patent system will likely be introduced by the end of 2023, which would significantly impact European patents, including those granted before the introduction of such a system. Under the unitary patent system, European applications will soon have the option, upon grant of a patent, of becoming a Unitary Patent which will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court (UPC). As the UPC is a new court system, there is no precedent for the court, increasing the uncertainty of any litigation. Patents granted before the implementation of the UPC will have the option of opting out of the jurisdiction of the UPC and remaining as national patents in the UPC countries. Patents that remain under the jurisdiction of the UPC will be potentially vulnerable to a single UPC-based revocation challenge that, if successful, could invalidate the patent in all countries who are signatories to the UPC. We cannot predict with certainty the long-term effects of any potential changes.
Third parties may assert that our employees or consultants have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information or misappropriated trade secrets.
We employ individuals who were previously employed at universities or genetic testing, diagnostic or other healthcare companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees or consultants have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of a former employer or other third parties. Further, we may be subject to ownership disputes in the future arising, for example, from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our intellectual property. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
Risks related to being a public company
We incur increased costs and demands on management as a result of compliance with laws and regulations applicable to public companies, which could harm our operating results.
As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and the NYSE, impose a number of requirements on public companies, including with respect to corporate governance practices. The SEC and other regulators have continued to adopt new rules and regulations and make additional changes to existing regulations that require our compliance. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in 2010, includes significant corporate governance and executive-compensation-related provisions. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance and disclosure obligations. If these requirements divert the attention of our management and personnel from other aspects of our business concerns, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, these rules and regulations applicable to public companies substantially increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, require that we hire additional personnel and make some activities more time consuming and costly. It may also be more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance.
If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our reported financial information and the market price of our common stock may be negatively affected.
We are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and provide a management report on our internal control over financial reporting. If we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated. We have compiled the system and process documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. As we acquire companies, we will need to establish adequate controls and integrate them into our internal control system. We need to maintain and enhance these processes and controls as we grow and we have required, and may continue to require, additional personnel and resources to do so.
During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal controls, our management will be unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. Our independent registered public accounting firm is required to issue an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting every fiscal year. Even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm may conclude that there are material weaknesses with respect to our internal controls or the level at which our internal controls are documented, designed, implemented or reviewed.
If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our auditors were to express an adverse opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting because we had one or more material weaknesses, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial disclosures, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline. Internal control deficiencies could also result in the restatement of our financial results in the future.
General risk factors
Our stock price is volatile, and you may not be able to sell shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid.
The trading price of our common stock is volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include:
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
•effects of our strategic realignment and workforce reduction and our ability to achieve the intended benefits of these activities;
•costs associated with our strategic realignment;
•competition from existing tests or new tests that may emerge;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, collaborations or capital commitments;
•failure to meet or exceed financial estimates and projections of the investment community or that we provide to the public;
•issuance of new or updated research or reports by securities analysts or changed recommendations for our stock;
•our substantial leverage and market perceptions regarding the same;
•the level of short interest in our stock, and the effect of short sellers on the price of our stock;
•actual or anticipated changes in regulatory oversight of our business;
•additions or departures of key management or other personnel;
•disputes or other developments related to our intellectual property or other proprietary rights, including litigation;
•changes in reimbursement by current or potential payers;
•general economic and market conditions; and
•issuances of significant amounts of our common stock.
In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for stock of life sciences companies in particular, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. The closing price of our common stock on the NYSE ranged from $1.20 to $8.63 between May 2, 2022 through May 1, 2023. Broad market and industry factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as general economic, political and geopolitical, and market conditions such as recessions, wars such as the current conflict in Ukraine, elections, interest rate changes, or cost inflation, may seriously affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
If securities or industry analysts issue an adverse opinion regarding our stock or do not publish research or reports about our company, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. We do not control these analysts or the content and opinions included in their reports. Securities analysts may elect not to provide research coverage of our company and such lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. The price of our common stock could also decline if one or more equity research analysts downgrade our common stock, change their price targets, issue other unfavorable commentary or cease publishing reports about us or our business. If one or more equity research analysts cease coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline.
We have never paid dividends on our capital stock, and we do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future.
We have never paid dividends on any of our capital stock and currently intend to retain any future earnings to fund the growth of our business. In addition, the terms of our credit agreement restrict our ability to pay dividends. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control and may affect the trading price of our common stock.
Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:
•authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, up to 20,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock;
•require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent;
•specify that special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by our board of directors, our chair of the board or our chief executive officer;
•establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder approvals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;
•establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with each class serving staggered terms;
•provide that our directors may be removed only for cause;
•provide that vacancies on our board of directors may, except as otherwise required by law, be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum; and
•require a super-majority of votes to amend certain of the above-mentioned provisions as well as to amend our bylaws generally.
In addition, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law regulating corporate takeovers. Section 203 generally prohibits us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder subject to certain exceptions.
Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum 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 or other employees.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for:
•any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
•any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders;
•any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or
•any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
Section 27 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or Exchange Act, creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision in our certificate of incorporation will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 22 of the Securities Act of 1933, or Securities Act, creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision in our certificate of incorporation will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or any other claim for which the federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction.
Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described above. This choice of forum provision 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 such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could cause our stock price to fall.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market or the perception that these sales might occur could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. As of March 31, 2023, we had outstanding 260.7 million shares of our common stock, options to purchase 2.3 million shares of our common stock (of which 1.2 million were exercisable as of that date) and outstanding restricted stock units, or RSUs, representing 11.0 million shares of our common stock (which includes an estimated number of RSUs, subject to certain employees' continued service with us, or time-based RSUs, and RSUs that are performance based RSUs, or PRSUs, granted in connection with an acquisition). The foregoing does not include 0.8 million shares of common stock that may be issuable in connection with indemnification hold-backs and contingent consideration related to our acquisitions, shares that may be issuable in the future in connection with the convertible senior notes, or shares issuable pursuant to our May 2021 sales agreement with Cowen and Company, LLC under which we may offer and sell from time to time at our sole discretion shares of our common stock in an aggregate amount not to exceed $400 million. In addition, as of March 31, 2023, 15.8 million and 4.6 million shares of common stock are available for future issuance under our 2015 Stock Incentive Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Plan, respectively. The sale or the availability for sale of a large number of shares of our common stock in the public market could cause the price of our common stock to decline.
ITEM 6. Exhibits.
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| | | | Incorporated by Reference | | | | |
| Exhibit Number | | Description | | Form | | Exhibit | | Filing Date | | | | Filed Herein |
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2.1@ | | | | 8-K | | 2.1 | | 6/24/2020 | | | | |
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| 3.1 | | | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 4.1 | | | | 8-K | | 4.2 | | 3/1/2023 | | | | |
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| 4.2 | | | | 8-K | | 4.1 | | 3/8/2023 | | | | |
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| 4.3 | | | | 8-K | | 4.2 | | 3/8/2023 | | | | |
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| 4.4 | | | | 8-K | | 4.3 | | 3/8/2023 | | | | |
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| 4.5 | | | | 8-K | | 10.1 | | 3/8/2023 | | | | |
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| 10.1 | | | | 8-K | | 10.1 | | 3/1/2023 | | | | |
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10.2# | | | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 31.1 | | | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 31.2 | | | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 32.1* | | | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 32.2* | | | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 101.INS | | Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document. | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 101.SCH | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 101.CAL | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 101.DEF | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 101.LAB | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 101.PRE | | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase | | | | | | | | | | X |
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| 104 | | Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document). | | | | | | | | | | X |
# Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
@ The schedules and exhibits to this agreement have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. A copy of any omitted schedule and/or exhibit will be furnished to the SEC upon request
* In accordance with Item 601(b)(32)(ii) of Regulation S-K and SEC Release No. 34-47986, the certifications furnished in Exhibits 32.1 and 32.2 hereto are deemed to accompany this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and will not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act of 1933 except to the extent that the registrant specifically incorporates it by reference.