ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our objectives, expectations and intentions. The cautionary statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read as applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this report. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those discussed below, as well as those discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Summary of Risk Factors
The following summarizes the risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and stock price. You should read this summary together with the more detailed description of each risk factor contained below.
Risks Related to Our Business, Operations and Industry
We might not be able to continue as a going concern.
We are a pre-revenue medical device company and have a history of significant operating losses; we expect to continue to incur operating losses, and we may never achieve or maintain profitability.
We will need substantial additional funding to complete subsequent phases of the development of our insulin pump products and to operate our business and such funding may not be available or, if it is available, such financing is likely to substantially dilute our existing stockholders.
We have a limited operating history and historical financial information upon which you may evaluate our performance.
The amount of financing we require will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our results of operations, financial condition and stock price are likely to be adversely affected if our funding requirements increase or are otherwise greater than we expect.
Our future cash requirements may differ significantly from our current estimates.
We may not be able to utilize a significant portion of our net operating losses and tax credits.
Technological breakthroughs in diabetes monitoring, treatment or prevention could render our insulin pump products obsolete.
Any failure to attract and retain skilled directors, executives, employees and consultants could impair our product development and commercialization activities.
Our operations are substantially dependent upon key personnel.
We have and will need to outsource and rely on third parties for various aspects relating to the development, manufacture, sales and marketing of our insulin pump products, as well as in connection with assisting us in the preparation and filing of our regulatory submissions, and our future success will be dependent on the timeliness and effectiveness of the efforts of these third parties .
We may not be able to identify, negotiate and maintain the strategic alliances necessary to develop and commercialize our products and technologies, and we will be dependent on our corporate partners if we do.
We may not receive the necessary regulatory clearance or approvals for our insulin pump products, and failure to timely obtain necessary clearances and/or approvals could harm our then operations, including our ability to commercialize our products.
Obtaining marketing authorization in the United States will not obviate the need to obtain marketing authorization in other jurisdictions. We must obtain approval from foreign regulatory authorities before we can market and sell any of our product candidates in countries outside the United States. We will incur additional costs in seeking such approvals, may experience delays in obtaining such approvals and cannot be certain that such approvals will be granted.
Our competitors may develop products that are more effective, safer and less expensive than ours.
We expect to rely on third-party manufacturers and will be dependent on their quality and effectiveness.
We may not be able to successfully scale-up manufacturing of our products in sufficient quality and quantity, which would delay or prevent us from developing and commercializing our products and product candidates.
We are dependent upon third-party suppliers to manufacture our products, and this makes us vulnerable to supply shortages and price increases; we may not be able to obtain an adequate supply of components on a timely basis or at all.
We may be subject to potential product liability and other claims that could materially impact our business and financial condition.
Legislative, regulatory, or medical cost reimbursement changes may adversely impact our business.
We are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA, which could restrict the sales and marketing of our insulin pump products and could cause us to incur significant costs.
Although our insulin pump products do not presently require clinical trials to apply to the FDA for clearance, and even if a clinical trial is completed, the results of our clinical testing may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the device or may be equivocal or otherwise not be sufficient for us to obtain approval of our product candidates.
Our success depends substantially upon our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection relating to our insulin pump products and research technologies.
If we are sued for infringing on third-party intellectual property rights, it will be costly and time-consuming, and an unfavorable outcome would have a significant adverse effect on our business.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information, the value of our technology and products could be adversely affected.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.
Healthcare reform and drug-pricing reform laws could adversely affect our products and financial condition.
Even if we are able to obtain all regulatory approvals and have completed all other steps needed to be taken to commercialize our insulin pump products, if we or any contract manufacturers we select fail to comply with the FDA’s quality system regulations, the manufacturing and distribution of our products could be interrupted, and our product sales and operating results could suffer.
We may become involved in disputes with our present or future contract partners over intellectual property ownership or other matters, which would have a significant effect on our business.
Our insulin pump products will be subject to recalls, which would harm our reputation, business operations and financial results.
Our current insulin pump product does not yet have reimbursement and is not approved for insurance coverage. If in the future we are otherwise able to commercialize our insulin pump, but are unable to obtain adequate reimbursement or insurance coverage for such product from third-party payors, we will be unable to generate significant revenue.
Risks Related to Our Securities
We are subject to oversight by the SEC and other regulatory agencies. Investigations by those agencies could divert management’s focus and could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and financial condition.
If we are unable to satisfy the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq, our common stock could be delisted and the price and liquidity of our common stock may be adversely affected.
We are a “smaller reporting company” and, as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.
We do not expect any cash dividends to be paid on our shares of common stock for the foreseeable future.
If the beneficial ownership of our common stock continues to be concentrated, it may prevent our stockholders from influencing significant corporate decisions.
Future sales of our securities could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and our future capital-raising activities could involve the issuance of equity securities, which would dilute your investment and could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
Our articles of incorporation allow for our board of directors to create new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock.
If we fail to establish and maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud. Any inability to report and file our financial results accurately and timely could harm our reputation and adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
Sustained inflation could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
Our board of directors is able to adopt recapitalizations through forward or reverse splits of our outstanding shares of common stock without stockholder approval.
If the beneficial ownership of our common stock continues to be concentrated, it may prevent our stockholders from influencing significant corporate decisions.
Future sales of our securities could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and our future capital-raising activities could involve the issuance of equity securities, which would dilute your investment and could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock .
Risks Related to Our Business, Operations and Industry
We might not be able to continue as a going concern.
Our consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2025 have been prepared under the assumption that we will continue as a going concern twelve months from the date of issuance of this Report. At March 31, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents of $13.1 million and an accumulated deficit of $84.8 million. In March 2025, we completed a private placement of common stock and warrants for net proceeds to us of approximately $11.4 million. In addition, in November 2024, we completed a public offering of common stock for net proceeds to us of approximately $7.3 million. Even with these offering proceeds, we do not believe that our cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations for the period of 12 months from the date of issuance of this report, and we would need to raise additional capital. As a result of our expected operating losses and cash burn for the foreseeable future and recurring losses from operations, if we are unable to raise sufficient capital through additional debt or equity arrangements, there will be uncertainty regarding our ability to maintain liquidity sufficient to operate our business effectively, which raises substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern. If we cannot continue as a viable entity, our stockholders would likely most or all of their investment in us.
If we are unable to generate sustainable operating profit and sufficient cash flows, then our future success will depend on our ability to raise capital. We intend to seek additional financing and evaluate financing alternatives in order to meet our cash requirements for the foreseeable future. We cannot be certain that raising additional capital, whether through selling additional debt or equity securities or obtaining a line of credit or other loan, will be available to us or, if available, will be on terms acceptable to us. If we issue additional securities to raise funds, these securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of our common stock, and our current stockholders may experience dilution. If we are unable to obtain funds when needed or on acceptable terms, we may be required to curtail our current product development programs, cut operating costs, forego future development and other opportunities or even terminate our operations.
We are a pre-revenue medical device company and have a history of significant operating losses; we expect to continue to incur operating losses, and we may never achieve or maintain profitability.
We do not currently have revenues to generate cash flows to cover operating expenses. Since our inception, we have incurred operating losses in each year due to costs incurred in connection with research and development activities and general and administrative expenses associated with our operations. For the years ended March 31, 2025 and, 2024, we incurred net losses of approximately $18.9 million and $17.5 million, respectively. As a result, we will need to raise additional capital in the future, which may or may not be available to us at all or only on unfavorable terms.
We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future as we continue the development of, and seek regulatory clearance and approvals for, our insulin pump. Our MODD1 insulin pump is currently our only product, if it fails to gain market acceptance, we will not be able to generate any revenue, or explore other opportunities to enhance stockholder value, such as through a sale. If we fail to generate revenue and eventually become profitable, or if we are unable to fund our continuing losses, our stockholders could lose all or a substantial part of their investment.
We will need substantial additional funding to complete subsequent phases of the development of our insulin pump products and to operate our business and such funding may not be available or, if it is available, such financing is likely to substantially dilute our existing stockholders.
The discovery, development, and commercialization of new medical devices, such as our insulin pump, entails significant costs. We have completed the engineering and mechanical development of our insulin pump and cartridge, and obtained FDA clearance. In addition, we have also implemented a production-level manufacturing process, including purchasing required equipment for low-level manufacturing. We have developed a follow-on product, our Pivot pump, to, among other things, meet the general needs and preferences of the Almost Pumper marketplace and the guidelines of third-party payors. To enable us to accomplish these and other related items and continue to operate our business, we will need to raise substantial additional capital and/or enter into strategic partnerships or joint ventures to enable us to:
seek European regulatory approvals with appropriate clinical studies;
expand and continue to improve our manufacturing and commercialization capabilities;
develop, test, and, if approved, market our future product candidates;
acquire or license additional internal systems and other infrastructure; and
hire and support additional management, administrative, sales and marketing, and technical personnel.
Until we can generate a sufficient amount of product revenue to finance our cash requirements, which we may never achieve, we expect to finance our cash needs primarily through public or private equity offerings, debt financings or through the establishment of possible strategic alliances. We may in the future seek additional capital from public or private offerings of our capital stock or borrow additional amounts under new credit lines or from other sources. If we issue equity or debt securities to raise additional funds, our existing stockholders may experience dilution, we may incur significant financing costs, and the new equity or debt securities may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our existing stockholders. In addition, if we raise additional funds through collaborations, licensing, joint ventures, strategic alliances, partnership arrangements or other similar arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to the MODD1 pump or our potential future products or proprietary technologies or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are not able to secure additional equity funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate one or more of our post-market clinical studies, development programs or future commercialization initiatives. In addition, any additional equity funding that we do obtain will dilute the ownership held by our existing equity holders. The amount of this dilution may be substantially increased if the trading price of our common stock is lower at the time of any financing. Regardless, the economic dilution to stockholders will be significant if our stock price does not increase significantly, or if the effective price of any sale is below the price paid by a particular stockholder. Any debt financing that we obtain in the future could involve substantial restrictions on activities and creditors could seek a pledge of some or all of our assets. We have not identified potential sources for such financing that we will require, and we do not have commitments from any third parties to provide any future debt financing. If we fail to obtain funding as needed, we may be forced to cease or scale back operations, and our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and stock price would be affected.
We have a limited operating history and historical financial information upon which you may evaluate our performance.
You should consider, among other factors, our prospects for success in light of the risks and uncertainties encountered by companies that, like us, are in their early stages of development. We may not successfully address these risks and uncertainties or successfully complete our studies and/or implement our existing and new products. If we fail to do so, it could materially harm our business and impair the value of our common stock. Unanticipated problems, expenses and delays are frequently encountered in establishing a new business, conducting research, and developing new products. These include, but are not limited to, inadequate funding, failure to obtain regulatory approval, unforeseen research issues, lack of consumer, physician or third-party payor acceptance, competition, product development, and sales and marketing. The by us to meet any of these conditions would have a materially effect upon us and may us to reduce or operations. No assurance can be given that we can or will ever operate .
The amount of financing we require will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our results of operations, financial condition and stock price are likely to be adversely affected if our funding requirements increase or are otherwise greater than we expect.
Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:
the testing costs for our insulin pump product candidates and other development activities conducted by us directly, and our ability to successfully conclude the studies and activities and achieve favorable results;
our ability to attract future strategic partners to pay for or share costs related to our product development efforts;
the costs and timing of seeking and obtaining regulatory clearance and approvals for our product candidates;
the costs of filing, prosecuting, maintaining and enforcing any patents and other intellectual property rights that we may have and defending against potential claims of infringement;
decisions to hire additional scientific, engineering or administrative personnel or consultants;
our ability to manage administrative and other costs of our operations; and
the presence or absence of adverse developments in our research program.
If any of these factors cause our funding needs to be greater than expected, our operations, financial condition, ability to continue operations and stock price may be adversely affected.
Our future cash requirements may differ significantly from our current estimates.
Our cash requirements may differ significantly from our estimates from time to time, depending on a number of factors, including:
the costs and results of our clinical studies regarding our insulin pump product candidates;
the time and costs involved in obtaining regulatory clearance and approvals;
whether we are able to obtain funding under future licensing agreements, strategic partnerships, or other collaborative relationships, if any;
the costs of compliance with laws, regulations, or judicial decisions applicable to us; and
the costs of general and administrative infrastructure required to manage our business and protect corporate assets and stockholder interests.
If we fail to raise additional funds on a timely basis, we will need to scale back our business plans, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition, and stock price, and we may even be forced to discontinue our operations and liquidate our assets.
We may not be able to utilize a significant portion of our net operating losses and tax credits.
As of March 31, 2025, our federal net operating loss carryforwards totaled $45.6 million, of which $0.7 million will expire in 2037 and 2038 and $44.9 million will not expire. We have federal R&D tax credit carryforwards of $2.6 million which will expire in various years between 2038 through 2045. U.S. federal net operating losses arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 can be carried forward indefinitely, but for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, the deductibility of such U.S. federal NOLs is limited to 80% of current year taxable income. Additionally, we have state net operating loss carryforwards of $68.0 million which will expire in various years between 2038 through 2045.
Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change net operating losses and other tax attributes to offset future taxable income or income tax. In general, an “ownership change” occurs if there is a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in a corporation’s equity ownership by certain stockholders over a rolling three year period. We may have experienced ownership changes in the past and may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership (many of which are outside our control). If it is determined that we have in the past experienced an ownership change, or if we undergo one or more ownership changes as a result of future transactions in our stock then we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our net operating losses prior to their expiration, even if we were to achieve profitability. To the extent we are not able to offset future taxable income with our net operating , our net income and cash flows may be affected.
Technological breakthroughs in diabetes monitoring, treatment or prevention could render our insulin pump products obsolete.
The diabetes treatment market is subject to rapid technological change and product innovation. Our insulin pump products are based on our proprietary technology, but a number of companies, medical researchers and existing pharmaceutical companies are pursuing new delivery devices, delivery technologies, sensing technologies, procedures, drugs and other therapeutics for the monitoring, treatment and/or prevention of insulin-dependent diabetes. Any technological breakthroughs in diabetes monitoring, treatment or prevention could render our products obsolete, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition and could result in stockholders losing their entire investment.
Any failure to attract and retain skilled directors, executives, employees and consultants could impair our product development and commercialization activities.
Our business depends on the skills, performance, and dedication of our directors, executive officers and key engineering, scientific and technical advisors. Many of our current engineering or scientific advisors are independent contractors and are either self- employed or employed by other organizations. As a result, they may have conflicts of interest or other commitments, such as consulting or advisory contracts with other organizations, which may affect their ability to provide services to us in a timely manner. We will need to recruit additional directors, executive management employees, and advisers, particularly engineering, scientific and technical personnel, which will require additional financial resources. In addition, there is currently intense competition for skilled directors, executives and employees with relevant engineering, scientific and technical expertise, and this competition is likely to continue. If we are unable to attract and retain persons with sufficient engineering, scientific, technical and managerial experience, we may be forced to limit or delay our product development activities or may experience difficulties in successfully conducting our business, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
Our operations are substantially dependent upon key personnel.
Our performance is substantially dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and certain other key personnel. In particular, we are dependent on the performance and continued engagement of Paul DiPerna, our chairman, president and principal financial officer. Although we believe we will be able to engage qualified personnel for such purposes, an inability to do so could materially adversely affect our ability to market, sell, and enhance our products. While Mr. DiPerna is currently devoting his full-time working efforts to us, other employees and consultants may only be available to us on a part-time basis. The loss of services of one or more of our executive officers, especially Mr. DiPerna, or other key employees or our inability to hire and retain other qualified employees, including but not limited to research and development, sales, manufacturing, and administrative support staff, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
We have and will need to outsource and rely on third parties for various aspects relating to the development, manufacture, sales and marketing of our insulin pump products, as well as in connection with assisting us in the preparation and filing of our regulatory submissions, and our future success will be dependent on the timeliness and effectiveness of the efforts of these third parties.
We are dependent on third parties for important aspects of our business strategy. We do not have the required financial resources and personnel to carry out independently all aspects of the development of our products, and have limited resources to manufacture, market and sell our current product candidate. As a result, we contract with and rely on third parties for important functions, including in connection with certain aspects of the development and finalization of our products, the preparation and filing of our regulatory submissions and manufacturing and commercialization of our pump products. We have in the past and will continue to enter into multiple agreements with third parties for such services. If problems develop in our relationships with third parties, or if such parties fail to perform as expected, it could lead to delays or lack of progress in obtaining regulatory clearance, significant cost increases, changes in our strategies, and even failure of our product initiatives.
We may not be able to identify, negotiate and maintain the strategic alliances necessary to develop and commercialize our products and technologies, and we will be dependent on our corporate partners if we do.
We may seek to enter into a strategic alliance with a diabetes-related service providing company for the further development and approval of our insulin pump product candidate. At this time, we have not entered into any such strategic alliance. Strategic alliances, if entered into, could potentially provide us with additional funds, expertise, access, and other resources in exchange for exclusive or non-exclusive licenses or other rights to the product that we are currently developing or a product we may explore in the future. We cannot give any assurance that we will be able to enter into strategic relationships with a diabetes-related service providing company or others in the near future or at all. In addition, we cannot assure you that any agreements that we do reach will allow us to achieve our goals or that such grants will be on terms that prove to be economically beneficial to us. When we do enter into strategic or contractual relationships, we become dependent on the successful performance of our partners or counter-parties. If they to perform as expected, such could affect our financial condition, lead to increases in our capital needs, or or our development efforts. See “ Our Business -Employees ” below.
We may not receive the necessary regulatory clearance or approvals for our insulin pump products, and failure to timely obtain necessary clearances and/or approvals could harm our then operations, including our ability to commercialize our products.
Before we can market a new medical device, such as our insulin pump, we must first receive clearance under Section 510(k) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or the “FDCA.” In the 510(k) clearance process, before a device may be marketed, the FDA must determine that such proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a legally-marketed “predicate” device, which includes a device that has been previously cleared through the 510(k) process, a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976 (pre- amendments device), a device that was originally on the U.S. market pursuant to a premarket approval (PMA) and later down- classified, or a 510(k)-exempt device. To be “substantially equivalent,” the proposed device must have the same intended use as the predicate device, and either have the same technological characteristics as the predicate device or have different technological characteristics and not raise different questions of safety or effectiveness than the predicate device. In September 2024, we received FDA clearance to market and sell our initial pump product, our MODD1, in the United States.
Our Pivot product, which will be our second product after our MODD1 product, will require a new 510(k) clearance. The 510(k) clearance process can be expensive, lengthy and uncertain. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance process usually takes less than 12 months, but it can last longer. Despite the time, effort and cost, a device may not be approved or cleared by the FDA. Any delay or failure to obtain necessary regulatory authorizations could harm our business, including our ability to commercialize our future product candidates and our stockholders could lose their entire investment. Furthermore, even if we are granted the required regulatory authorizations, such authorizations may be subject to significant limitations on the indicated uses for the device, which may limit the market for our future product candidates.
If the FDA requires us to go through a lengthier, more rigorous examination for our future product candidates than we had expected, product introductions or modifications could be delayed or canceled, which could adversely affect our ability to grow our business.
The FDA can delay, limit or deny clearance or approval for our product candidates for many reasons, including, for example:
our inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA that a product candidate is substantially equivalent to the proposed predicate device;
the disagreement of the FDA with the design or implementation of our performance testing protocols or the interpretation of data from our performance testing;
the data from performance testing may be insufficient to support a determination of substantial equivalence or that our device meets required special controls or applicable performance standards;
our inability to demonstrate that the benefits of our pump outweigh the risks;
the manufacturing process or facilities we intend to use may not meet applicable requirements; for example, we experienced issues maintaining insulin stability on an initial version of our MODD1 product, and we attributed this issue to the materials used in the initial production process; we made the necessary changes to our materials and process to address this issue to obtain FDA clearance for the MODD1 product; and
the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA to change significantly in a manner rendering our data or regulatory filings insufficient for clearance or approval.
In addition, the FDA may change its clearance and approval policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay approval or clearance of our future product candidates or impact our ability to modify our future product candidate after clearance on a timely basis. Such policy or regulatory changes could impose additional requirements upon us that could delay our ability to obtain clearance for our proposed future pump products, increase the costs of compliance or restrict our ability to maintain our current approval.
As a general rule, demonstration of conformity of medical devices and their manufacturers with the essential requirements must be based, among other things, on the evaluation of data supporting the safety and performance of the product candidates during normal conditions of use. Specifically, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the device achieves its intended performance during normal conditions of use, that the known and foreseeable risks, and any adverse events, are minimized and acceptable when weighed against the benefits of its intended performance, and that any claims made about the performance and safety of the device are supported by suitable evidence.
Obtaining marketing authorization in the United States will not obviate the need to obtain marketing authorization in other jurisdictions We must obtain approval from foreign regulatory authorities before we can market and sell any of our product candidates in countries outside the United States. We will incur additional costs in seeking such approvals, may experience delays in obtaining such approvals and cannot be certain that such approvals will be granted.
The development, manufacture, and marketing of our product candidates outside the United States is subject to government regulation. In most foreign countries, we must complete rigorous pre-clinical testing and extensive human clinical trials that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a product in order to apply for regulatory approval to market the product. If foreign regulatory authorities grant regulatory approval of a product, the approval may be limited to specific indications or limited with respect to its distribution. Expanded or additional indications for approved devices may not be approved, which could limit our potential revenues. Foreign regulatory authorities may refuse to grant any approval. Consequently, even if we believe that pre- clinical and clinical data are sufficient to support regulatory approval for our products, foreign regulatory authorities may not ultimately grant approval for commercial sale in any jurisdiction. If our product candidates are not approved in such jurisdictions, our ability to generate revenues will be limited and our business will be adversely affected.
Our competitors may develop products that are more effective, safer and less expensive than ours.
Existing insulin pumps are expensive, with the more popular models receiving reimbursement exceeding $4,000 under durable medical equipment or pharmacy benefit coverage from individuals without health insurance and often requiring significant patient copays. Others have daily use costs that exceed the reimbursement rates of many health insurance plans, forcing some users to spend thousands of dollars a year in copays. We believe this makes insurers hesitant to pay for any pumps and places pumps out of reach for many patients who cannot afford such out of pocket expenses.
We are engaged in the diabetes treatment sector of the healthcare marketplace, which is intensely competitive. There are current products that are quite effective at addressing the effects of diabetes, and we expect that new developments by other companies and academic institutions in the areas of diabetes treatment will continue. If approved for marketing by the FDA, depending on the approved clinical indication, our product will be competing with existing and future products related to treatments for diabetes.
Our competitors may:
develop product candidates and market products that increase the levels of safety or efficacy that our product candidates will need to show in order to obtain regulatory approval;
develop product candidates and market products that are less expensive or more effective than ours;
commercialize competing products before we can launch any products we are working to develop;
hold or obtain proprietary rights that could prevent us from commercializing our products; or
introduce therapies or market medical products that render our current MODD1 product and future product candidates obsolete.
We expect to compete against large medical device companies, such as Medtronic, Inc., Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. and Insulet Corporation, smaller companies that are collaborating with larger medical device companies, new companies, academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations. These competitors, in nearly all cases, produce similar products relative to the treatment of diabetes and have substantially greater financial resources than we do. Some of our competitors also have significantly greater experience in:
developing medical device and other product candidates;
undertaking testing and clinical studies;
building relationships with key customers and opinion-leading physicians;
obtaining and maintaining FDA and other regulatory approvals;
formulating and manufacturing medical devices;
launching, marketing and selling medical devices;
providing management oversight for all of the above-listed operational functions; and
obtaining insurance coverage and reimbursement for their competitive products.
If we fail to achieve acceptance over other existing or newly developed products, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval or successfully commercialize our future insulin pump product candidates. If our competitors’ market medical devices that are less expensive, safer or more effective than our insulin pump, or that gain or maintain greater market acceptance, we may not be able to compete effectively, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition. See “ Business - Competition .”
We expect to rely on third-party manufacturers and will be dependent on their quality and effectiveness.
Our insulin pump requires precise, high-quality manufacturing. The failure to achieve and maintain high manufacturing standards, including failure to detect or control anticipated or unanticipated manufacturing errors or the frequent occurrence of such errors, could result in patient injury or death, discontinuance or delay of ongoing or planned clinical studies, delays or failures in product testing or delivery, cost overruns, product recalls or withdrawals and other problems that could seriously hurt our business. Contract medical device manufacturers often encounter difficulties involving production yields, quality control and quality assurance and of qualified personnel. These manufacturers are subject to regulatory requirements, including the FDA’s current -manufacturing-practices regulations. If our contract manufacturers to maintain ongoing compliance at any time, the production of our product could be , resulting in or of our clinical studies, additional costs and of potential revenues.
We may not be able to successfully scale-up manufacturing of our products in sufficient quality and quantity, which would delay or prevent us from commercializing our products.
In order to conduct larger-scale or late-stage clinical studies and for commercialization of our insulin pump products, if 510(k) clearance is granted for any product, we will need to manufacture it in larger quantities. We may not be able to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for our MODD 1 product or future product candidates in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, quality issues may arise during scale-up activities. If we are unable to successfully scale up the manufacture of our product candidate in sufficient quality and quantity, the development and testing of our product candidates and regulatory approval or commercial launch may be delayed, which could significantly harm our business.
We are dependent upon third-party suppliers to manufacture our product, and this makes us vulnerable to supply shortages and price increases; we may not be able to obtain an adequate supply of components on a timely basis or at all.
The future manufacture of our product will require the timely delivery of sufficient amounts of components from multiple suppliers in various countries. We intend to work closely with our suppliers to ensure continuity of supply, but we cannot guarantee these efforts will be successful. Due to the supply chain issues experienced by the semiconductor industry, at times, we have experienced delays obtaining integrated circuits from certain suppliers. We may need to enter into “take or pay” contracts with suppliers. We have also seen price increases for various components. We do not have supply agreements with any of our suppliers, and we make purchases based on individual purchase orders. An interruption, delay, or inability to obtain components from our third-party suppliers at acceptable prices in a timely manner, could hinder our ability to manufacture our products and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to potential product liability and other claims that could materially impact our business and financial condition.
The marketing and sale of our insulin pump exposes us to the risk of significant damages from product liability and other claims, and the use of our product in clinical studies may result in adverse effects from liability claims. We cannot predict all the possible harms or adverse effects that may result. We intend to obtain product liability insurance to provide some protection from claims. Nonetheless, we may not have sufficient resources to pay for any liabilities resulting from a personal injury or other claim, even if it is partially covered by insurance. In addition to the possibility of direct claims, we may be required to indemnify third parties against damages and other liabilities arising out of our development, commercialization and other business activities, which would increase our liability exposure. If third parties that have agreed to indemnify us to do so, we may be held responsible for those and other liabilities as well.
Legislative, regulatory, or medical cost reimbursement changes may adversely impact our business.
New laws, regulations and judicial decisions, or new interpretations of existing laws, regulations and decisions, that relate to the health care system in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions may change the nature of and regulatory requirements relating to innovations in medical devices, testing and regulatory approvals, limit or eliminate payments for medical procedures and treatments, or subject the pricing of medical devices to government control. In addition, third-party payors in the U.S. are increasingly attempting to contain health care costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement of new products. Consequently, significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved health care products. Significant changes in the health care system in the U.S. or elsewhere, including changes resulting from adverse trends in third-party reimbursement programs, could have a material adverse effect on our projected future operating results and our ability to raise capital, commercialize products, and remain in business.
We are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA, which could restrict the sales and marketing of our insulin pump products and could cause us to incur significant costs.
Our insulin pump products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA. These regulations relate to manufacturing, labeling, sale, promotion, distribution and shipping. Before a new medical device, or a new intended use of a legally marketed device, can be marketed in the United States, it must be cleared or approved by the FDA through the applicable premarket review process (510(k), PMA, or de novo classification), unless an exemption applies. While we have received 510(k) clearance for our initial insulin pump product, the MODD1, we may be required to obtain new 510(k) clearances for significant post-market modifications to the pump. For example, our Pivot product, which we expect over time to replace the MODD1 product, will require 510(k) clearance. Each premarket submission and review process can be expensive and lengthy, and entail significant user fees, unless exempt.
Medical devices may be marketed only for the indications for which they are approved or cleared. Further, 510(k) clearance can be revoked if safety or effectiveness problems develop once the device is on the market.
The current regulatory requirements to which we are subject may change in the future in a way that adversely affects us. If we fail to comply with present or future regulatory requirements that are applicable to us, we may be subject to enforcement action by the FDA, which may include any of the following sanctions:
untitled letters, warning letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties;
customer notification, or orders for repair, replacement or refunds;
voluntary or mandatory recall or seizure of our current or future products;
administrative detention by the FDA of medical devices believed to be adulterated or misbranded;
imposing operating restrictions, suspension or shutdown of production;
refusing our requests for 510(k) clearance, PMA or de-novo classification of any new products, new intended uses or modifications to our insulin pump;
rescinding 510(k) clearance that has already been granted; and
criminal prosecution.
The occurrence of any of these events would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could result in stockholders losing their entire investment.
Although our insulin pump products do not presently require clinical trials to apply to the FDA for clearance, and even if a clinical trial is completed, the results of our clinical testing may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the device or may be equivocal or otherwise not be sufficient for us to obtain approval of our product candidates.
Clinical trials are almost always required to support a PMA application and may also be required to support 510(k) submissions, although at this time our products do not require a PMA. If the device presents a “significant risk” to human health as defined by the FDA, the FDA requires the study sponsor to submit an investigational device exemption, or IDE, application and obtain IDE approval prior to commencing human clinical trials. The IDE must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory testing results, showing that it is safe to test the device in humans and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound. An IDE will automatically become effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA denies the application or notifies the sponsor that the investigation is on hold and may not begin until the sponsor provides supplemental information about the investigation that satisfies the agency’s concerns. The FDA may also notify the sponsor that the study is approved as proposed. If the FDA determines that there are deficiencies or other concerns with an IDE that require modification of the study, the FDA may permit a clinical trial to proceed under conditional approval. Furthermore, the agency may withdraw approval of an IDE under certain circumstances. Clinical trials for a significant risk device may begin once an IDE is approved by the FDA and the appropriate Institutional Review Board, or IRB, at each clinical trial site. If the product is deemed a “non-significant risk” device, IDE approval from the FDA would not be required, but the clinical trial would need to meet other requirements including IRB approval. Our clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with FDA regulations and federal and state regulations concerning human subject protection, including informed consent and healthcare privacy. A clinical trial may be by the FDA or at a specific site by the relevant IRB at any time for various reasons, including a determination that the risks to the trial participants outweigh the benefits of participation in the clinical trial. Even if a clinical trial is completed, the results of our clinical testing may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the device or may be equivocal or otherwise not be sufficient for us to obtain approval of our product.
Our success depends substantially upon our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection relating to our insulin pump products and research technologies.
We have applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, and various foreign patent agencies for patents on our proprietary fluid movement technology and our insulin delivery methodology. To date, the USPTO has granted five patents to us, and we have been awarded two patents by foreign jurisdictions. We have additional applications pending and in various stages of review by the USPTO and foreign patent agencies. There can be no assurance that we will be issued additional patents by the USPTO or foreign patent agencies and that any of our patents will prevent other companies from competing with us. We will continue to attempt to patent our innovations, as appropriate, to help ensure a sustainable competitive advantage.
Due to evolving legal standards relating to the patentability, validity and enforceability of patents covering health care product inventions, our ability to enforce our existing patents and to obtain and enforce patents that may issue from any pending or future patent applications is uncertain and involves complex legal, scientific and factual questions. To date, no consistent policy has emerged regarding the breadth of claims allowed in medical device patents. Thus, we cannot be sure that any patents will issue from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us. Even if patents do issue, we cannot be sure that the claims of these patents will be held valid or enforceable by a court of law, will provide us with any significant protection against competing products, or will afford us a commercial advantage over competitive products. If, at some point in the future, one or more products resulting from our product candidates is approved for sale by the FDA and we do not have adequate intellectual property protection for those products, competitors could duplicate them for approval and sale in the United States without repeating the extensive testing required of us to obtain FDA approval.
If we are sued for infringing on third-party intellectual property rights, it will be costly and time-consuming, and an unfavorable outcome would have a significant adverse effect on our business.
Our ability to commercialize our pump products depends on our ability to use, manufacture and sell our product current and future product candidates without infringing the patents or other proprietary rights of third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications owned by third parties exist in the diabetes medical device area. There may be existing patents, unknown to us, on which our activities with our insulin pump products could infringe.
If a third party claims that our actions infringe on its patents or other proprietary rights, we could face a number of issues that could materially harm our competitive position, including, but not limited to:
infringement and other intellectual property claims that, even if meritless, can be costly and time-consuming, delay the regulatory approval process and divert management’s attention from our core business operations;
an order that we pay substantial damages for infringement, including consequential damages for lost of profits or market share, if a court determines that our products or technologies infringe on a third party’s patent or other proprietary rights;
a court prohibiting us from selling or licensing our products or technologies unless the holder licenses the patent or other proprietary rights to us, which it is not required to do; and
even if a license is available from a holder, we may have to pay substantial royalties or grant cross-licenses to our patents or other proprietary rights.
If any of these events occur, it could significantly harm our operations and financial condition and negatively affect our stock price.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information, the value of our technology and products could be adversely affected.
In addition to patented technology and technology for which patent protection is being sought, we rely on our unpatented technology, trade secrets and know-how. We generally seek to protect this information by confidentiality, non-disclosure and assignment of invention agreements with our officers, employees, contractors and other service providers and with parties with which we do business. These agreements may be breached, which breach may result in the misappropriation of such information, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use or reverse engineering of our technology.
Moreover, our trade secrets may be disclosed to or otherwise become known or be independently developed by competitors. To the extent that our officers, employees, contractors, other service providers, or other third parties with whom we do business use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions. If, for any of the above reasons, our intellectual property is disclosed or misappropriated, it would harm our ability to protect our rights and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business, or permit us to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. The following examples are illustrative:
others may be able to make devices that are similar to our insulin pump but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own;
we or any collaborators might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by the issued patents or pending patent applications that we own;
we might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our inventions;
others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights;
it is possible that our pending patent applications will not lead to issued patents;
issued patents that we own may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be held invalid or unenforceable as a result of legal challenges;
our competitors might conduct research and development activities in the U.S. and other countries that provide a safe harbor from patent infringement claims for certain research and development activities, as well as in countries where we do not have patent rights, and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets; and
we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable.
Healthcare reform and drug-pricing reform laws could adversely affect our products and financial condition.
In the United States, there have been, and continue to be, a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (ACA), 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. Among other ways in which it may affect our business, the ACA implemented payment system reforms, including a national pilot program on payment bundling to encourage hospitals, physicians, and other providers to improve the coordination, quality, and efficiency of certain healthcare services through bundled payment models and expanded the eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs. Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive, and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. It is unclear how the ACA and its implementation, as well as efforts to repeal or replace, or invalidate, the ACA, or portions thereof, will affect our insulin pump or our business. Additional legislative changes, regulatory changes, and judicial challenges related to the ACA remain possible. It is possible that the ACA, as currently enacted or as it may be amended in the future, and other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, could have an effect on our industry generally and on our ability to commercialize our insulin pump products and . We have assumed in all of our financial projections that there is not an increase in the reimbursement for our products through the pharmacy or durable medical equipment routes.
Drug pricing continues to be a subject of debate at the executive and legislative levels of U.S. government. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 eliminated the statutory cap on rebates that drug manufacturers pay to Medicaid beginning January 1, 2024. With the elimination of the rebate cap, manufacturers may be required to compensate states in an amount greater than what the state Medicaid programs pay for the drug. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 contains substantial drug pricing reforms, including the establishment of a drug price negotiation program within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would require manufacturers to charge a negotiated “maximum fair price” for certain selected drugs or pay an excise tax for noncompliance, the establishment of rebate payment requirements on manufacturers of certain drugs payable under Medicare Parts B and D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation, and requires manufacturers to provide discounts on Part D drugs. Substantial penalties can be assessed for noncompliance with the drug pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 could have the effect of reducing the prices we can charge and reimbursement we receive for our products, if approved, thereby reducing our profitability, and could have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. The effect of Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 on our business and the pharmaceutical industry in general is not yet known.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. We expect that additional federal, state and foreign healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in limited coverage and reimbursement and reduced demand for our products, once approved, or additional pricing pressures.
These and other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any current product or future product candidate. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government healthcare programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our products. Legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand post- approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for drugs. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of any current or future product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased Congressional scrutiny of the FDA’s approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.
Even if we are able to obtain all regulatory approvals and have completed all other steps needed to be taken to commercialize our insulin pump, if we or any contract manufacturers we select fail to comply with the FDA’s quality system regulations, the manufacturing and distribution of our products could be interrupted, and our sales and operating results could suffer.
We have established initial, low-volume manufacturing capability in our facility and with a tier one medical device contract manufacturer. We and the contract manufacturer of our insulin pump products will be required to comply with the FDA’s quality system regulations, which impose a complex regulatory framework that covers the procedures and documentation of the design, testing, production, control, quality assurance, labeling, packaging, sterilization, storage and shipping of medical devices. The FDA enforces its quality system regulations through periodic unannounced inspections. We cannot assure you that, in the future, any manufacturing facilities owned by us or any contract manufacturer will pass any quality system inspection. In the event that our or any contract manufacturer’s facilities fails a quality system inspection, the manufacturing or distribution of our products could be interrupted and our operations disrupted. Failure to take adequate and timely corrective action in response to an adverse quality system inspection could force a suspension or shutdown of any packaging and labeling operations or then manufacturing operations of any contract manufacturers, or a of our insulin pump products. If any of these events were to occur, we at such time would not be to provide our customers with the quantity of insulin pumps that they require on a timely basis, our reputation could be and we could any customers we then have, any or all of which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may bring infringement claims or other legal proceedings against third parties, causing us to spend substantial resources on litigation and exposing our own intellectual property portfolio to challenge.
We may come to believe that third parties are infringing on our patents or other proprietary rights. To prevent infringement or unauthorized use, we may need to file infringement and/or misappropriation suits, which are very expensive and time-consuming, could result in meritorious counterclaims against us and would distract management’s attention. Also, in an infringement or misappropriation proceeding, a court may decide that one or more of our patents is invalid, unenforceable, or both, in which case third parties may be able to use our technology without paying license fees or royalties. Even if the validity of our patents is upheld, a court may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that the other party’s activities are not covered by our patents. See “Business - Patents,” below.
We may become involved in disputes with our present or future contract partners over intellectual property ownership or other matters, which would have a significant effect on our business.
Inventions discovered in the course of performance of contracts with third parties or contractors may become jointly owned by such third-party contractors and us, in some cases, and the exclusive property of one of us, in other cases. Under some circumstances, it may be difficult to determine who owns a particular invention or whether it is jointly owned, and disputes could arise regarding ownership or use of those inventions or jointly developed improvements thereto. Other disputes may also arise relating to the performance or alleged breach of our agreements with third parties. Any disputes could be costly and time-consuming, and an unfavorable outcome could have a significant adverse effect on our business.
Our insulin pump products will be subject to recalls, which would harm our reputation, business operations and financial results.
The FDA has the authority to require the recall of our pump products, if we commence manufacturing of our insulin pumps, and we, or any contract manufacturers we retain, fail to comply with relevant regulations pertaining to manufacturing practices, labeling, advertising or promotional activities, or if new information is obtained concerning the safety or efficacy of the device. A government-mandated recall could occur if the FDA finds that there is a reasonable probability that our device would cause serious, adverse health consequences or death. A voluntary recall by us could occur as a result of manufacturing defects, labeling deficiencies, packaging defects or other failures to comply with applicable regulations. Any recall would divert management’s attention and financial resources and harm our reputation with customers. A involving our insulin pump products would be particularly to our business, financial condition and results of operations because these are currently our only products.
Our current insulin pump product does not yet have reimbursement and is not approved for insurance coverage. If in the future we are otherwise able to commercialize our insulin pump products, but are unable to obtain adequate reimbursement or insurance coverage for such product from third-party payors, we will be unable to generate significant revenue.
Our current insulin pump is not yet eligible for reimbursement and is not approved for insurance coverage. The future availability of insurance coverage and reimbursement for newly approved medical devices is highly uncertain. In the United States, patients using insulin pumps are generally reimbursed for all or part of the product cost by Medicare or other third-party payors. Any future commercial success of our insulin pump products will be substantially dependent on whether third-party coverage and reimbursement is available for future customers. Medicare, Medicaid, health maintenance organizations and other third-party payors are increasingly attempting to contain healthcare costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement of new medical devices, and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate reimbursement for our insulin pump, assuming we are able to fully develop and obtain all regulatory approval to market it in the United States. In addition, in certain countries, no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for medical device products and services exists among third- party payors. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for medical device products and services can differ significantly from payor to payor. In addition, payors continually review new technologies for possible coverage and can, without notice, deny coverage for these new products and procedures. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained or maintained, if obtained. Reimbursement systems in international markets vary significantly by country and by region within some countries, and reimbursement approvals must be obtained on a country-by-country basis. In many international markets, a product must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that country. Further, many international markets have government-managed healthcare systems that control reimbursement for new devices and procedures. Accordingly, unless government and other third-party payors provide coverage and reimbursement for our insulin pump products, patients may not use it, which would cause investors to their entire investment.
Risks Related to Our Securities
Any disruption and/or instability in economic conditions and capital markets could adversely affect our ability to access the capital markets, and thus adversely affect our business and liquidity.
Negative economic conditions and instability or uncertainty in the financial markets could have a negative impact on our ability to access the capital markets, and thus have a negative impact on our then operations and liquidity. We face certain risks in the event of a sustained deterioration of financial market liquidity, as well as in the event of sustained deterioration in the liquidity, or failure, of our banking, cash management and custodial financial institutions. A general shortage of liquidity and credit combined with the substantial losses in worldwide equity markets could lead to an extended worldwide recession in the future. If such occurred, we would face significant challenges if conditions in the capital markets did not improve. Our ability to access the capital markets under such circumstances could be severely restricted at a time when we need to access such markets, which could have a impact on our business plans. Even if we are to raise capital under such circumstances, it may not be at a price or on terms that are to us. We cannot predict the occurrence of future or how long such conditions might continue
International trade policies, including protectionist trade policies, such as tariffs and sanctions, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Due to the interconnectedness of the global economy, policy changes in one area of the world can have an immediate and material adverse impact on markets around the world. Changes in international trade policies, including: (i) changes to existing trade agreements; (ii) greater restrictions on free trade generally; and (iii) significant increases in customs duties and tariffs on goods imported into the United States and reciprocal actions by other countries, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Current or future tariffs or other restrictive trade measures may raise the costs of raw materials, components or finished goods, which may adversely impact both our product offerings and our operational expenses. Such cost increases may reduce our margins and require us to increase prices, which could harm our competitive position, reduce customer demand and damage customer relationships.
Trade disputes, trade restrictions, tariffs and other political tensions between the U.S. and other countries may also exacerbate unfavorable macroeconomic conditions including inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility, financial market instability, and economic recessions or downturns, which may also negatively impact customer demand for our products or services, delay purchases or renewals, limit expansion opportunities with customers, limit our access to capital, or otherwise negatively impact our business and operations. Ongoing tariff, trade restrictions and macroeconomic uncertainty has and may continue to contribute to volatility in the price of our common stock.
Ongoing uncertainty regarding trade policies may also complicate our short- and long-term strategic planning, and that of our partners and customers, including decisions regarding hiring, product strategy, capital investment, supply chain design and geographic expansion.
While we continue to monitor trade developments, the ultimate impact of these risks remains uncertain and any prolonged economic downturn, escalation in trade tensions, or deterioration in international perception of U.S.-based companies could materially and adversely affect our supply chain, as well as our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, tariffs and other trade developments have and may continue to heighten the risks related to the other risk factors described in this Report.
Third parties might attempt to gain unauthorized access to our network or seek to compromise our products.
Our business is dependent on the security and efficacy of our networks and computer and data management systems, and we rely on our internal computer networks for many of the systems we use to operate our business generally. From time to time, we may face attempts by others to gain unauthorized access through the Internet or otherwise or to introduce malicious software to our information technology systems. We or our products may be a target of computer hackers, organizations or malicious attackers who attempt to:
gain access to our network;
steal proprietary information related to our business, products and employees; or
interrupt our systems.
From time to time, we may encounter attempts at gaining unauthorized access to our network, and we periodically run security checks. While we seek to detect and investigate unauthorized attempts and attacks against our network and products of which we become aware, and to prevent their recurrence where practicable through changes to our internal processes and tools and/or changes to our products, we remain potentially vulnerable to additional known or unknown threats. In addition to intentional security breaches, the integrity and confidentiality of Company and customer data and our intellectual property may be compromised as a result of human error, product defects, or technological failures. Different geographic markets may have different regulations regarding data protection, raising potential compliance risks. Further, acts by foreign governments or terrorist organizations in response to policies of the United States government could include cyber attacks that could the economy more generally or that could also impact our operations directly or indirectly. Any or perceived by us or our service providers to prevent information security or other or system , or any compromise of security that results in or is perceived or reported to result in access to, or , theft, alteration, release or transfer of, our information, or any personal information, confidential information, or other data could result in or theft of proprietary or sensitive data and intellectual property, could our reputation and competitive position and could us to legal , regulatory and proceedings, and , , and other liability. Any such actual or perceived security , or system could also the efforts of our personnel, and could require us to incur significant costs and operational consequences in connection with , remediating, eliminating and putting in place additional tools, devices, policies, and other measures designed to prevent actual or perceived security and other and system , and in, for example, rebuilding internal systems, reduced inventory value, providing modifications to our products and services, and , responding to regulatory inquiries or actions, paying , or taking other remedial steps with respect to third parties. Moreover, we could be required or otherwise find it appropriate to expend significant capital and other resources to respond to, notify third parties of, and otherwise address the or and its root cause, and to notify individuals, regulatory authorities and others of security involving certain types of data.
Further, we cannot assure that any limitations of liability provisions in our current or future contracts that may be applicable would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from any liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim relating to a security breach or other security-related matter. We also cannot be sure that any insurance coverage will continue to be available on acceptable terms or will be available in sufficient amounts to cover claims related to a security breach or incident, or that the insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our financial condition, operating results, and reputation.
Risks Related to Our Securities
We are subject to oversight by the SEC and other regulatory agencies. Investigations by those agencies could divert management’s focus and could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and financial condition.
We are subject to the regulation and oversight of the SEC and state regulatory agencies, in addition to the FDA. As a result, we may face legal or administrative proceedings by these agencies. We are unable to predict the effect of any investigations on our business, financial condition or reputation. In addition, publicity surrounding any investigation, even if ultimately resolved in our favor, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we are unable to satisfy the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq, our common stock could be delisted and the price and liquidity of our common stock may be adversely affected.
Our common stock may lose value and could be delisted from Nasdaq due to several factors or a combination of such factors. While our common stock is currently listed on Nasdaq, we can give no assurance that we will be able to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of Nasdaq, including, but not limited to, the corporate governance requirements, the minimum closing bid price requirement or the minimum equity requirement. If we fail to maintain compliance with any such continued listing requirement, there can also be no assurance that we will be able to regain compliance with any such continued listing requirement in the future or that our common stock will not be delisted in the future.
If we were to be delisted, we would expect our common stock to be traded in the over-the-counter market which could adversely affect the liquidity of our common stock. Additionally, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
a limited availability of market quotations for our common stock;
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future;
reduced liquidity for our stockholders;
potential loss of confidence by customers, collaboration partners and employees; and
loss of institutional investor interest.
In the event of a delisting, we can provide no assurance that any action taken by us to restore compliance with listing requirements would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement, or prevent future non-compliance with Nasdaq’s listing requirements.
We are a “smaller reporting company” and, as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.
We are a “smaller reporting company,” and are subject to lesser disclosure obligations in our SEC filings compared to other issuers. Specifically, “smaller reporting companies” are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosures in their filings, are exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that independent registered public accounting firms provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting and have certain other decreased disclosure obligations in their SEC filings, including, among other things, only being required to provide two years of audited financial statements in annual reports. Decreased disclosures in our SEC filings due to our status as a “smaller reporting company” may make it harder for investors to analyze our operating results and financial prospects.
We do not expect any cash dividends to be paid on our shares of common stock for the foreseeable future.
We have never declared or paid a cash dividend and we do not anticipate declaring or paying dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We expect to use future financing proceeds and earnings, if any, to fund operating expenses. Consequently, stockholders’ only opportunity to achieve a return on their investment is if the price of our stock appreciates and they sell their shares at a profit. We cannot assure stockholders of a positive return on their investment when they sell their shares or that stockholders will not lose the entire amount of their investment.
If the beneficial ownership of our common stock continues to be concentrated, it may prevent our stockholders from influencing significant corporate decisions.
As of March 31, 2025, our executive officers, directors and certain persons, who may be deemed affiliates, beneficially owned approximately 14% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Specifically, James Besser, our chief executive officer, and Morgan Frank, a member of our board of directors, are the principals of Manchester Explorer, L.P., our largest stockholder. As of March 31, 2025, in the aggregate, Messrs. Besser and Frank were the beneficial owners of approximately 9% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, such persons may exercise substantial influence over the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval including, without limitation, the election of directors, certain mergers, consolidations and sales of all or substantially all of our assets or any other significant corporate transactions. Such persons may also vote against a change of control, even if such a change of control would benefit our other stockholders. Thus, investors in our common stock cannot reasonably expect to have any influence over the election of our directors or other matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders. Instead, our existing significant stockholders may exert a substantial influence on the election of our directors and any actions requiring or otherwise put to a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. The concentrated amount of control over our affairs held by a relatively few significant investors could serve to reduce the or liquidity of our common stock, and thereby its trading price. Additionally, of interest may arise between these executive officers, directors and other affiliates, on the one hand, and us and our other stockholders, on the other hand. In resolving these of interests, these investors may favor their own interests and the interests of their affiliates, over the interests of our other stockholders, which could cause a material effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Future sales of our securities could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and our future capital-raising activities could involve the issuance of equity securities, which would dilute your investment and could result in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
We may sell securities in the public or private equity markets at prices per share below the current market price of our common stock, even if we do not have an immediate need for additional capital at that time. Sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our shares and our ability to raise capital. We may issue additional shares of common stock in future financing transactions or as incentive compensation for our executive management and other key personnel, consultants and advisors. Issuing any equity securities would be dilutive to the equity interests represented by our then-outstanding shares of common stock. Moreover, sales of substantial amounts of shares in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock and make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital. Such resulting significant downward pressure on the price of our common stock could also encourage short sales by third parties. Such an event could place further downward pressure on the price of our common stock.
Our articles of incorporation allow for our board of directors to create new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock.
Our board of directors has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Currently, our board of directors has the authority to designate and issue up to 5,000,000 shares of our preferred stock without further stockholder approval. In the future, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of one or more series of preferred stock that would grant to holders, among other rights, the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common stock and the right to the redemption of our preferred shares acquired by such persons, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common stock. In addition, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing stockholders.
If we fail to establish and maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud. Any inability to report and file our financial results accurately and timely could harm our reputation and adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, we may not be able to manage our business as effectively as we would if an effective control environment existed, and our business and reputation with investors may be harmed. If we are unable to maintain effective internal controls, we may not have adequate, accurate or timely financial information, and we may be unable to meet our reporting obligations as a public company, including the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act). In addition, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results in future periods or report them within the timeframes required by the requirements of the SEC or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, when and as applicable, could also potentially subject us to sanctions or by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Any to maintain or implement required new or controls, or any we encounter in their implementation, could result in identification of additional material or significant , cause us to to meet our reporting obligations or result in material in our financial statements.
Furthermore, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related regulations require our management to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year. Based on its evaluation, our management concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of March 31, 2025. We cannot provide assurance that, in the future, a material weakness or significant deficiency will not exist or otherwise be discovered. If that were to happen, it could harm our operating results and cause stockholders to lose confidence in our reported financial information. Any such loss of confidence would have a negative effect on the trading price of our securities.
Sustained inflation could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
Inflation rates in the United States have remained elevated and may continue to rise. Inflation over the last several months has led us to experience higher costs, including, among others, labor and transportation. Some of our suppliers have raised their prices and may continue to raise prices, and, assuming we achieve FDA clearance and commence commercialization of our product, in the future, we may not be able to make corresponding price increases to obtain adequate gross margins and achieve profitability. If inflation rates continue to rise or remain elevated for a sustained period of time, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
Our board of directors is able to adopt recapitalizations through forward or reverse splits of our outstanding shares of common stock without stockholder approval.
Pursuant to our amended and restated articles of incorporation, our board of directors has the power, without obtaining stockholder approval, to effectuate recapitalizations of us through forward or reverse splits of our outstanding common stock. As a result of such provision, our board of directors can implement recapitalizations of us by effectuating a forward or reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock, which would increase or decrease each of our stockholder’s number of shares owned, and our stockholders will have no right to approve or disapprove any such action even if such actions have a material adverse effect on them.
