Metagenomi Therapeutics, Inc. 10-K

10-K UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K (Mark One) ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31 , 2024 or ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Commission File Number: 001-41949 Metagenomi, Inc. (Exact Name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 81-3909017 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 5959 Horton Street , 7th Floor , Emeryville , California 94608 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number including area code ( 510 ) 871-4880 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share MGX The Nasdaq Global Select Market Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒ Emerging growth company ☒ If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☒ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐ If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐ Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒ The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates, based on the closing price of the shares of common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 28, 2024 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), was $ 127,036,500 . This calculation does not reflect a determination that certain persons are affiliates of the registrant for any other purpose. The number of shares of registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of March 7, 2025 was 37,383,472 . DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE None. A Table of Contents Page PART I Item 1. Business 4 Item 1A. Risk Factors 34 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 88 Item 1C. Cybersecurity 88 Item 2. Properties 88 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 88 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 89 PART II Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 90 Item 6. [Reserved] 90 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 91 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 101 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 101 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 101 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 101 Item 9B. Other Information 102 Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 102 PART III Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 103 Item 11. Executive Compensation 106 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 114 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 116 Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 117 PART IV Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 118 Item 16. Form 10-K Summary 119 i SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains express or implied forward-looking statements that are based on our management’s belief and assumptions and on information currently available to our management and which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements relate to future events or our future operational or financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include, but are not limited to, statements about: • the initiation, timing, progress and results of our research and development programs, preclinical studies and future clinical trials; • our ability to demonstrate, and the timing of, preclinical proof-of-concept in vivo and ex vivo for multiple programs; • our ability to advance any product candidates that we may identify and successfully complete any clinical studies, including the manufacture of any such product candidates; • our ability to quickly leverage programs within our initial target indications and to progress additional programs to further develop our pipeline; • the timing of our Investigational New Drug (“IND”) applications submissions; • the implementation of our strategic plans for our business, programs and technology; • the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our genome editing technology and platform; • developments related to our competitors and our industry; • our ability to leverage the clinical, regulatory, and manufacturing advancements made by genome editing programs to accelerate our clinical trials and approval of product candidates; • our ability to maintain existing license agreements and collaborations and identify and enter into future license agreements and collaborations; • developments related to our genome editing technology and platform; • regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; • our ability to attract and retain key scientific and management personnel; • the volatility of capital markets and other adverse macroeconomic factors, including due to inflationary pressures, tariffs, interest rate and currency rate fluctuations, economic slowdown or recession, banking instability, monetary policy changes, geopolitical tensions or the outbreak of hostilities or war, including from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the current conflict in Israel and Gaza (including any escalation or expansion) and increasing tensions between China and Taiwan; and • estimates of our expenses, capital requirements, and needs for additional financing. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and are subject to change. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could materially affect results. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual events or results may vary significantly from those implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance. You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. 1 The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K represent our views as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should therefore not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this 10-K, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, our business and the markets for our programs and product candidates. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties and actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances that are assumed in this information. Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business, market, and other data from our own internal estimates and research as well as from reports, research surveys, studies, and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data and similar sources. While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding any third-party information presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, their estimates, in particular, as they relate to projections, involve numerous assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. From time to time, we may use our website to distribute material information about us and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Our financial and other material information is routinely posted to and accessible on the Investor Relations section of our website, available at https://ir.metagenomi.co/. Investors are encouraged to review the Investor Relations section of our website because we may post material information on that site that is not otherwise disseminated by us. Information that is contained in and can be accessed through our website are not incorporated into, and does not form a part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Trademarks and Service Marks This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains references to our trademarks and service marks and to those belonging to other entities. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including logos, artwork and other visual displays, may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate in any way that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other entities’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other entity. Market, Industry and Other Data Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectations about our product candidates, market position, market opportunity, market size, competitive position and the incidence of certain medical conditions, is based on or derived from publicly available information released by industry analysts and third-party sources, independent market research, industry and general publications and surveys, governmental agencies, our internal research and our industry experience. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities for our product candidates include a number of key assumptions based on our industry knowledge and industry publications, the latter of which may be based on small sample sizes and fail to accurately reflect such information, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, no independent source has verified such assumptions. Industry publications and third-party research often indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information and such information is inherently imprecise. In some cases, we do not expressly refer to the sources from which this data is derived. In that regard, when we refer to one or more sources of this type of data in any paragraph, you should assume that other data of this type appearing in the same paragraph is derived from the same sources, unless otherwise expressly stated or the context otherwise requires. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the industry in which we operate is necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by independent third parties and by us. 2 SUMMARY OF MATERIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BUSINESS Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that you should be aware of in evaluating our business. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following: • We have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability. • Our operations will require substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, we may be forced to delay, reduce, or terminate certain of our research and product development programs, future commercialization efforts or other operations. • We are very early in our development efforts, and we have not yet initiated IND-enabling studies or clinical development of any product candidate. As a result, we expect it will be many years before we commercialize any product candidate, if ever. If we are unable to advance our future product candidates into and through clinical trials, obtain regulatory approval and ultimately commercialize our product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed. • We are subject to additional development challenges and risks due to the novel nature of our genome editing technology. • The genome editing field is relatively new and is evolving rapidly. We are focusing our research and development efforts on genome editing using programmable nucleases, base editing, and RNA and DNA-mediated integration systems (including prime editors and CRISPR-associated (“Cas”) transposases), but other genome editing technologies may be discovered that provide significant advantages over such technologies, which could materially harm our business. • While we intend to seek designations for our potential product candidates with the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities that are intended to confer benefits such as a faster development process or an accelerated regulatory pathway, there can be no assurance that we will successfully obtain such designations. In addition, even if one or more of our potential product candidates are granted such designations, we may not be able to realize the intended benefits of such designations. • Because we are developing product candidates in the field of genetic medicines in which there is little clinical experience, there is increased risk that the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities may not consider the endpoints of our clinical trials to provide clinically meaningful results and that these results may be difficult to analyze. • If conflicts arise between us and our collaborators or strategic partners, these parties may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies. • We have entered into collaborations, and may enter into additional collaborations, with third parties for the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of programs or product candidates. If these collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected. • Our commercial success depends on our ability to obtain, maintain, enforce, and otherwise protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology, and if the scope of the intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors or other third parties could develop and commercialize products and product candidates similar to ours and our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our genome editing systems may be adversely affected. • It is difficult and costly to protect our intellectual property and our proprietary technologies, and we may not be able to ensure their protection. • The impacts of cyber attacks and data privacy breaches on our business. The summary risk factors described above should be read together with the text of the full risk factors below in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1.A. and the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as in other documents that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The risks summarized above or described in full below are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not precisely known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects. 3 PART I It em 1. Business. Overview We are a precision genetic medicines company committed to developing curative therapeutics for patients using our proprietary, genome editing toolbox. Genetic diseases are caused by a diverse set of mutations that have been largely inaccessible by genome engineering approaches to date. Genetic mutations are seen in a variety of forms, including deletions, insertions, single-base-pair changes and sequence repeats, and are found throughout the genome and across a variety of different cell types, tissues, and organ systems. Additionally, many diseases lack a genetic origin but have the potential to be effectively and permanently addressed through genome editing. We are harnessing the power of metagenomics, the study of genetic material recovered from the natural environment, to unlock four billion years of microbial evolution to discover and develop a suite of novel editing tools capable of correcting any type of genetic mutation found anywhere in the genome. Our platform combines artificial intelligence (“AI”), ancestral state reconstruction, and proprietary algorithms run on expansive cloud computing infrastructure to identify novel clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (“CRISPR”) nucleases and other effector enzymes at high speed. Our comprehensive genome editing toolbox includes systems for making small edits such as programmable nucleases, base editors, and small RNA-mediated integration systems (“RIGS”), as well as large gene integration systems including large template RIGS and CRISPR-associated transposases (“CASTs”). In addition, our toolbox includes ultra-small editing systems that are small enough to be packaged into a single adeno-associated virus (“AAV”) to potentially address extrahepatic therapeutic indications. Together, these tools form a toolbox with the potential to make any desired gene modification – gene knockdown, gene knock-in as well as small and large genomic corrections. All elements of our toolbox are wholly owned, and we have constructed a broad patent estate that protects our intellectual property. We anticipate that our toolbox will continue to expand as we discover, interrogate, and optimize our novel editing systems. We believe our diverse and modular toolbox positions us to access the entire genome and select the optimal tool to unlock the full potential of genome editing for patients. We are taking a stepwise approach deploying our genome editing toolbox to develop potentially curative therapies for patients. Our lead programs are selected to both address important diseases and to establish new standards in targetability, precision, efficiency, and scope of editing capabilities. We are focused on in vivo gene editing for our wholly-owned pipeline, while pursuing technology out-licensing for ex vivo cell therapy, where next generation genome editing systems are an important enabler of novel therapies. Ultimately, we are working to utilize our genome editing toolbox to prosecute a genetic medicine therapeutic development strategy across a broad array of diseases and target organs including liver, central nervous system, muscle, kidney, and lung, matching the right tool to each specific target. We believe our therapeutic programs are well-positioned to leverage the clinical, regulatory, and manufacturing advancements made to date across gene therapy, gene editing, and delivery modalities to accelerate progression to clinical trials and potential approval. Recent highlights for the lead programs in our portfolio include the following: Hemophilia A - novel, durable, knock-in approach for expression of Factor VIII (FVIII) • Our investigational development program in hemophilia A is a potentially curative therapy designed to provide life-long protection from bleeding events and joint damage in adults and children. In contrast to gene therapy that provides the FVIII gene in an episomal location and risks dilution from cell division or cell death as well as episomal transcriptional silencing, our approach is to insert a FVIII DNA cassette into the genome of hepatocytes in the liver at a “safe harbor location,” within an intron of the albumin gene that is not expected to have deleterious effects. FVIII expression is then driven by the strong native albumin promoter. Our FVIII knock-in approach is designed to provide stable expression and clinically relevant circulating levels of FVIII, even at low integration rates because of the strength of the albumin promoter. • We presented data on our hemophilia A program, including the results of two non-human primate (“NHP”) studies, in an oral presentation at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 66th Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego in December 2024. In the first NHP study, we demonstrated integration of a cynomolgus version of the B-domain deleted wild type FVIII gene, used to avoid the confounding effects of anti-human FVIII antibodies, and confirmed durable FVIII activity levels in all animals over a 16.5-month period with a data cut-off of November 2024. Durable activity from the FVIII knock-in was achieved with only transient elevation of liver transaminases at the time of dose administrations, and with no other safety findings as of that date and no impact to circulating albumin levels and no significant change in total bilirubin post administrations. Additionally, we demonstrated the precision editing capability of our nuclease with no identifiable off-target editing to date in a series of orthogonal assays employed to discover and validate potential off-target sites. In a second NHP study designed to 4 support our lead hemophilia A development candidate, MGX-001, which uses a B-domain deleted bioengineered FVIII construct, we demonstrated significantly higher FVIII activity compared to wild type FVIII, despite similar integration frequency between the bioengineered construct and wild type gene. This data suggests that MGX-001 may enable therapeutic levels of FVIII activity at lower AAV doses, potentially resulting in MGX-001 having improved safety characteristics. • In mid 2024, we engaged in regulatory discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) and initiated manufacturing activities to support Investigational New Drug (“IND”)-enabling studies and clinical material supply. In early 2025, we completed the NHP durability study and plan to release updated FVIII durability and related preclinical study data in the first half of 2025. We plan to conduct pre-IND and ex-U.S. regulatory meetings in 2025. In 2026, we intend to complete IND and clinical trial application (“CTA”) filings for MGX-001 which, following acceptance by regulatory agencies, will allow us to proceed into first-in-human studies. Secreted Protein Deficiencies • Building on our lead hemophilia A program, we are advancing additional wholly-owned therapeutic candidates targeting secreted protein deficiencies, leveraging the MGX-001 editing system as a blueprint for these development programs, with the goal of achieving targeted and durable protein replacement. In 2024, we achieved in vivo proof-of-concept in rodents, demonstrating target protein expression in mice at therapeutically relevant circulating levels for multiple secreted protein deficiency disorders. In 2025, we plan to disclose the lead indication for our secreted protein deficiency platform and achieve NHP proof-of-concept. In 2026, we plan to nominate a development candidate in a secreted protein deficiency disorder. Ionis collaboration – investigational development programs focused on the cardiometabolic space • All four therapeutic targets in Wave 1 of our collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Ionis”) are focused on cardiometabolic diseases. Following selection of the remaining two Wave 1 targets in the first quarter of 2024, we achieved in vivo proof-of-concept in all four Wave 1 therapeutic targets by the end of 2024. These targets include transthyretin amyloidosis, where we are working to develop a single treatment to knockdown gene expression of transthyretin (“TTR”), and refractory hypertension, where we are focused on knockdown of angiotensinogen (“AGT”), as well as two undisclosed targets. In 2025, in partnership with Ionis, we plan to nominate one to two development candidates from the Wave 1 targets and disclose the remaining two therapeutic indications. In 2026, we plan to initiate IND-enabling activities for the development candidates nominated in 2025 and nominate additional development candidates from the remaining Wave 1 targets. Affini-T collaboration – enabling development programs in the cell therapy space • Our collaboration with Affini-T Therapeutics, Inc. (“Affini-T”) is consistent with our strategy for out-licensing our technology for ex vivo cell therapy applications where next generation genome editing systems are an important enabler of novel therapies. Our collaboration with Affini-T continues to progress, and in the second quarter of 2024, we achieved a development milestone related to establishing cGMP gene editing reagents for cell therapy and filing related Drug Master Files with FDA to support an IND for Affini-T’s T-cell receptor-based therapy. In addition to our progress in our lead development programs, we have made significant advances in our genome editing platform development, which we believe provides evidence of our capability to develop enhanced gene editing tools. Recent highlights of our technology platform development include the following: Ultra small (SMART) systems • Our compact SMall Arginine-Rich sysTems (“SMART”) nucleases demonstrated robust in vitro genome editing activity at multiple therapeutically relevant loci; we continue to use AI, ancestral state reconstruction, and structural biology to enhance our gene editing systems, as highlighted with our recent publication in Nature Communications. These compact SMART genome editing tools are also small enough to fit within an AAV, expanding our delivery options. Base Editors • We demonstrated that our novel Adenine Base Editors (“ABEs”) are potentially targetable to over 95% of the human genome’s base pairs, a significantly wider range of sites than first-generation SpCas9 base editors. Our ABE platform achieved over 95% reproducible and durable triplex protein knockdown in primary T-cells, confirming its highly efficient application for multiplex gene editing. The ABE platform demonstrated highly specific on-target deamination with no detectable translocations and no significant genome composition differences, and the platform demonstrated no adverse effects on cell viability, expansion or other measures of cell health. 5 RNA and DNA Mediated Integration Systems • We advanced our CASTs, including testing these systems’ ability to achieve large gene integration in new human cell types with therapeutically relevant targets and cargo. We demonstrated improvements to RNA-mediated integration-based systems for correction of multiple mutations known to cause disease. Our Strategy Our goal is to harness the power of our proprietary metagenomics platform to create curative genetic medicines for patients. Key components of our strategy to achieve this goal include: • Leverage our leadership position in metagenomics to continually advance and expand innovative genome editing tools. We expect to build on the diversity and versatility of our toolbox through continuous interrogation of novel microbial genomic information, identification of highly active natural enzymes, design and optimization of genome editing systems, and continuous integration of learnings to accelerate development. In connection with these discoveries, we will continue to strenuously file and protect our intellectual property. Coupled with our trade secret protection around our discovery platform, our broad intellectual property estate creates a significant barrier to entry. • Develop and deliver products that make precise modifications to the human genome to cure disease. We focus on disease areas with well understood disease biology, readily available translational biomarkers for early proof-of-concept, clear development pathways, and important unmet medical need. We are taking a stepwise approach deploying our genome editing toolbox to develop potentially curative therapies for patients. Along with our development efforts using our novel programmable nucleases to knock-in or knockdown gene expression in liver-associated targets, we are leveraging our toolbox to deliver more complex editing systems to targets in and outside the liver. Our approach allows us to systematically incorporate knowledge and insights from our initial development programs, thereby accelerating therapeutic translation across our genome editing technologies. • Build a fully integrated genome editing company. Our team includes experts in discovery, preclinical and clinical development, encompassing all major functions necessary to take a molecule from target identification through registrational clinical trials. To rapidly translate editing technologies into genetic medicines, we strategically invest in automation, characterization, and manufacturing capabilities. This applies not only to process development and manufacturing for clinical trial materials, but also high throughput automated screening and genome sequencing, and state-of-the-art characterization assays. We believe our ability to develop and characterize complex human genome editing components is essential to pursue a successful regulatory pathway for genetic medicine development. • Expand therapeutic impact to patients through continued investment in business development and enabling partnerships. We carefully consider opportunities for business development such as collaborations and partnerships with industry leaders that have unique strengths and we may pursue additional partnership opportunities which complement our technologies, with the objective of accelerating our programs and pushing forward our therapeutic translation efforts. Our existing partnerships with Ionis and Affini-T demonstrate our thoughtful approach to collaborating with industry pioneers to accelerate and optimize the development of our genetic therapeutic candidates. • Maintain our entrepreneurial outlook, scientifically rigorous approach, and culture of tireless commitment to patients. We are a team of experienced drug discoverers, developers, and company builders who are united by our mission and passion to unlock the full potential of genome editing for patients with high unmet needs. We are dedicated to attracting and retaining top talent and partnerships at the intersection of academia and industry. We are unwavering in our commitment to deliver cutting-edge technology and unlock the long-awaited, transformative potential of genome editing. Introduction to Genome Editing and Limitations with Current Approaches Genome editing is a new treatment modality that has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by creating permanent, one-time treatments that address disease at the genomic level. Genome editing involves the alteration of genetic material of a living organism by inserting, replacing, converting, or deleting nucleotides within the DNA. Several approaches and technologies are being studied and developed in order to perform these edits, including: Nuclease-based genome editing: Several genome editing methods rely on a class of enzymes called nucleases to create double-stranded breaks in DNA at a targeted location to cause gene inactivation, gene insertion, or alter gene splicing. Examples of nucleases include CRISPR associated nucleases, zinc finger nucleases (“ZFNs”), engineered meganucleases, and transcription-activator like effector nucleases (“TALENs”). The discovery and characterization of a particular nuclease, Cas protein 9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (“SpCas9”), has been leveraged to develop a number of different therapeutic approaches. Importantly, additional novel and distinct Cas nucleases exist in nature and have the potential to be developed into tools for genome editing. When introduced at target 6 sites in a genome sequence, genomic breaks trigger DNA repair pathways that can be used for genome editing. If a DNA template is provided, the DNA repair machinery may incorporate the sequence at the site of the genomic break, resulting in a site-specific knock-in. If not, the cut will lead to the disruption of a gene sequence and subsequent knockdown of the encoded protein. Base editing: Base editing is a genome editing approach that relies on using deaminases to chemically convert specific nucleotides in a genome. Deaminases are enzymes that catalyze chemical reactions to remove an amino group. Multiple programmable nuclease platforms, such as CRISPR nucleases, have been harnessed for base editing by using the programmable nature of these enzymes to direct deaminases to specific genomic target sites. In these cases, the nuclease activity is deactivated, thus creating a nicking or nuclease-dead version that does not disrupt the ability of the enzyme to be programmed to target specific genomic sites for editing. There are two primary types of base editors: ABEs and cytosine base editors (“CBEs”). ABEs convert adenine-thymine base pairs to guanine-cytosine base pairs. CBEs target cytosine-guanine and convert them to thymine-adenine. RNA-mediated integration, including prime editing: RIGS are genome editing systems that make programmable genomic modifications that are encoded in RNA templates. Because the modifications are encoded in RNA, these systems have the ability to repair diverse mutations, including insertions, deletions, and all types of point mutations. These systems rely on reverse transcriptases (“RTs”) to convert messages encoded as RNA into DNA. CRISPR systems are used to direct RTs to genomic target sites. Some systems use a nickase to create a target-specific site that primes the activity of the RT and results in the corrected genomic sequence encoded in the RNA to be incorporated into the genome. Prime editing can be accomplished with RIGS, as can large, targeted genomic integrations. DNA-mediated integration, including CAST: CASTs are a class of genome editing systems that provide directed and programmable genomic integration of large DNA templates. CASTs are naturally occurring systems that have been engineered to accomplish large integrations for genome editing in various cell types and for therapeutic applications. The systems consist of a catalytically dead Cas effector that can be programmed by guide RNAs (“gRNAs”) to target a transposase to integrate large DNA cargos into specific genomic target sites. DNA-templated integrations can be accomplished with other transposase and recombinase systems; however, these systems typically require extensive protein engineering in order to alter their targetability, or need to be used in concert with other genome editing tools such as prime editing systems in order to incorporate targeting motifs into specific genomic sites. There have been significant advancements in genome editing since the seminal research that led to the discovery of CRISPR SpCas9 and its application in humans. However, there remain key limitations that must be addressed to unlock the full potential of genome editing. We believe the key limitations facing current genome editing platforms are: 1) First-generation technology lacks the ability and flexibility for accomplishing complex genome editing. The majority of genome editing platforms are limited to a single genome editing approach, such as gene insertions/deletions, single nucleotide changes, or small gene corrections. As a result, they are faced with inherent limitations including the diversity of edits in which they can employ and, as a result, an inability to address a range of diseases. In addition, they lack the flexibility to tailor their genome editing system to a broad range of genomic targets of interest. 2) Lack specificity and control over resulting edits. Current genome editing platforms have a narrow armamentarium of genome editing systems and therefore limited access to systems capable of high activity and specificity at desired target sites. This lack of control and specificity is often measured by “off-target” edits which can pose a risk for undesirable side effects or unexpected safety findings. 3) Size of current genome editing technologies limits in delivery methods and target organs . First-generation SpCas9 systems are about 1,300 amino acids (“aa”) in length and as such are not feasible to package into many delivery vectors such as AAV. As such, their delivery is largely limited to lipid nanoparticle (“LNP”) systems, which precludes delivery to many tissues outside of the liver. 4) Inability to access certain sequences in the genome. SpCas9 is only able to target DNA sequences which contain a flanking sequence of “NGG”, restricting the range in genetic targets it can be programmed to locate, and subsequently limiting the ability to address certain underlying mutations that drive disease. 5) Substantial engineering requirements. Limited access to highly active natural nucleases and effectors drives the need for substantial modifications to make a system operate at therapeutically-relevant levels, resulting in long lead times from discovery to candidate nomination. 6) Narrow terms of license agreement from academic institutions. The majority of genome editing platforms have been formed as a result of a licensing agreement for specific genome editing systems or technology from academic institutions and are therefore limited to the confines of that technology arrangement. Alternatively, genome editing tools developed by us are built from highly novel components derived from our metagenomics database, and thus are not subject to these constraints. In order to address these broad challenges with current genome editing approaches, we have leveraged our deep expertise with 7 metagenomics to develop a proprietary discovery platform that is designed to continuously identify novel editing systems and optimize our expansive editing toolbox. Starting at the microbial level, our multifaceted platform enables discovery beyond nucleases, translating highly active natural enzymes into powerful genome editing systems optimized for efficiency and specificity. Key Attributes of Our Proprietary Toolbox We have developed an expansive and modular toolbox of next-generation genome editing systems that will allow us to interact with the human genome in a site-specific manner, where each tool can be matched to specific disease targets. Figure 1 summarizes our diverse and versatile toolbox of different editing capabilities with the potential to address the full spectrum of genetic diseases. Figure 1. Our Toolbox. Our programmable nucleases are the backbone of our broad set of genome editing tools. These novel nucleases including type II and type V Cas nucleases, of which some are ultra-small systems that we call SMART nucleases, have unique targeting abilities and can be programmed by gRNAs to target and cut at specific locations in any genome sequence. Targeted genomic breaks trigger DNA repair pathways that can be used for genome editing, for example, to integrate a gene at a target site (knock-in) or for gene inactivation (knockdown). Our toolbox contains thousands of CRISPR nucleases with diverse abilities to target different parts of the genome, allowing us to potentially select the ideal nuclease for targeting any given gene in a site-specific manner and overcome a major limitation of first-generation CRISPR/Cas9 systems. We also modify our nucleases to either nick the genome (i.e., a nickase that cuts one strand of the DNA) or to simply bind to target sites (i.e., a nuclease dead variant). These capabilities (searching, cutting, nicking, and binding) can be leveraged as a chassis by adding on additional effector enzymes to create base editors for single nucleotide changes, RIGS for both small and large genomic integrations using “Little RIGS” for prime editing and “Big RIGS” for large integrations. Using modular engineering, we match nickases with deaminases and RTs for base editing and RIGS, respectively. Furthermore, nucleases can be engineered by swapping the search modules of the enzyme to expand the targetability of the chassis, which is critical for site-specific genomic modifications. Given the measured targeting density of our toolbox, we believe that essentially any codon in the human genome could be addressed with our gene editing systems. Our highly active nucleases have gone through extensive preclinical evaluation for both in vivo and ex vivo applications, with demonstration of broad potency of these systems across human primary cells, mouse, and NHP models. Our base editors have demonstrated targetability to over 95% of the human genome’s base pairs, and our ABE platform achieved over 95% reproducible and durable triplex protein knockdown in primary T-cells. Our RIGS and CAST systems have demonstrated activity across various cell-based models. In addition to evaluating system activity, we have undertaken detailed characterization of guide-specific on-and off-target effects. We routinely identify guides that have no or minimal verifiable off-target editing, thus overcoming another limitation of first-generation CRISPR/Cas9 systems. 8 In addition to overcoming the activity, targetability, and specificity limitations of first-generation systems, our nuclease toolbox was designed to have broad compatibility with viral and nonviral delivery technologies. This compatibility is accomplished by having a variety of nuclease and gRNA structures, which range in terms of their size and biochemistry. For example, small guides for some type V Cas systems streamline manufacturing for delivery by LNP approaches, and SMART nickases can be used to construct base editors that are small enough to fit within the packaging limitations of AAV. SpCas9, which is currently used in most base editing applications, is roughly three times the size of some of the smallest SMART nickases and cannot be efficiently packaged into a single AAV. Combined, we believe these features will facilitate delivery of our genome editing tools to previously inaccessible tissue types and organ systems. While nucleases, base editors, and prime editors can precisely address a wide variety of genomic modifications required to treat disease, the fact that many diseases are caused by a multitude of mutations across a gene means that a diverse set of editing tools are required to fully address these patient populations. The integration of a complete and functional gene through targeted genome editing may provide a way in which every patient with a given disease could potentially be treated by a single genetic medicine. Big RIGS and CASTs are novel genome editing systems that are under development to achieve what has been a major challenge for the genome editing field — large, targeted genomic integrations. Initial preclinical readouts conducted in mammalian cells indicate that these systems could potentially have a major impact on how diseases caused by loss-of-function mutations, the most common cause of genetic diseases, can be addressed through genome editing. Key advantages of our platform and technologies are: 1) Potential to create a full spectrum of genetic medicines – Our broad suite of genome editing technologies include: programmable nucleases, base editors, RIGS and CASTs, that, together, can potentially effectuate any desired modification to the genome – gene knockdown, gene knock-in, and replacements. This allows us to address a diverse set of mutations by matching the right tool to a specific target, with limited unintended effects such as off-target editing. As such, we intend to prosecute a genetic medicine therapeutic development strategy across a broad array of diseases and target organs including liver, central nervous system, muscle, kidney, and lung. 2) Potential next generation genome editing systems – Our scientific underpinnings based in metagenomics provide a continuous engine for discovering and developing potential next generation genome editing systems. For example, RIGS and CAST. As we continue to build upon our metagenomic library we expect to expand our toolbox as we make more discoveries. We have constructed a broad patent estate that protects our intellectual property, and it will continue to expand as we discover, interrogate, and optimize our novel editing systems. 3) Ultra-small nuclease platform to expand in vivo delivery of multiple genome editing systems – Compact systems create potential advantages for delivery, manufacturing, and dosing. For example, at 429 aa in length, one of our SMART nucleases is a fraction of the size of the industry-standard SpCas9 system, which is 1,300 aa and exceeds the delivery capacity of standard AAV vectors. The ability to package our systems into a single AAV will enable more efficient targeting of organs and diseases beyond what is currently possible with LNP delivery. 4) Designed to edit any target in the human genome – Our metagenomics library contains hundreds of nucleases with diverse targeting abilities that allow us to address a diverse set of mutations that cause disease, including those found at sites that often cannot be targeted by first-generation nucleases. This allows us to select the ideal nuclease for any target site of interest. Given the measured targeting density of our toolbox, we believe that essentially any codon in the human genome could be addressed with our gene editing systems. 5) Shortened optimization period – We benefit from a diverse set of highly-active nucleases and effectors which have required less protein engineering to optimize. These highly active natural enzymes allow us to quickly identify systems for therapeutic development. As a result of not having to heavily engineer systems to be active in human genome editing applications, we are able to move quickly from discovery to candidate nomination for particular genetic disease applications. 6) Ability to target large gene integrations into the genome using our RIGS and CAST systems – Our novel RIGS and CAST systems allow for programmable, large gene insertions, an outcome which has been a major challenge for the genome editing field. RIGS are a proprietary genome editing system engineered from nickases and RTs, while CAST are systems that exist in nature but have required engineering to allow for mammalian genome editing. We believe we are the first to demonstrate targeted genomic integration in human cells using compact CAST systems. While CAST have the theoretical capability to integrate very large DNA templates into the genome, RIGS are also being developed in order to achieve targeted, large genomic integrations when all components need to be delivered as RNA, for example when using standard LNP delivery technology. Our Pipeline We are taking a stepwise approach deploying our genome editing toolbox to develop potentially curative therapies for patients. Our lead programs are selected to both address important diseases and to establish new standards in targetability, precision, efficiency, and 9 scope of editing capabilities. Figure 2 summarizes the portfolio of programs that we and our partners are advancing, as we aim to match the optimal genome editing tools for each indication. Each of these indications were chosen based on our conviction in the underlying biology, existence of validating preclinical and clinical data, availability of pharmacodynamic and translational tools to assess early proof-of-concept, relevant value-supporting outcome measures, and ongoing clinical unmet need. Our lead programs capture an ever-growing set of translational learnings and insights that will inform and accelerate future programs. Figure 2. Therapeutic Translation. Hemophilia A—novel, durable, knock-in approach for expression of Factor VIII Our wholly-owned, lead investigational development program in hemophilia A is a potentially curative therapy designed to provide life-long protection from bleeding events and joint damage in adults and children. Hemophilia A is the most common X-linked inherited bleeding disorder and is caused by mutations in the FVIII gene leading to loss of functional FVIII protein that impacts the body’s ability to form normal clots in response to injury. FVIII is normally produced in the liver within sinusoidal endothelial cells and is then secreted into the bloodstream where it acts as an essential cofactor for the catalytic activation of Factor X in the clotting pathway. The lack of functional FVIII disrupts the normal clotting cascade and predisposes patients to increased risk of bleeding, either spontaneously or in response to injury or surgery. Repeated bleeding episodes in joints or soft tissues can lead to progressive joint damage, inflammation, pain, and mobility impairment. Intracranial bleeding is of greatest concern as this can be rapidly fatal or lead to major morbidity. The severity of hemophilia A is directly correlated to the amount of residual FVIII activity. Severe hemophilia A is defined as less than 1% of normal FVIII activity, moderate hemophilia A defined as 1-5% of normal FVIII activity and mild hemophilia A defined as 6 to 40% of normal FVIII activity. There are estimated to be up to 26,500 patients with hemophilia A in the United States and more than 500,000 patients with hemophilia A globally. Of these, approximately 60% have severe disease and are at the greatest risk of spontaneous life-threatening bleeding events. In these patients, diagnosis typically occurs in infancy due to exaggerated bleeding in response to minor injury or routine medical procedures. As the inheritance of hemophilia A is X-linked, the vast majority of patients are male. The standard of care for patients with severe hemophilia A, involves lifelong repeated intravenous (“IV”) infusions of recombinant FVIII preparations prophylactically and in response to bleeding events. The major limitation of this approach is fluctuating FVIII activity levels, with trough values that can still result in breakthrough microscopic and macroscopic bleeding events, particularly within sensitive and previously damaged joints. Additionally, frequent FVIII infusions are inconvenient, which can be associated with suboptimal compliance, and in some patients result in inhibitor formation (antibodies against FVIII) that compromise efficacy. More recently, emicizumab, a bispecific antibody, has been approved for hemophilia A in the United States. Valoctocogene roxaparvovec, the first hemophilia A gene therapy, was conditionally approved for use in Europe in August 2022 and was approved in the United 10 States in June 2023. This genetic medicine delivers a FVIII gene construct to the liver using a non-integrating AAV vector; however, longitudinal clinical data has demonstrated that FVIII levels drop over time. Importantly, AAV gene therapy is also not a feasible treatment approach for infants or children due to the high degree of liver growth during pre-adulthood that would dilute out the episomal FVIII gene construct during progressive rounds of liver cell division. As shown in Figure 3, our hemophilia A genome editing strategy has two components. An LNP that is designed to deliver messenger RNA (“mRNA”) along with a gRNA to the liver in order to produce a highly efficient and specific nuclease cut at the albumin safe harbor gene locus. Additionally, an AAV vector delivers the donor template FVIII DNA that becomes inserted into the nuclease cut site by a naturally occurring DNA repair process called non-homologous end joining. FVIII expression is then driven off the strong native albumin promoter. Figure 3. Therapeutic Approach to Hemophilia A Genome Editing. Early in the development of our hemophilia A program, we believed it was important to show that distinct from AAV gene therapy, where longitudinal clinical data has demonstrated that FVIII levels drop over time, our gene editing approach had the potential to express durable FVIII activity. Therefore, we initiated a study in which a cynomolgus version of the wild type FVIII gene (cFVIII), used to avoid the confounding effects of anti-human FVIII antibodies, was administered to three NHPs using our therapeutic approach to hemophilia A as shown in Figure 3. Specifically, each of three animals received an AAV containing a B-domain deleted cFVIII transgene at a dose of 2.0E13 vg/kg. Five weeks later, each NHP was administered an LNP at a dose of 1.0 mg/kg, delivering the MG29-1 nuclease mRNA and associated gRNA. Each animal received only a single dose of dexamethasone prior to the AAV and LNP doses. Plasma was collected and assayed for safety parameters and FVIII activity. Data was generated over 16 months. As shown in Figure 4, and as described in our oral presentation in December 2024 at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 66th Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, results of this study demonstrate that FVIII activity was maintained in each of the three animals (1001, 1002 and 1003) over the 16.5-month study duration. Mean FVIII activity of months 13-16.5 following LNP dosing was 71%, 7%, and 27% compared to mean FVIII activity of months 3-6 of 76%, 8% and 30%, and mean FVIII activity of months 7-12 of 77%, 8% and 32% respectively, in animals 1001, 1002 and 1003. At the 16.5-month time point, FVIII levels were 72%, 9%, 30% in each of the three animals, respectively, with the first animal achieving the normal range for FVIII activity and the remaining two animals in the mild hemophilia A range. FVIII activity levels correlated with gene integration frequency from day 7 liver biopsy of 3.1%, 0.7%, 1.3%, respectively, in each of the three animals, respectively. The FVIII knock-in was achieved with only transient elevation of liver transaminases at the time of AAV and LNP administration, and with no other safety findings as of the cutoff date and no impact to circulating albumin levels and no significant change in total bilirubin post AAV and LNP. This early NHP study was conducted without the benefit of several subsequent optimizations of the therapeutic candidate designed to enhance safety and efficacy in the clinic. 11 Figure 4. Durable FVIII activity achieved in NHPs over 16.5 months. As shown in Figure 5, in a separate rodent study designed to support our lead hemophilia A development candidate, MGX-001, which uses a bioengineered B-domain deleted FVIII construct, we demonstrated significantly higher FVIII activity compared to wild type FVIII, despite similar integration frequency between the bioengineered construct and wild type gene. This data suggests that MGX-001 may enable therapeutic FVIII activity at lower AAV doses with the potential for associated efficacy and safety benefits. Figure 5. AAV dose dependent FVIII activity in rodents comparing wild type and bioengineered human FVIII. The improved potency of the bioengineered FVIII construct was confirmed in NHP as shown in Figure 6, again demonstrating significantly higher FVIII activity compared to wild type FVIII despite similar frequency of integration into the albumin safe harbor site. 12 Figure 6. Peak FVIII activity in the plasma of NHP treated with AAV encoding either wild type B-domain deleted FVIII or bioengineered B-domain deleted FVIII, both constructs with the same LNP. The specificity of editing at the desired target site is a critical aspect in genome editing systems, as editing at additional sites in the genome (called “off-target” editing) may pose a potential safety risk. We used an industry standard approach in which three orthogonal methods (in silico prediction, in vitro editing and in cell editing) were used to identify potential off-target sites for our hemophilia A gene editing system. We then interrogated these potential off-target sites in primary human hepatocytes edited with our hemophilia A gene editing system at doses that result in saturating editing and super saturating editing. We quantified editing at the potential off-target sites using amplicon sequencing, which can detect off-target editing at a sensitivity below 0.1%. To date, we have not identified editing at any site other than the on-target site in the albumin gene with our MGX-001 development candidate. In mid 2024, we engaged in regulatory discussions with the FDA and initiated manufacturing activities to support IND-enabling studies and clinical material supply. In early 2025, we completed our ongoing NHP durability study and plan to release updated durability and related preclinical study data in the first half of 2025. We plan to conduct pre-IND and ex-U.S. regulatory meetings in 2025. In 2026, we plan to complete IND and CTA filings for MGX-001 which, following acceptance by regulatory agencies, will allow us to proceed into first-in-human studies. Secreted protein deficiency disorders Leveraging the MGX-001 editing system, we have advanced additional wholly-owned therapeutic candidates targeting secreted protein deficiencies with the goal of achieving a gene knock-in yielding targeted and durable gene expression, similar to our goal for hemophilia A. For these indications, we replaced the gene that is inserted into the AAV with the gene for the secreted protein of interest. We used the same AAV serotype and general cassette design from our hemophilia A program. In 2024, we achieved in vivo proof-of-concept for three different secreted protein deficiencies. With our lead secreted protein disorder, we achieved levels of the target human protein in mouse plasma that were approximately 2-fold higher than the level observed in normal human plasma. This gives us the potential ability to use dose titration to tune expression within the desired therapeutic window. We anticipate being able to leverage the learnings from MGX-001 to reduce our timeline and costs to IND while benefiting from the established manufacturing processes from MGX-001. In 2025, we plan to disclose our lead indication in secreted protein deficiencies and obtain NHP proof-of-concept. In 2026, we anticipate nominating a development candidate for a secreted protein deficiency. Lead development programs in Ionis Collaboration All four therapeutic targets in Wave 1 of our collaboration with Ionis are focused on cardiometabolic diseases. Following selection of the remaining two Wave 1 targets in the first quarter of 2024, we achieved in vivo rodent proof-of-concept in all four Wave 1 therapeutic targets by the end of 2024. These targets include transthyretin amyloidosis, where we are working to develop a single treatment to knockdown gene expression, and refractory hypertension, where we plan to knockdown expression of angiotensinogen, as well as two undisclosed targets. In 2025, in partnership with Ionis, we plan to nominate one to two development candidates from the Wave 1 targets and disclose the remaining two significant cardiometabolic indications. In 2026, we plan to initiate IND-enabling activities for the development candidates nominated in 2025 and nominate additional development candidates from the remaining Wave 1 targets. Transthyretin Amyloidosis Transthyretin amyloidosis (“ATTR”) is a disease of misfolded and aggregated TTR protein that can deposit in tissues, potentially causing organ dysfunction primarily in the heart and/or peripheral nerves, and potentially resulting in progressive heart failure and 13 death within 3 – 5 years of disease onset. There are up to 40 thousand patients worldwide with hereditary ATTR and approximately 300 – 500 thousand patients worldwide with wild type ATTR. Despite available approaches, ATTR is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, and currently requires a lifelong course of treatment. Our development program in TTR aims to use our programmable nucleases to knockdown wild type or mutated versions of TTR, thereby providing a single-dose treatment for lifelong, stable knockdown of TTR. Along with our partner Ionis, we have achieved 90% knockdown of human TTR protein in a humanized TTR mouse model and have initiated NHP studies. Refractory Hypertension Refractory hypertension is characterized as uncontrolled hypertension despite the use of five or more drugs and is a significant risk for major cardiovascular events, including the risk of heart attack, stroke, and vision and kidney damage. There are approximately 900 thousand adults with refractory hypertension in the US. Despite available approaches, many patients do not reach their blood pressure goals, driven in part by lack of patient adherence to regimens including large numbers of daily oral pills. Our refractory hypertension program is designed to knockdown the expression of AGT in the liver using one of our programmable nucleases to generate a lifelong reduction in blood pressure from a single treatment. We initially demonstrated greater than 85% dose dependent editing and 90% mRNA and protein knockdown in primary human hepatocytes. We then moved into in vivo mouse models to increase the potency of our therapy. We then demonstrated 95% protein knockdown in spontaneous hypertensive rats, a widely used preclinical model for refractory hypertension. We plan to evaluate blood pressure reduction in a longer-term spontaneous hypertensive rat study. Further areas of therapeutic activity and interest Building on our experience delivering our nucleases to the liver via LNP systems, we are extending that experience with the goal to deliver novel RIGS to the liver to potentially correct ATP7B mutations in Wilson’s disease and PiZ mutations in alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (“A1AT deficiency”). Both of these liver diseases have well-defined biology, readily available translational biomarkers for early proof-of-concept, established development pathways based on prior drug approvals, and important unmet medical needs. In parallel with our translation efforts in our lead programs focused on liver-associated targets, we are developing editing systems to allow gene editing beyond the liver. Using our small editing systems designed to be amenable to viral vector delivery, as well as novel type II and type V programmable nucleases, we intend to pursue extrahepatic indications in neuro-muscular and lung and kidney diseases. Programs in research targeting neuromuscular indications include familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, while programs in research targeting lung and kidney diseases include renal diseases and cystic fibrosis, respectively. Our License and Collaboration Agreements Ionis Collaboration and License Agreement On November 10, 2022, the effective date, we entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement (the “Ionis Agreement”) with Ionis to collaborate on drug discovery and exploratory research activities to advance new medicines using gene editing strategies, with the goal of discovering novel medicines. Pursuant to the terms of the Ionis Agreement, we granted Ionis and its affiliates a worldwide exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to grant sublicenses, to use all licensed systems and licensed products in the field of in vivo gene editing for all therapeutic, prophylactic, palliative, and analgesic uses in humans. In connection with the Ionis Agreement, we also have the right to exercise an exclusive option to co-develop and co-commercialize certain products under a drug discovery program. A joint steering committee was established by both parties to coordinate, oversee, and monitor the research and drug discovery activities under the Ionis Agreement. Each party must use commercially reasonable efforts to perform and complete its respective activities under the applicable program plans approved by the joint steering committee. We will collaborate to discover therapeutic products under a drug discovery program and develop a drug discovery plan for each target, selected by Ionis. The target selection is divided into two waves: up to four targets in Wave 1 and up to four targets in Wave 2. For each drug discovery program, once the parties identify a development candidate that is suitable for further development, Ionis will be responsible for the development and commercialization of products resulting from such program. Per the terms of the Ionis Agreement, at any time prior to the designation of a development candidate for a drug discovery program and for any reason, Ionis may replace the collaboration target, provided such target has not previously been substituted out. Ionis may substitute (i) up to two Wave 1 targets and (ii) up to two Wave 2 targets. The drug discovery activities for a program commence on the selection of a target and expire upon the earlier of (a) completion of all drug discovery activities for such program, (b) the fifth anniversary of the effective date and (c) selection of a development candidate 14 for such drug discovery program. If one or more Wave 2 targets become collaboration targets as a result of the parties achieving enabled delivery and less than two years are remaining in the drug discovery term, then the term will be extended to the earlier of (i) the time that we complete all of our activities under the applicable drug discovery plan and (ii) the seventh anniversary of the effective date, subject to our consent. We will also conduct an exploratory research program, and will jointly optimize gRNA and select delivery technologies and other activities. The exploratory research activities commence on the effective date and expire upon the earlier of (a) completion of all exploratory research activities established in the exploratory research plan, and (b) the fifth anniversary of the effective date. We have the exclusive option to co-develop and co-commercialize the licensed products under a drug discovery program (the “Co-Co Option”) with Ionis. The Co-Co Option may be exercised for (a) the initial Wave 1 target (“Target 1”), (b) no more than one of the other three discovery programs for the Wave 1 targets, and (c) no more than two drug discovery programs for the Wave 2 targets that become collaboration targets. If we exercise the Co-Co Option for a particular drug discovery program, that drug discovery program will automatically be deemed a “Co-Co Program”, all corresponding licensed products be deemed “Co-Co Products,” we will be obligated to pay Ionis an option exercise fee, and we and Ionis will enter into a separate co-development and co-commercialization agreement. The Co-Co Option exercise fee will equal 50% of Ionis’ internal costs and out-of-pocket costs incurred in the conduct of the drug discovery activities prior to the exercise of the Co-Co Option and be reduced by 50% of our corresponding costs incurred. Future development and commercialization costs will be shared equally. We may elect to reduce our cost-share percentage anywhere between 50% and 25% on a go-forward basis, provided we will continue to bear 50% of the costs of any clinical trials ongoing at the time of the election through the completion of the clinical trials. We will manufacture all licensed systems and certain components of the applicable licensed products that are needed by Ionis for use in its development activities and all of our manufactured components needed by Ionis for use in its commercialization activities. We will provide the manufactured components at a price that represents the cost of goods plus 15%. Pursuant to the terms of the Ionis Agreement, we have also been granted an option to obtain a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license, with the right to grant sublicenses, for certain Ionis’ background technology to use in up to eight therapeutic products discovered by us in the field of in vivo gene editing and directed to a Collaboration Target (each such product, a “Metagenomi Product” and each such option an “Ionis IP Option”), but subject to encumbrance checks with respect to particular targets. A Collaboration Target is a target that is selected by Ionis, and, with respect to us, is not the subject of discussions with a third party, is not the subject of a contractual grant of rights to a third party nor the subject to an internal research and development program. If we exercise our Ionis IP Option, we will pay to Ionis up to several million dollars per Metagenomi Product upon achievement of certain clinical and regulatory milestones. We are also obligated to pay Ionis royalties in an amount equal to a low single-digit royalty on the net sales of the applicable Metagenomi Product on product-by-product and country-by-country basis. In November 2022, we received an $80.0 million upfront payment from Ionis for the Wave 1 drug discovery research collaboration and selected Target 1. Ionis selected its second target (“Target 2”) in Wave 1 in December 2022, its third target (“Target 3”) in Wave 1 in November 2023, and its fourth target (“Target 4”) in Wave 1 in February 2024. Ionis has an option to select up to four Wave 2 targets at any time during the drug discovery term, if (a) an IND for any licensed product directed to a Wave 1 target is filed with the applicable regulatory authority or (b) the parties achieve enabled delivery for a non-liver target under the exploratory research activities, by providing written notice and by paying a Wave 2 target selection fee of $15.0 million or $30.0 million, depending on and per the selected target. Ionis is obligated to reimburse us for all internal costs and out-of-pocket costs incurred in the performance of the exploratory research activities, up to an aggregate of $10.0 million, which is payable in quarterly installments of $0.5 million during the exploratory research term. As of December 31, 2024, we received a total of $4.0 million related to the reimbursable expenses. We are also eligible to receive (a) up to $29.0 million in future development milestone payments for each licensed product; (b) up to $60.0 million in future regulatory milestone payments for each licensed product; (c) up to $250.0 million in sales-based milestones for each licensed product; and (d) royalties on annual net sales of licensed products from a mid-single-digit to low-teens percentage, subject to customary reductions. The term of the Ionis Agreement will continue (i) with respect to the drug discovery programs, until the expiration of all applicable royalty terms for a licensed product, (ii) with respect to the Co-Co Programs, until the parties cease all exploitation for the Co-Co Products that are the subject to such Co-Co Program, and (iii) with respect to the Metagenomi Products, until the expiration of the royalty term for a Metagenomi Product. The royalty term ends on the latest of the following two dates: (i) the expiration of (A) the last claim of any issued and unexpired patent, or (B) a claim within a patent application that has not been pending for more than seven years from the earliest date to which the claim or applicable patent application is entitled to claim priority and which claim has not been revoked, cancelled, withdrawn, 15 held invalid, or abandoned, or (ii) 12 years following the first commercial sale of a licensed product. The Ionis Agreement may be terminated during the term by either party for an uncured material breach or bankruptcy by the other party. Additionally, Ionis may terminate the Ionis Agreement for convenience and without penalty, in its entirety or on a licensed product-by-licensed product basis, by providing 90 days’ written notice. Upon termination, Ionis will transfer to us ownership of all regulatory approvals, and all licenses granted under the agreement with respect to the applicable products under the agreement shall terminate, subject to an orderly wind-down period and a right for Ionis to sell or otherwise dispose of applicable products on hand at the time of such termination. Upon our written request within 30 days following termination, Ionis will grant us an exclusive, royalty-bearing (as agreed by the parties at such time), right and license, with the right to grant sublicenses through multiple tiers, to patent rights and know-how controlled by Ionis and used in the development, commercialization, or exploitation of terminated products, solely for the exploitation of such terminated products in the terminated countries. Affini-T Development, Option and License Agreement On June 14, 2022, the effective date, we entered into a Development, Option and License Agreement (the “Affini-T Agreement”) with Affini-T. Pursuant to the Affini-T Agreement, we and Affini-T have agreed to identify, develop or optimize certain reagents using our proprietary technology for Affini-T to use such reagents to develop and commercialize gene edited TCR-based therapeutic products exclusively in the field of treatment, prevention or diagnosis of any human cancer using products with any engineered primary TCR alpha/beta T cells and non-exclusively in the field of treatment, prevention or diagnosis of any human cancer using products with certain other engineered immune cells worldwide. A joint steering committee was established by both parties to assign alliance managers and project leaders to oversee the collaboration activities. We must use commercially reasonable efforts to perform and complete our obligations under research plans approved by the joint steering committee. Pursuant to the Affini-T Agreement, we granted Affini-T options to receive, on a pre-specified target-by-pre-specified target basis, for up to six pre-specified targets, either (i) an exclusive, royalty-bearing, sublicensable worldwide license under all of our applicable intellectual property to research, develop, manufacture, use, commercialize and otherwise exploit any TCR-based therapy, preventative treatment, or diagnostic for humans that is directed to such pre-specified target, contains or comprises Primary TCR alpha/beta T Cells and is derived from ex vivo application of our reagent (the “Exclusive Option”) or (ii) a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing, sublicensable worldwide license under all our applicable intellectual property to research, develop, manufacture, use commercialize and otherwise exploit any TCR-based therapy, preventative treatment, or diagnostic for humans that is directed to such pre-specified target, contains or comprises TCR natural killer (“NK”) cells derived from iPSC immune cells or TCR T cells derived from donor-derived or iPSC immune cells. Affini-T can exercise its options for either an exclusive license or a non-exclusive license, or both, for each pre-specified target by providing written notice prior to the earlier of (x) the end of the Affini-T Agreement term or (y) 90 days following the filing of an IND for a licensed product directed to a pre-specified target, subject to the payment of certain fees per each option exercised. After the option exercise, Affini-T has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to conduct all development and commercialization activities for a licensed product, and development and commercialization of all licensed products will be at Affini-T’s sole cost and expense. On a target-by-target basis, (1) until the earlier of Affini-T’s (a) exercise of an Exclusive Option, (b) written notice not to exercise an Exclusive Option or (c) expiration of an applicable Exclusive Option or (2) upon exercise of an Exclusive Option, we and our affiliates shall not exploit, or work with any third party to exploit, any ex vivo gene edited products directed to the applicable target covered by such Exclusive Option. In connection with the Affini-T Agreement, we received upfront equity consideration of 719,920 shares of Affini-T’s common stock with an estimated fair value of $1.3 million in June 2022. In July 2024, pursuant to the terms of the Affini-T Agreement, we received equity consideration of 933,650 shares of Affini-T common stock with an estimated fair value of $1.6 million upon the achievement of a regulatory milestone related to the submission of drug master files to the FDA in support of an IND for Affini-T’s T-cell receptor based therapy. The fair value of Affini-T’s shares of common stock was estimated by our management, considering the most recent third-party valuation at the time of each grant. Affini-T has also agreed to reimburse us for expenses incurred while performing research activities under the research plans. As of December 31, 2024, we received a total of $7.5 million from Affini-T related to reimbursable expenses. Additionally, we are eligible to receive (i) up to $18.8 million in future developmental milestone payments depending on the completion of or the number of patients dosed in, the relevant human clinical trial, or the initiation of a pivotal trial, and $40.6 million in future regulatory approval milestone payments, which include regulatory approvals in the U.S. and other markets for licensed products directed to a pre-specified target if options for both exclusive and non-exclusive licenses are exercised with respect to such target, (ii) up to $250.0 million in sales-based milestones for aggregate sales of all licensed products directed to a given pre-specified target and (iii) royalties ranging from a low-single digit to high-single digit percentage of worldwide annual net sales of licensed products. The initial term of the Affini-T Agreement is five years from the effective date. If Affini-T exercises an Exclusive Option with respect 16 to any pre-specified target during the initial term, the initial term will be extended by an additional five years. Following the expiration of the extended term, if any, the agreement will continue on a target-by-target basis and expire with respect to such target upon the expiration of the royalty term for all licensed products directed to such target. The Affini-T Agreement may be terminated during the term by either party for an uncured material breach by, or bankruptcy of, the other party. Additionally, Affini-T may terminate the Affini-T Agreement for convenience, in its entirety, on a research plan-by-research plan basis, on a target-by-target basis or on a licensed product-by-licensed product basis, by providing prior written notice. Upon a material breach and with written notice to us, in lieu of termination, Affini-T shall have the right to continue the agreement at payments payable at a certain percentage reduction. Termination of Moderna Agreement On April 26, 2024 (the “Termination Date”), we and ModernaTx, Inc. (“Moderna”) mutually terminated the Strategic Collaboration and License Agreement, dated October 29, 2021 (the “Moderna Agreement”), by and between us and Moderna. As a result of the termination of the Moderna Agreement, we regained full development and commercialization rights to our wholly-owned base editing and RIGS technologies that were subject to the Moderna Agreement and regained full rights to our Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1 (“PH1”) program. We have decided to look for a partner or licensee for further development of PH1. Previously disclosed data achieved preclinical proof-of-concept in an accepted disease model of PH1. For additional information, refer to Note 7 in our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Competition The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including the gene therapy and genome editing fields, are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition, and a reliance on strong intellectual property. We believe our metagenomics powered discovery platform along with our expertise in genome editing, drug discovery, clinical development, manufacturing and our ever-increasing IP portfolio, provide us with several key competitive advantages over our peers. Despite our competitive advantages, we face competition from several companies. There are numerous publicly traded companies utilizing CRISPR/Cas nuclease technology, including Caribou Biosciences, Inc., Editas Medicine, Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics AG and Intellia Therapeutics, Inc., among others. Beam Therapeutics Inc. and Verve Therapeutics, Inc. utilize base editing technology and Prime Medicine utilizes prime editing technology. Several other companies such as Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., Precision BioSciences, Inc., Cellectis S.A., and bluebird bio, Inc. utilize first-generation nuclease-based genome editing technologies, including ZFNs, engineered meganucleases and TALENs. We also face competition from companies utilizing gene therapy, oligonucleotides, and CAR-T therapeutic approaches. There are several other private companies such as Arbor Biotech, nChroma Bio, Mammoth Biosciences, Scribe Therapeutics, Tessera Therapeutics, and Tune Therapeutics, Inc. that have announced they are working on genome-and epigenome-editing therapies. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future that are approved to treat the same diseases for which we may obtain approval for our product candidates. This may include other genome editing companies using antiquated or next generation genome editing approaches or other types of therapies, such as small molecule, antibody, and/or protein therapies. For example, valoctocogene roxaparvovec, the first hemophilia A gene therapy, was conditionally approved for use in Europe in August 2022 and was approved in the United States in June 2023. In addition, many of our current or potential competitors, either alone or with their collaboration partners, have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials and approved products than we do today. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and gene therapy industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. We also compete with these companies in recruiting, hiring, and retaining qualified scientific and management talent, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, obtaining manufacturing slots at contract manufacturing organizations. Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, particularly if they represent cures, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient, or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. The key competitive factors affecting the success of all of our programs are likely to be their efficacy, safety, convenience, and availability of reimbursement. Manufacturing Our genome editing technology is composed of multiple genome editing components including the nuclease, mRNA, gRNA, and in some instances may include a donor DNA or RNA template for insertions. We have extensively characterized each of these 17 components and have made significant investment in scalable manufacturing and process automation to meet stringent current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”). Our in-house cGMP facility is capable of manufacturing clinical grade nucleases and mRNA to supply both wholly-owned and collaboration programs. We partner with contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”) for gRNA and DNA template development and supply. If any one of our current contract manufacturers or suppliers cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace that manufacturer or supplier. Although we believe that there are several potential alternative suppliers to support any product candidates we may develop, we may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement. We continue to invest in both viral and non-viral delivery technologies internally and with partners. In the second half of 2024, we initiated manufacturing activities to support IND-enabling studies and clinical material supply. We believe our ability to develop, characterize, and manufacture complex human genome editing components is essential to maintaining a competitive edge while pursuing a successful regulatory pathway for genetic medicine. Intellectual Property Our success depends in large part upon our ability to obtain and maintain our technology and intellectual property. To protect our intellectual property rights, we primarily rely on patents and trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures, and employee disclosure and invention assignment agreements. Our intellectual property is critical to our business and we strive to protect it through a variety of approaches, including by obtaining and maintaining patent protection in various countries for our genome editing technology and other inventions that are important to our business. Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. The time required for development, testing, and regulatory review of our genome editing systems limits the commercially useful lifespan of our patents. The patent positions of companies like ours are generally uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions. No consistent policy regarding the scope of patentable claims in the field of genome editing has emerged, for example, in the United States and in Europe. Changes in the patent laws and rules, either by legislation, judicial decisions, or regulatory interpretation may diminish our ability to protect our inventions and enforce our intellectual property rights. These changes could affect the scope and value of our intellectual property. Filing, prosecuting, enforcing, and defending patents protecting our genome editing systems in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. We cannot seek patent protection for our genome editing systems throughout the world. Furthermore, the intellectual property rights we obtain in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those obtained in the United States. The requirements for patentability may differ in certain countries, particularly in developing countries; thus, even in countries where we do pursue patent protection, there can be no assurance that any patents will issue with claims that cover our products. Our ability to stop third parties from infringing any of our patented inventions, either directly or indirectly, will depend in part on our success in obtaining, defending, and enforcing patent claims that cover our genome editing systems. We cannot be sure that any patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications filed by us in the future. We cannot be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be found by a court to be enforceable. Protecting our competitive position around our genome editing systems may involve lawsuits to enforce our patents or other intellectual property, which is expensive and time consuming, and may ultimately be unsuccessful. Furthermore, our issued patents and those that may issue in the future may be challenged, narrowed, circumvented, or invalidated, which could limit our ability to stop competitors from marketing related genome editing systems or limit the length of the term of patent protection that we may have for our genome editing systems and future gene therapies. We cannot be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be useful in protecting our commercialized genome editing systems. The rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with complete protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar but not identical technology or technologies that achieve similar outcomes but with different approaches. For these reasons, we may have competition for our genome editing systems. Our issued patents and those that may issue in the future do not guarantee us the right to practice our genome editing systems. Third parties may have issued patents or be granted patents in the future that could block our ability to commercialize our genome editing systems. We and third parties rely on trade secrets to protect certain aspects of our genome editing systems. If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our competitive position could be harmed. Furthermore, reliance on trade secrets does not prevent third parties from independently inventing those aspects of our genome editing systems. While we take commercially reasonable steps 18 to ensure that our employees do not use the trade secrets of third parties, third parties may file claims asserting that we or our employees have misappropriated their trade secret. For this and other risks related to our technology, inventions, improvements, platforms, and genome editing technology, please see the section entitled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.” Patent Portfolio As of December 31, 2024, we own six issued U.S. patents, 32 pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications, 23 pending U.S. provisional patent applications, 18 issued foreign patents in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and South Korea, 234 pending foreign patent applications, including in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Brazil, and 19 Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) patent applications. The patent portfolios for our genome editing systems as of December 31, 2024 are summarized below. Our type II CRISPR systems are protected by three issued U.S. patents with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type II nucleases, four pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type II nucleases and methods of using them, and one pending U.S. provisional patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type II nucleases and methods of using them. Our type II CRISPR systems are also protected by seven issued foreign patents with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type II nucleases, including in Canada, South Korea, Great Britain, Australia and Mexico, 33 pending foreign patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type II nucleases and methods of using them, including in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Brazil, and two PCT patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type II nucleases and methods of using them. The aforementioned issued U.S. patents will expire on February 14, 2040, and the issued foreign patents will expire on February 14, 2040. If issued, the aforementioned patent applications are expected to expire between February 14, 2040 and August 29, 2042. Our type V CRISPR systems are protected by two issued U.S. patents, three pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications, and one pending U.S. provisional patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type V nucleases with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type V nucleases and methods of using them. Our type V CRISPR systems are also protected by six issued foreign patents with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type V nucleases, including in Australia, Great Britain, Hong Kong and South Korea, 19 pending foreign patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type V nucleases and methods of using them, including in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico, and one PCT patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using Type V nucleases and methods of using them. The aforementioned issued U.S. patents will expire on March 6, 2041, and the issued foreign patents will expire on March 5, 2041 and March 6, 2041. If issued, the aforementioned patent applications are expected to expire between March 6, 2041 and July 29, 2043. Our base editor systems are protected by five pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases and base editors and methods of using them, and eight pending U.S. provisional patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases and base editors and methods of using them. Our base editor systems are also protected by one issued foreign patent with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases and base editors, 22 pending foreign patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases and base editors and methods of using them, including in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Brazil, and one PCT patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases and base editors and methods of using them. The aforementioned issued foreign patent will expire on September 9, 2041. If issued, the aforementioned patent applications are expected to expire between September 10, 2041 and May 3, 2044. Our CAST systems are protected by four pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases in combination with either recombinases or transposases and methods of using them, and one pending U.S. provisional patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases in combination with either recombinases or transposases and methods of using them. Our CAST systems are also protected by 39 pending foreign patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases in combination with either recombinases or transposases and methods of using them, including in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico, and one PCT patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using nucleases in combination with either recombinases or transposases and methods of using them. If issued, the aforementioned patent applications are expired to expire between August 23, 2041 and March 23, 2043. 19 Our Cas chimera systems are protected by two pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using chimeric nucleases and methods of using them and one pending U.S. provisional patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using chimeric nucleases and methods of using them. Our Cas chimera systems are also protected by two issued foreign patents in Great Britain and Hong Kong, and 18 pending foreign patent applications, including in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using chimeric nucleases, and one PCT patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using chimeric nucleases and methods of using them. If issued, the aforementioned patent applications are expected to expire on January 21, 2042. Our SMART nuclease systems are protected by one issued U.S. patent, three pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using small nucleases, and one pending U.S. provisional patent application with composition of matter covering genome editing systems using small nucleases and methods of using them. Our SMART nuclease systems are also protected by two issued foreign patents in Great Britain and Japan, 21 pending foreign patent applications with composition of matter covering genome editing systems using small nucleases and methods of using them, including in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, and Mexico, and one PCT patent application with composition of matter claims covering genome editing systems using small nucleases and methods of using them. The aforementioned issued U.S. patent will expire on March 30, 2041 and the aforementioned issued foreign patents will expire on March 30, 2041. If issued, the aforementioned patent applications are expected to expire on March 30, 2041. We cannot predict whether the patent applications we pursue or may license in the future will issue as patents in any particular jurisdiction or whether the claims of any issued patents will provide any protection from competitors. Even if our pending patent applications are granted as issued patents, those patents, as well as any patents we may license in the future from third parties now or in the future, may be challenged, circumvented or invalidated by third parties. Consequently, we may not obtain or maintain adequate patent protection for any of our programs and genome editing systems. The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest date of filing of a non-provisional patent application. In the United States, the patent term of a patent may be extended by patent term adjustment, which compensates the patent owner for patent office delays. Additionally, in the United States, patents that cover an FDA-approved drug or biologic may also be eligible for patent term extension, which permits patent term restoration as compensation for the patent term lost during FDA regulatory review process. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the expiration of the patent. The length of the patent term extension is related to the length of time the drug or biologic is under regulatory review. Patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval, only one patent applicable to an approved drug or biologic may be extended and only those claims covering the approved drug or biologic, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar provisions are available in European Member States and other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug or biologic. In the future, if our investigational gene therapies receive FDA approval, we expect to apply for patent term extensions where applicable on patents covering those products. We plan to seek patent term extensions to any of our issued patents in any jurisdiction where these are available, however there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) in the United States, will agree with our assessment of whether these extensions should be granted, and if granted, the length of these extensions. Our intellectual property is critical to our business and we strive to protect it through a variety of approaches, including by obtaining and maintaining patent protection in various countries for our genome editing technology and other inventions that are important to our business. Trademarks As of December 31, 2024, we own the trademark registrations for Metagenomi in the United States and we have trademark applications for Metagenomi SMART in the United States. Trade Secrets and Proprietary Information In addition to our reliance on patent protection for our inventions, investigational gene therapies and research programs, we also rely on trade secrets, know-how, confidentiality agreements and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. Although we take steps to protect our proprietary information and trade secrets, including through contractual means with our employees, advisors and consultants, these agreements may be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, third parties may independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or disclose our technology. As a result, we may not be able to meaningfully protect our trade secrets. It is our policy to require our employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers and other advisors to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of employment or consulting relationships with us. These agreements 20 provide that all confidential information concerning our business or financial affairs developed or made known to the individual or entity during the course of the party’s relationship with us is to be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except in specific circumstances. In the case of employees, the agreements provide that all inventions conceived of by the individual during the course of employment, and which relate to or are reasonably capable or being used in our current or planned business or research and development are our exclusive property. In addition, we take other appropriate precautions, such as physical and technological security measures, to guard against misappropriation of our technology by third parties. However, such agreements and policies may be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for such breaches. For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.” Government Regulation In the United States, biological products, including gene therapy products, are subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FD&C Act”), and the Public Health Service Act (“PHS Act”), and other federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations. Both the FD&C Act and the PHS Act and their corresponding regulations govern, among other things, the research, development, clinical trial, testing, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling, packaging, storage, record keeping, distribution, reporting, advertising, and other promotional practices involving biological products. Each clinical trial protocol for a gene therapy product must be reviewed by the FDA. FDA approval must be obtained before the marketing of biological products. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources and we may not be able to obtain the required regulatory approvals. U.S. Biological Product Development Process The process required by the FDA before a biological product candidate may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following: • completion of nonclinical laboratory tests and animal studies according to good laboratory practices (“GLPs”), unless justified and applicable requirements for the humane use of laboratory animals or other applicable regulations; • submission to the FDA of an application for an IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin; • approval of the protocol and related documentation by an independent institutional review board (“IRB”), or ethics committee at each clinical trial site before each study may be initiated; • performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials according to the FDA’s regulations commonly referred to as good clinical practices (“GCPs”), and any additional requirements for the protection of human research subjects and their health information, to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed biological product for its intended use; • submission to the FDA of a biologics license application (“BLA”), for regulatory approval that includes sufficient evidence of establishing the safety, purity and potency of the proposed biological product for its intended indication, including from results of nonclinical testing and clinical trials; • satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities where the biological product is produced to assess compliance with cGMP, to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the biological product’s identity, strength, quality and purity and, if applicable, the FDA’s current good tissue practices (“CGTPs”), for the use of human cellular and tissue products; • potential FDA audit of the nonclinical study and clinical trial sites that generated the data in support of the BLA in accordance with any applicable expedited programs or designations; • review of the product candidate by an FDA advisory committee, where appropriate or if applicable; • payment of user fees for FDA review of the BLA (unless a fee waiver applies); and • FDA review and approval, or licensure, of the BLA. Before testing any biological product candidate, including a gene therapy product, in humans, the product candidate enters the preclinical testing stage. Preclinical tests, also referred to as nonclinical studies, include laboratory evaluations of product biological characteristics, chemistry, toxicity, and formulation, as well as animal studies to assess the potential safety and activity of the product candidate. The conduct of the preclinical tests must comply with federal regulations and requirements including GLPs. An IND is an exemption from the FD&C Act that allows an investigational product candidate to be shipped in interstate commerce for use in a clinical trial and a request for FDA authorization to administer such investigational product candidate to humans. Such 21 authorization must be secured prior to interstate shipment and administration of any product candidate that is not the subject of an approved BLA. In support of a request for an IND, applicants must submit a protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. In addition, the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature and plans for clinical trials, among other things, must be submitted to the FDA as part of an IND. The FDA requires a 30-day waiting period after the filing of each IND before clinical trials may begin. This waiting period is designed to allow the FDA to review the IND to determine whether human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks. At any time during this 30-day period the FDA may raise concerns or questions about the conduct of the trials as outlined in the IND and impose a clinical hold or partial clinical hold. In this case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before clinical trials can begin. Following commencement of a clinical trial, the FDA may also place a clinical hold or partial clinical hold on that trial. A clinical hold is an order issued by the FDA to the sponsor to delay a proposed clinical investigation or to suspend an ongoing investigation. A partial clinical hold is a delay or suspension of only part of the clinical work requested under the IND. No more than 30 days after imposition of a clinical hold or partial clinical hold, the FDA will provide the sponsor a written explanation of the basis for the hold. Following issuance of a clinical hold or partial clinical hold, an investigation may only resume after the FDA has notified the sponsor that the investigation may proceed. There also are requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical trials and completed clinical trial results to public registries. Information about certain clinical trials, including clinical trial results, must be submitted within specific timeframes for publication on the www.clinicaltrials.gov website. A sponsor may choose, but is not required, to conduct a foreign clinical trial under an IND. When a foreign clinical trial is conducted under an IND, all FDA IND requirements must be met unless waived. When a foreign clinical trial is not conducted under an IND, the sponsor must ensure that the study complies with certain regulatory requirements of the FDA in order to use the study as support for an IND or application for regulatory approval or licensing. In particular, such studies must be conducted in accordance with GCP, including review and approval by an independent ethics committee (“IEC”), and informed consent from subjects. The FDA must be able to validate the data through an onsite inspection, if deemed necessary by the FDA. An IRB representing each institution participating in the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it commences at that institution, and the IRB must conduct continuing review and reapprove the study at least annually. The IRB must review and approve, among other things, the study protocol and informed consent information to be provided to study subjects. An IRB must operate in compliance with FDA regulations. An IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution, or an institution it represents, if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the product candidate has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. Some trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee (“DSMB”). This group provides authorization as to whether or not a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access that only the group maintains to available data from the study. In addition to the submission of an IND to the FDA before initiation of a clinical trial in the United States, certain human clinical trials involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules may be subject to oversight of institutional biosafety committees (“IBCs”), as set forth in the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (“NIH Guidelines”). Under the NIH Guidelines, recombinant and synthetic nucleic acids are defined as: (i) molecules that are constructed by joining nucleic acid molecules that can replicate in a living cell (i.e., recombinant nucleic acids); (ii) nucleic acid molecules that are chemically or by other means synthesized or amplified, including those that are chemically or otherwise modified but can base pair with naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules (i.e., synthetic nucleic acids); or (iii) molecules that result from the replication of those described in (i) or (ii). Specifically, under the NIH Guidelines, supervision of human gene transfer trials includes evaluation and assessment by an IBC, a local institutional committee that reviews and oversees research utilizing recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules at that institution. The IBC assesses the safety of the research and identifies any potential risk to public health or the environment, and such review may result in some delay before initiation of a clinical trial. While the NIH Guidelines are not mandatory unless the research in question is being conducted at or sponsored by institutions receiving NIH funding for recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecule research, many companies and other institutions not otherwise subject to the NIH Guidelines voluntarily follow them. Clinical trials typically are conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined: • Phase 1. The biological product candidate is initially introduced into healthy human subjects and tested for safety. In the case of some biological product candidates for severe or life-threatening diseases, especially when the product candidate may be too inherently toxic to ethically administer to healthy volunteers, the initial human testing is often conducted in patients. • Phase 2. The biological product candidate is evaluated in a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of the product candidate for specific targeted diseases and to determine dosage tolerance, optimal dosage and dosing schedule. 22 • Phase 3. Clinical trials are undertaken to further evaluate dosage, clinical efficacy, potency and safety in an expanded patient population at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. These clinical trials are intended to establish the overall risk/benefit ratio of the product candidate and provide an adequate basis for approval and product labeling. Post-approval clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, may be conducted after initial regulatory approval. These clinical trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication, particularly for long-term safety follow-up. The FDA generally recommends that sponsors of human gene therapy product candidates and genome editing product candidates observe subjects for potential gene therapy-related delayed adverse events for up to a 15-year period, including five years of annual examinations followed by ten years of annual queries, either by telephone or by questionnaire, of study subjects. During all phases of clinical development, the FDA requires extensive monitoring and auditing of all clinical activities, clinical data, and clinical trial investigators. Annual progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted to the FDA. Written IND safety reports must be promptly submitted to the FDA and the investigators for serious and unexpected suspected adverse events, any findings from other studies, tests in laboratory animals or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk for human subjects, or any clinically important increase in the rate of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The sponsor must submit an IND safety report within 15 calendar days after the sponsor determines that the information qualifies for reporting. The sponsor also must notify the FDA of any unexpected fatal or life-threatening suspected adverse reaction within seven calendar days after the sponsor’s initial receipt of the information. The FDA or the sponsor, acting on its own or based on a recommendation from the sponsor’s data safety monitoring board may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the biological product candidate has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and also must develop additional information about the physical characteristics of the biological product candidate as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product candidate in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP. To help reduce the risk of the introduction of adventitious agents with use of biological product candidates, the PHS Act emphasizes the importance of manufacturing control for product candidates whose attributes cannot be precisely defined. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the sponsor must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, potency, and purity of the final biological product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the biological product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life. U.S. Review and Approval Processes After the completion of clinical trials of a biological product candidate, FDA approval of a BLA must be obtained before commercial marketing of the biological product. The BLA must include results of product development, laboratory and animal studies, human studies, information on the manufacture and composition of the product, proposed labeling and other relevant information. The testing and approval processes require substantial time and effort and there can be no assurance that the FDA will accept the BLA for filing and, even if filed, that any approval will be granted on a timely basis, if at all. Within 60 days following submission of the application, the FDA reviews a BLA to determine if it is substantially complete before the FDA accepts it for filing. The FDA may refuse to file any BLA that it deems incomplete or not properly reviewable at the time of submission and may request additional information. In this event, the BLA must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application also is subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. In most cases, the submission of a BLA is subject to a substantial application user fee, although the fee may be waived under certain circumstances. Under the performance goals and policies implemented by the FDA under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), for original BLAs, the FDA targets ten months from the filing date in which to complete its initial review of a standard application and respond to the applicant, and six months from the filing date for an application with priority review. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates, and the review process is often significantly extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification. This review typically takes 12 months from the date the BLA is submitted to the FDA because the FDA has approximately two months to make a “filing” decision. The review process and the PDUFA goal date may be extended by three months if the FDA requests or the BLA sponsor otherwise provides additional information or clarification regarding information already provided in the submission within the last three months before the PDUFA goal date. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review of the BLA. The FDA reviews the BLA to determine, among other things, whether the proposed product is safe, pure, and potent for its intended use, and whether the product is being manufactured in accordance with cGMP to ensure the continued safety, purity, and potency of such product. The FDA may refer applications for novel biological products or biological products that present difficult or novel questions of safety or efficacy to an 23 advisory committee, typically a panel that includes clinicians and other experts, for review, evaluation, and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions. During the biological product approval process, the FDA also will determine whether a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”), is necessary to assure the safe use of the biological product. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the BLA must submit a proposed REMS; the FDA will not approve the BLA without a REMS, if required. Before approving a BLA, the FDA typically will inspect the facilities at which the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve the product unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. For a gene therapy product, the FDA also will not approve the product if the manufacturer is not in compliance with the CGTPs. These are FDA regulations that govern the methods used in, and the facilities and controls used for, the manufacture of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (“HCT/Ps”), which are human cells or tissue intended for implantation, transplant, infusion, or transfer into a human recipient. The primary intent of the CGTP requirements is to ensure that cell and tissue-based products are manufactured in a manner designed to prevent the introduction, transmission and spread of communicable disease. FDA regulations also require tissue establishments to register and list their HCT/Ps with the FDA and, when applicable, to evaluate donors through appropriate screening and testing. Additionally, before approving a BLA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure that the clinical trials were conducted in compliance with IND study requirements and GCP requirements. To assure cGMP, CGTP and GCP compliance, an applicant must incur significant expenditure of time, money, and effort in the areas of training, record keeping, production and quality control. Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act (“PREA”), a BLA or supplement to a BLA for a novel product (e.g., new active ingredient, new indication, etc.) must contain data to assess the safety and effectiveness of the biological product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. The FDA may grant deferrals for submission of data or full or partial waivers. Unless otherwise required by regulation, PREA does not apply to any biological product for an indication for which orphan designation has been granted. After the FDA evaluates a BLA and conducts inspections of manufacturing facilities where the biological product will be manufactured, the FDA may issue an approval letter or a Complete Response Letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the product with specific prescribing information for specific indications. A Complete Response Letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete, and the application will not be approved in its present form. A Complete Response Letter will usually describe all of the deficiencies that the FDA has identified in the BLA, except that where the FDA determines that the data supporting the application are inadequate to support approval, the FDA may issue the Complete Response Letter without first conducting required inspections, testing submitted product lots and/or reviewing proposed labeling. In issuing the Complete Response Letter, the FDA may recommend actions that the applicant might take to place the BLA in condition for approval, including requests for additional information or clarification, which may include the potential requirement for additional preclinical studies or clinical trials or additional manufacturing activities. If a Complete Response Letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the BLA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or withdraw the application or request an opportunity for a hearing. The FDA may delay or refuse approval of a BLA if applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied, require additional testing or information and/or require post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor safety or efficacy of a product. If a product receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific diseases and dosages or the indications for use may otherwise be limited, including to subpopulations of patients, which could restrict the commercial value of the product. Further, the FDA may require that certain contraindications, warnings precautions or interactions be included in the product labeling. The FDA may impose restrictions and conditions on product distribution, prescribing or dispensing in the form of a REMS, or otherwise limit the scope of any approval. In addition, the FDA may require post-marketing clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, designed to further assess a biological product’s safety and effectiveness, and testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products that have been commercialized. Orphan Drug Designation Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug or biological product candidate intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making a drug or biological product candidate available in the United States for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product. Orphan product designation must be requested before submitting a BLA. After the FDA grants orphan product designation, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. If a product candidate that has orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusive approval (or exclusivity), which means that the FDA 24 may not approve any other applications, including a full BLA, to market the same product for the same indication for seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan drug exclusivity by means of greater effectiveness, greater safety or providing a major contribution to patient care or if the holder of the orphan drug exclusivity cannot assure the availability of sufficient quantities of the orphan drug to meet the needs of patients with the disease or condition for which the product was designated. Orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving a different drug or biologic for the same disease or condition, or the same drug or biologic for a different disease or condition. Among the other benefits of orphan drug designation are tax credits for certain research and a waiver of the BLA application fee. A designated orphan drug may not receive orphan drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than the indication for which it received orphan drug designation. In addition, exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. Expedited Development and Review Programs The FDA has various programs, including fast track designation, breakthrough therapy designation, priority review and accelerated approval, that are intended to expedite or simplify the process for the development and FDA review of drugs and biologics that are intended for the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions. These programs do not change the standards for approval but may help expedite the development or approval process. To be eligible for fast track designation, new drugs and biological products must be intended to treat a serious or life-threatening condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the condition. Fast track designation applies to the combination of the product and the specific indication for which it is being studied. The sponsor of a new drug or biologic may request the FDA to designate the drug or biologic as a fast track product at any time during the clinical development of the product. One benefit of fast track designation, for example, is that the FDA may consider for review sections of the marketing application for a product that has received fast track designation on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted. Under the FDA’s breakthrough therapy program, products intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition may be eligible for the benefits of the fast track program when preliminary clinical evidence demonstrates that such product may have substantial improvement on one or more clinically significant endpoints over existing therapies. Additionally, the FDA will seek to ensure the sponsor of a breakthrough therapy product receives timely advice and interactive communications to help the sponsor design and conduct a development program as efficiently as possible. Any product is eligible for priority review if it has the potential to provide safe and effective therapy where no satisfactory alternative therapy exists or a significant improvement in the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of a disease compared to marketed products. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application for a new drug or biological product designated for priority review in an effort to facilitate the review. Under priority review, the FDA’s goal is to review an application in six months once it is filed, compared to ten months for a standard review. Additionally, a product may be eligible for accelerated approval. Drug or biological products studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments may receive accelerated approval, which means that they may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials establishing that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit, or on the basis of an effect on an intermediate clinical endpoint other than survival or irreversible morbidity. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug or biological product receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical trials with due diligence, and, under the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (“FDORA”), the FDA is now permitted to require, as appropriate, that such trials be underway prior to approval or within a specific time period after the date of approval for a product granted accelerated approval. Under FDORA, the FDA has increased authority for expedited procedures to withdraw approval of a product or indication approved under accelerated approval if, for example, the confirmatory trial fails to verify the predicted clinical benefit of the product. In addition, for products being considered for accelerated approval, the FDA generally requires, unless otherwise informed by the agency, that all advertising and promotional materials intended for dissemination or publication be submitted to the agency for review, which could adversely affect the timing of the commercial launch of the product. RMAT Designation As part of the 21st Century Cures Act, Congress amended the FD&C Act to facilitate an efficient development program for and expedite review of regenerative medicine advanced therapies (“RMAT”), which include cell and gene therapies, therapeutic tissue engineering products, human cell and tissue products and combination products using any such therapies or products. RMAT do not include those HCT/Ps regulated solely under section 361 of the PHS Act and 21 CFR Part 1271. This program is intended to facilitate efficient development and expedite review of regenerative medicine therapies, which are intended to treat, modify, reverse, or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and qualify for RMAT designation. A drug sponsor may request that FDA designate a drug as a RMAT concurrently with or at any time after submission of an IND. FDA has 60 calendar days to determine whether the 25 drug meets the criteria, including whether there is preliminary clinical evidence indicating that the drug has the potential to address unmet medical needs for a serious or life-threatening disease or condition. A BLA for a regenerative medicine therapy that has received RMAT designation may be eligible for priority review or accelerated approval through use of surrogate or intermediate endpoints reasonably likely to predict long-term clinical benefit, or reliance upon data obtained from a meaningful number of sites. Benefits of RMAT designation also include early interactions with FDA to discuss any potential surrogate or intermediate endpoint to be used to support accelerated approval. A regenerative medicine therapy with RMAT designation that is granted accelerated approval and is subject to post-approval requirements may fulfill such requirements through the submission of clinical evidence from clinical trials, patient registries, or other sources of real world evidence, such as electronic health records; the collection of larger confirmatory data sets; or post-approval monitoring of all patients treated with such therapy prior to its approval. Like some of the FDA’s other expedited development programs, RMAT designation does not change the standards for approval but may help expedite the development or approval process. Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Priority Review Vouchers Under the or FD&C Act, as amended, the FDA incentivizes the development of product candidates that meet the definition of a “rare pediatric disease,” defined to mean a serious or life-threatening disease in which the serious of life-threatening manifestations primarily affect individuals aged from birth to 18 years and the disease affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States or affects 200,000 or more in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making in the United States a drug or biologic for such disease or condition will be received from sales in the United States of such drug or biologic. The sponsor of a product candidate for a rare pediatric disease may be eligible for a voucher that can be used to obtain a priority review for a subsequent marketing application after the date of approval of the rare pediatric disease drug product. A sponsor may request rare pediatric disease designation from the FDA prior to the submission of its BLA. A rare pediatric disease designation does not guarantee that a sponsor will receive a priority review voucher (“PRV”) upon approval of its BLA. Moreover, a sponsor who chooses not to submit a rare pediatric disease designation request may nonetheless receive a PRV upon approval of their marketing application if they request such a voucher in their original marketing application and meet all of the eligibility criteria. If a PRV is received, it may be sold or transferred an unlimited number of times. The FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority voucher program began to sunset on December 20, 2024, on failure to pass a continuing resolution package that included its reauthorization. Under the amended statutory sunset provisions, after December 20, 2024, the FDA may award a priority review voucher for an approved rare pediatric disease product application only if the sponsor has rare pediatric disease designation for the drug and if that designation was granted by December 20, 2024. After September 30, 2026, the FDA may not award any rare pediatric disease priority review vouchers. Congress may vote to reauthorize this program, but its future remains unknown at this time. Post-Approval Requirements Maintaining substantial compliance with applicable federal, state and local statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to recordkeeping, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, advertising and promotion and reporting of adverse experiences with the product. If there are any modifications to the product, including changes in indications, labeling or manufacturing processes or facilities, the applicant may be required to submit and obtain FDA approval of a new BLA or BLA supplement, which may require the development of additional data or preclinical studies and clinical trials. Such regulatory reviews can result in denial or modification of the planned changes, or requirements to conduct additional tests or evaluations that can substantially delay or increase the cost of the planned changes. The FDA may also impose a number of post-approval requirements as a condition of approval of a BLA. For example, the FDA may require post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization. Manufacturers of biological products are required to comply with applicable cGMP requirements, including quality control and quality assurance and maintenance of records and documentation. Other post-approval requirements applicable to biological products include reporting of cGMP deviations that may affect the identity, potency, purity and overall safety of a distributed product, record-keeping requirements, reporting of adverse effects, reporting updated safety and efficacy information, complying with electronic record and signature requirements and applicable product tracking and tracing requirements. After a BLA is approved, the product also may be subject to official lot release. As part of the manufacturing process, the manufacturer is required to perform certain tests on each lot of the product before it is released for distribution. If the product is subject to official release by the FDA, the manufacturer submits samples of each lot of product to the FDA together with a release protocol showing a summary of the history of manufacture of the lot and the results of all of the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot. The FDA also may perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products, such as viral vaccines, before releasing the lots for distribution by the manufacturer. In addition, the FDA conducts laboratory research related to the regulatory standards on the safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness of biological products. We also must comply with the FDA’s advertising and promotion requirements, such as those related to direct-to-consumer advertising, the prohibition on promoting products for uses or in patient populations that are not described in the product’s approved 26 labeling (known as “off-label use”), industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and promotional activities involving the internet. Discovery of previously unknown problems or the failure to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements may result in restrictions on the marketing of a product or withdrawal of the product from the market as well as possible civil or criminal sanctions. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant or manufacturer to administrative or judicial civil or criminal sanctions and adverse publicity. FDA sanctions could include refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, clinical holds, warning or untitled letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, mandated corrective advertising or communications with doctors or other stakeholders, debarment, restitution, disgorgement of profits, or civil or criminal penalties. Biological product manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved biological products, and those supplying products, ingredients, and components of them, are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP and other laws. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance. Discovery of problems with a product after approval may result in restrictions on a product, manufacturer, or holder of an approved BLA, including withdrawal of the product from the market. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process or facility generally require prior FDA approval before being implemented and other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval. U.S. Patent Term Restoration and Marketing Exclusivity Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of the FDA approval of the use of our product candidates, some U.S. patents that may issue from our pending patent applications may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND and the submission date of a BLA plus the time between the submission date of a BLA and the approval of that application, except that the review period is reduced by any time during which the applicant failed to exercise due diligence. Only one patent applicable to an approved biological product is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent. In addition, only those claims covering the approved product, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended, and a patent can only be extended once and only for a single product. The USPTO, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. In the future, we may apply for restoration of patent term for one of the patents that may issue from our pending patent applications, if and as applicable, to add patent life beyond its current expiration date, depending on the expected length of the clinical trials and other factors involved in the filing of the relevant BLA. However, there can be no assurance that our pending patent applications will issue or that we will benefit from any patent term extension or favorable adjustments to the terms of any patents we may own or in-license in the future. A biological product can obtain pediatric market exclusivity in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, adds six months to existing exclusivity periods and may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric study in accordance with an FDA-issued “Written Request” for such a study. The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 created an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products shown to be similar to, or interchangeable with, an FDA-licensed reference biological product. This amendment to the PHS Act attempts to minimize duplicative testing. Biosimilarity, which requires that there be no clinically meaningful differences between the biological product and the reference product in terms of safety, purity, and potency, can be shown through analytical studies, animal studies and a clinical trial or trials. Interchangeability requires that a product is biosimilar to the reference product and the product must demonstrate that it can be expected to produce the same clinical results as the reference product and, for products administered multiple times, the biologic and the reference biologic may be switched after one has been previously administered without increasing safety risks or risks of diminished efficacy relative to exclusive use of the reference biologic. A reference biological product is granted four-and 12-year exclusivity periods from the time of first licensure of the product. FDA will not accept an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product based on the reference biological product until four years after the date of first licensure of the reference product, and FDA will not approve an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product based on the reference biological product until twelve years after the date of first licensure of the reference product. “First licensure” typically means the initial date the particular product at issue was licensed in the United States. Date of first licensure does not include the date of licensure of (and a new period of exclusivity is not available for) a biological product if the licensure is for a supplement for the biological product or for a subsequent application by the same sponsor or manufacturer of the biological product (or licensor, predecessor in interest, or other related entity) for a change (not including a modification to the structure of the biological 27 product) that results in a new indication, route of administration, dosing schedule, dosage form, delivery system, delivery device or strength, or for a modification to the structure of the biological product that does not result in a change in safety, purity, or potency. Therefore, one must determine whether a new product includes a modification to the structure of a previously licensed product that results in a change in safety, purity, or potency to assess whether the licensure of the new product is a first licensure that triggers its own period of exclusivity. Whether a subsequent application, if approved, warrants exclusivity as the “first licensure” of a biological product is determined on a case-by-case basis with data submitted by the sponsor. Regulation Outside of the United States In addition to regulations in the United States, we are subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing clinical studies, commercial sales, and distribution of our products. Most countries outside of the United States require that clinical trial applications be submitted to and approved by the local regulatory authority for each clinical study. In the European Union, for example, an application must be submitted to the national competent authority and an independent ethics committee in each country in which we intend to conduct clinical trials, much like the FDA and IRB, respectively. Under the Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014, which replaced the Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC on January 31, 2022, a single application is now made through the Clinical Trials Information System (“CTIS”) for clinical trial authorization in up to 30 EU/ EEA countries at the same time and with a single set of documentation. The assessment of applications for clinical trials is divided into two parts (Part I contains scientific and medicinal product documentation and Part II contains the national and patient-level documentation). Part I is assessed by a coordinated review by the competent authorities of all European Union Member States in which an application for authorization of a clinical trial has been submitted (“Member States concerned”) of a draft report prepared by a Reference Member State. Part II is assessed separately by each Member State concerned. The role of the relevant ethics committees in the assessment procedure will continue to be governed by the national law of the Member State concerned, however overall related timelines are defined by the Clinical Trials Regulation. The Clinical Trials Regulation also provides for simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors. In addition, whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of countries outside the United States before we can commence marketing of the product in those countries. The approval process and requirements vary from country to country, so the number and type of nonclinical, clinical, and manufacturing studies needed may differ, and the time may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. To obtain regulatory approval of our medicinal products under the European Union regulatory system, we are required to submit a marketing authorization application (“MAA”), to be assessed in either the centralized procedure or a national authorization procedure. The centralized procedure allows applicants to obtain a marketing authorization (“MA”) that is valid throughout the European Union, and the additional countries of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) (“EEA”). It is compulsory for medicinal products manufactured using biotechnological processes, orphan medicinal products, advanced therapy medicinal products (gene-therapy, somatic cell-therapy or tissue-engineered medicines) and human products containing a new active substance which is not authorized in the European Union and which is intended for the treatment of HIV, AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, auto-immune and other immune dysfunctions, viral diseases or diabetes. The centralized procedure is optional for any other products containing new active substances not authorized in the European Union or for products which constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific, or technical innovation or for which a centralized authorization is in the interests of patients at European Union level. When a company wishes to place on the market a medicinal product that is eligible for the centralized procedure, it sends an application directly to the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), to be assessed by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”). The CHMP is responsible for conducting the assessment of whether a medicine meets the required quality, safety, and efficacy requirements, and whether the product has a positive risk/benefit profile. The procedure results in a European Commission decision, which is valid in all European Union Member States. The centralized procedure is as follows: full copies of the MAA are sent to a rapporteur and a co-rapporteur designated by the competent EMA scientific committee. They coordinate the EMA’s scientific assessment of the medicinal product and prepare draft reports. Once the draft reports are prepared (other experts might be called upon for this purpose), they are sent to the CHMP, whose comments or objections are communicated to the applicant. The rapporteur is therefore the privileged interlocutor of the applicant and continues to play this role, even after the MA has been granted. The rapporteur and co-rapporteur then assess the applicant’s replies, submit them for discussion to the CHMP, and taking into account the conclusions of this debate, prepare a final assessment report. Once the evaluation is completed, the CHMP gives a favorable or unfavorable opinion as to whether to grant the MA. When the opinion is favorable, it shall include the draft summary of product characteristics (“SmPC”), the package leaflet, and the texts proposed for the various packaging materials. The time limit for the evaluation procedure is 210 days (excluding clock stops, when additional written or oral information is to be provided by the applicant in response to questions asked by the CHMP). The EMA then has fifteen days to forward its opinion to the European Commission (“EC”), which will make a binding decision on the grant of 28 an MA within 67 days of the receipt of the CHMP opinion. There are two other procedures in the European Union for the grant of an MA in multiple European Union Member States, where a product does not fall within the mandatory scope of the centralized procedure. If a product has already been authorized for marketing in a European Union Member State, this national MA can be recognized in another European Union Member State through the mutual recognition procedure. If the product has not received a national MA in any European Union Member State at the time of application, it can be approved simultaneously in various Member States through the decentralized procedure. The criteria for designating an “orphan medicinal product” in the European Union are similar in principle to those in the United States. In the European Union, under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) 141/2000, a medicinal product may be designated as an orphan medicinal product if it is intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition that affects no more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union when the application is made. In addition, orphan designation can be granted if the product is intended for a life threatening, seriously debilitating, or serious and chronic condition in the European Union and, without incentives, it is unlikely that sales of the product in the European Union would be sufficient to justify the necessary investment in its development. Orphan designation is only available if there is no other satisfactory method approved in the European Union of diagnosing, preventing, or treating the applicable orphan condition, or if such a method exists, the proposed orphan medicinal product will be of significant benefit to patients affected by such condition, as defined in Regulation (EC) 847/2000. Orphan designation provides opportunities for fee reductions, protocol assistance, and access to the centralized procedure. Fee reductions are limited to the first year after an MA is granted, except for small and medium enterprises. In addition, if a product which has an orphan designation subsequently receives a centralized MA for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan market exclusivity, which means the EC may not approve any other application to market a similar medicinal product for the same indication for a period of ten years. A “similar medicinal product” is defined as a medicinal product containing a similar active substance or substances as contained in an authorized orphan medicinal product, and which is intended for the same therapeutic indication. The exclusivity period may be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is shown that the designation criteria are no longer met, including where it is shown that the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity. Additionally, an MA may be granted to a similar medicinal product for the same indication at any time if: • the second applicant can establish that its product, although similar to the authorized product, is safer, more effective or otherwise clinically superior; • the MA holder of the authorized product consents to a second medicinal product application; or • the MA holder of the authorized product cannot supply enough orphan medicinal product. A pediatric investigation plan (“PIP”), in the European Union is aimed at ensuring that the necessary data are obtained to support the authorization of a medicine for children, through studies in children. All applications for MAs for new medicines have to include the results of studies as described in an agreed PIP, unless the medicine is exempt because of a deferral or waiver. This requirement also applies when an MA holder wants to add a new indication, pharmaceutical form, or route of administration for a medicine that is already authorized. Several rewards and incentives for the development of pediatric medicines for children are available in the European Union. Medicines authorized across the European Union with the results of studies from a PIP included in the product information are eligible for an extension of their supplementary protection certificate (“SPC”) by six months (provided an application for such extension is made at the same time as filing the SPC application for the product, or at any point up to two years before the SPC expires). This is the case even when the studies’ results are negative. For orphan medicinal products, the incentive is an additional two years of market exclusivity. Scientific advice and protocol assistance at the EMA are free of charge for questions relating to the development of pediatric medicines. Medicines developed specifically for children that are already authorized but are not protected by a patent or supplementary protection certificate are eligible for a pediatric-use MA (“PUMA”). If a PUMA is granted, the product will benefit from ten years of market protection as an incentive. In March 2016, the EMA launched an initiative, the PRIority Medicines (“PRIME”) scheme, to facilitate development of product candidates in indications, often rare, for which few or no therapies currently exist. The PRIME scheme is intended to encourage development of products in areas of unmet medical need and provides accelerated assessment of products representing substantial innovation reviewed under the centralized procedure. Products from small- and medium-sized enterprises may qualify for earlier entry into the PRIME scheme than larger companies on the basis of compelling non-clinical data and tolerability data from initial clinical trials. Many benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and potentially accelerated MAA assessment once a dossier has been submitted. Importantly, once a candidate medicine has been selected for the PRIME scheme, a dedicated contact and rapporteur from the CHMP or from the Committee for Advanced Therapies (“CAT”) are appointed early in the PRIME scheme facilitating increased understanding of the product at EMA’s committee level. An initial meeting with the CHMP/CAT rapporteur initiates these relationships and includes a team of multidisciplinary experts at the 29 EMA to provide guidance on the overall development and regulatory strategies. PRIME eligibility does not change the standards for product approval, and there is no assurance that any such designation or eligibility will result in expedited review or approval. All of the aforementioned European Union rules are generally applicable in the EEA. The United Kingdom formally left the European Union on January 31, 2020. As a result of the Northern Ireland protocol, following Brexit, the EMA remained responsible for approving novel medicines for supply in Northern Ireland under the EU centralized procedure, and a separate authorization was required to supply the same medicine in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). On February 27, 2023, the United Kingdom government and the EC announced a political agreement in principle to replace the Northern Ireland Protocol with a new set of arrangements, known as the “Windsor Framework”. The Windsor Framework was approved by the EU-UK Joint Committee on March 24, 2023, and the medicines aspects of the Windsor Framework have applied since January 1, 2025. This new framework fundamentally changes the previous system under the Northern Ireland Protocol, including with respect to the regulation of medicinal products in the United Kingdom. In particular, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) is now responsible for approving all medicinal products destined for the United Kingdom market (i.e., Great Britain and Northern Ireland), and the EMA no longer has any role in approving medicinal products destined for Northern Ireland under the European Union centralized procedure. A single United Kingdom-wide MA will be granted by the MHRA for all novel medicinal products to be sold in the United Kingdom, enabling products to be sold in a single pack and under a single authorization throughout the United Kingdom. In addition, the new arrangements require all medicines placed on the UK market to be labeled “UK only”, indicating they are not for sale in the EU. The MHRA has introduced changes to national licensing procedures, including procedures to prioritize access to new medicines that will benefit patients, an accelerated assessment procedure and new routes of evaluation for novel products and biotechnological products. On January 1, 2024, the MHRA put in place a new international recognition framework which means that the MHRA may have regard to decisions on the approval of MAs made by the EMA and certain other regulators when determining an application for a new United Kingdom MA. There is now no pre-MA orphan designation in the United Kingdom. Instead, the MHRA reviews applications for orphan designation in parallel to the corresponding MAA. The criteria are essentially the same, but have been tailored for the United Kingdom market, i.e., the prevalence of the condition in the United Kingdom (rather than the European Union) must not be more than five in 10,000. Should an orphan designation be granted, the period of market exclusivity will be set from the date of first approval of the product in the United Kingdom. Other Healthcare Laws and Compliance Requirements Other Healthcare Laws Biotechnology companies are subject to additional healthcare laws in the jurisdictions in which they conduct their business that may constrain the financial arrangements and relationships through which we research, as well as, in the future sell, market and distribute any products for which we obtain regulatory approval. Such laws include, without limitation, state and federal patient data privacy and security laws, federal and state anti-kickback laws, physician-self referral laws, false claims and transparency laws and regulations with respect to drug pricing and payments and other transfers of value made to physicians and other health care providers, and similar healthcare laws and regulations in the EU and other jurisdictions. Violations of any of such laws or any other governmental regulations that apply may result in significant penalties, including, without limitation, administrative, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, the curtailment or restructuring of operations, integrity oversight and reporting obligations to resolve allegations of noncompliance, and exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs and imprisonment. Coverage and Reimbursement Sales of any product depend, in part, on the extent to which such product will be covered by third-party payors, such as federal, state, and foreign government healthcare programs, commercial insurance and managed healthcare organizations, and the level of reimbursement for such product by third-party payors. Decisions regarding the extent of coverage and amount of reimbursement to be provided are made on a plan-by-plan basis. These third-party payors are increasingly reducing coverage and reimbursement for medical products, drugs and services. For products administered under the supervision of a physician, obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with such drugs. Additionally, separate reimbursement for the product itself or the treatment or procedure in which the product is used may not be available, which may impact physician utilization. The U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governments have also continued implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on coverage and reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic (or biosimilar) products. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit sales of any product. Decreases in third-party reimbursement for any product or a 30 decision by a third-party payor not to cover a product could reduce physician usage and patient demand for the product and also have a material adverse effect on sales. Healthcare Reform In the United States, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, each as amended, collectively known as the ACA, was enacted, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly affected the pharmaceutical industry. The ACA contained a number of provisions, including those governing enrollment in federal healthcare programs, reimbursement adjustments and changes to fraud and abuse laws. Since its enactment, there have been judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted, including aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year. Additionally, former President Biden issued – and President Trump may issue – multiple executive orders that sought to reduce prescription drug costs. There has also been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to drug pricing practices. Specifically, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”), includes several provisions that impact the pharmaceutical industry, including provisions that reduce the out-of-pocket spending cap for Medicare Part D beneficiaries to $2,000 starting in 2025; impose new manufacturer financial liability on certain drugs under Medicare Part D, allow the U.S. government to negotiate Medicare Part B and Part D price caps for certain high-cost drugs and biologics without generic or biosimilar competition; require companies to pay rebates to Medicare for drug prices that increase faster than inflation; and delay until January 1, 2032 the implementation of the HHS rebate rule that would have limited the fees that pharmacy benefit managers can charge. Further, under the IRA, orphan drugs are exempted from the Medicare drug price negotiation program, but only if they have one orphan designation and for which the only approved indication is for that disease or condition. If a product receives multiple orphan designations or has multiple approved indications, it may not qualify for the orphan drug exemption. The effects of the IRA on our business and the healthcare industry in general is not yet known. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could impact the amounts that federal and state governments and other third-party payors will pay for healthcare products and services. Data Privacy & Security Numerous state, federal and foreign laws govern the collection, dissemination, use, access to, confidentiality and security of personal information, including health-related information. As our operations and business grow, we may become subject to or affected by U.S. federal and state laws and regulations, including the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and its implementing regulations, as amended (“HIPAA”), that govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information. In California the California Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”), which went into effect on January 1, 2020 and was amended effective January 1, 2023, established a new privacy framework for covered businesses by creating an expanded definition of personal information, establishing new data privacy rights for individuals residing in the State of California, imposing special rules on the collection of consumer data from minors, and creating a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for violations of the CCPA and for businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. While clinical trial data and information governed by HIPAA are currently exempt from the current version of the CCPA, the law has broad application to other personal information. Many other states have passed or proposed similar privacy legislation and more states may do so in the future. State laws and laws from other countries outside of the United States also govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances. Many of these laws differ from each other in significant ways and they often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts. For example, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“EU GDPR”) and the EU GDPR as incorporated into the laws of the United Kingdom (“UK GDPR”, together with the EU GDPR, “GDPR”). The GDPR in the EU and the UK, which have been incorporated into their respective laws, impose stringent requirements on the processing of health and other sensitive data. These requirements encompass: (i) providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities; (ii) ensuring a legal basis or condition applies to the processing of personal information and, where applicable, obtaining consent from individuals to whom the data processing relates; (iii) responding to data subject requests; (iv) imposing requirements to notify the competent national data protection authorities and data subjects of personal information breaches; (v) implementing safeguards in connection with the security and confidentiality of the personal information; (vi) accountability requirements; and (vii) taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors. Failure to comply with these laws, where applicable, can result in the imposition of significant civil and/or criminal penalties and private litigation. Privacy and security laws, regulations, and other obligations are constantly evolving, may conflict with each other to complicate compliance efforts, and can result in investigations, proceedings, or actions that lead to significant civil and/or criminal penalties and restrictions on data processing. 31 Employees and Human Capital Resources As of December 31, 2024, we had 202 full-time employees, of which 69 have M.D. or Ph.D. degrees. Within our workforce, 169 employees are engaged in research and development and 33 are engaged in business development, finance, legal, and general management and administration. None of our employees are represented by labor unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good. Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees, advisors and consultants. The principal purposes of our equity incentive plans are to attract, retain and reward personnel through the granting of equity-based compensation awards in order to increase shareholder value and the success of our company by motivating such individuals to perform to the best of their abilities and achieve our objectives. Information Available on the Internet Our Internet website address is https://metagenomi.co. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not a part of or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We have included our website address in this in this Annual Report on Form 10-K solely as an inactive textual reference. We will make available, free of charge, through our website, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act. We will make these reports available through the “Investors” section of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. We will also make available, free of charge on our website, the reports filed with the SEC by our executive officers, directors and 10% stockholders pursuant to Section 16 under the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after copies of those filings are provided to us by those persons. You can review our electronically filed reports and other information that we file with the SEC on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Investors and others should note that we announce material information to our investors using one or more of the following: SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts and our corporate website, including without limitation the “Investors-News & Events” sections of our website. We use these channels, as well as social media channels such as LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter), to communicate with the public about our company, our business, our approved drugs and drug candidates and other matters. It is possible that the information we post on our corporate website or other social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on the “Investors-News & Events” section of our corporate website and on our social media channels. The contents of our corporate website and social media channels are not, however, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Facilities Our corporate headquarters is located in Emeryville, California, where we sublease and occupy approximately 75,662 square feet of combined office, research and laboratory space at 5959 Horton Street, 7th Floor, Emeryville, California 94608. The current term of our sublease expires in March 2031. The company also leases approximately 23,155 square feet of office space at 1485 Park Avenue, Emeryville, California 94608 and approximately 23,851 square feet of laboratory and office space at 1545 Park Avenue, Emeryville, California 94608. We believe that our facilities are adequate for our current needs and for the foreseeable future. To meet the future needs of our business, we may lease additional or alternate space. We believe that suitable additional or substitute space at commercially reasonable terms will be available as needed to accommodate any future expansion of our operations. Legal proceedings From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings arising from the ordinary course of business. We record a liability for such matters when it is probable that future losses will be incurred and that such losses can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment by us is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. Except as described below, our management is currently not aware of any legal matters that could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. On September 26, 2024, a class action complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against our company and certain of our officers and certain of our current and former directors, captioned Vreeland v. Metagenomi Inc. et al., No. 5:24-cv-06765 (the “Securities Action”). The Securities Action alleges violations of Section 11 of the Securities Act against all defendants and control person violations of Section 15 against the individuals. The Securities Action alleges that the defendants made misleading statements and omitted to disclose material information concerning our collaboration with Moderna in our registration 32 statement and final prospectus materials filed in January 2024 and February 2024. The Securities Action seeks, among other things, compensatory damages as well as costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees and expert fees. On February 10, 2025, the court appointed Mingxi Bi as lead plaintiff. The lead plaintiff’s amended complaint is due on April 4, 2025 under the current case schedule. We are currently unable to predict the outcome of this lawsuit and therefore cannot determine the likelihood of loss, if any, nor estimate a range of possible loss. We intend to defend vigorously against this litigation. See Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements for more information. Corporate Information We commenced our current operations and converted to a Delaware limited liability company in September 2018. We were originally founded as Metagenomi.co, a Delaware corporation, in September 2016. On January 24, 2024, we completed a series of transactions, which we refer to collectively as the Reorganization. As a result of the Reorganization, Metagenomi Technologies, LLC merged with and into its wholly-owned subsidiary, Metagenomi, Inc., a Delaware corporation, with Metagenomi, Inc. continuing as the surviving corporation. In connection with the Reorganization, (i) all of the outstanding common unitholders of Metagenomi Technologies, LLC received shares of common stock of Metagenomi, Inc., (ii) all of the outstanding preferred unitholders of Metagenomi Technologies, LLC received shares of preferred stock of Metagenomi, Inc. and (iii) certain holders of profits interest units in Metagenomi Technologies, LLC received shares of common stock and restricted common stock in Metagenomi, Inc. as determined by the applicable provisions of the Metagenomi Technologies, LLC operating agreement in effect immediately prior to the Reorganization. Immediately prior to the completion of the IPO, all outstanding shares of preferred stock of Metagenomi, Inc. were converted into shares of common stock. Metagenomi, Inc. is the registrant for purposes of Annual Report on form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements for reporting periods prior to the Reorganization were reported from Metagenomi Technologies, LLC. Our principal executive offices are located at 5959 Horton Street, 7th Floor, Emeryville, California 94608, and our telephone number is (510) 871-4880. Our website address is https://www.metagenomi.co. The information contained in or accessible from our website is not incorporated into this prospectus, and you should not consider it part of this prospectus. We have included our website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference. 33 Item 1A. Risk Factors. Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing at the end of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the events or developments described below were to occur, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could suffer materially, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business. Risks Related to Financial Position and Need for Capital We have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability. Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our net loss was $78.1 million and $68.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $223.0 million. We have financed our operations primarily through issuing redeemable convertible preferred units and convertible promissory notes, entering into collaboration agreements, and through the IPO proceeds. Substantially all of our losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with our research and development and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future. The net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we: • advance our current research activities and further develop our platform; • continue preclinical development and initiate clinical trials for any product candidates we may identify; • seek regulatory approval for any product candidates for which we successfully complete clinical trials; • establish our manufacturing capabilities, including internal manufacturing facilities and contracting with other vendors; • ultimately, commercialize our future product candidates requiring significant marketing, sales, and distribution infrastructure expenses; • hire additional research and development, clinical, commercial, general and administration personnel; • develop, maintain, expand, protect, and enforce our intellectual property portfolio; • acquire or in-license product candidates, intellectual property and technologies; • confirm, maintain or obtain freedom to operate for any of our owned or licensed technologies and product candidates; • establish and maintain collaborations; • add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel; or • incur additional legal, audit, accounting, compliance, insurance, investor relations and other expenses related to operating as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. As a result, we will need substantial additional funding to support our continuing operations and pursue our growth strategy. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through the sale of equity, debt financings, or other capital sources, which may include collaborations with other companies or other strategic transactions. We may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other agreements or arrangements when needed on favorable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as and when needed, we may have to significantly delay, reduce or eliminate the development and commercialization of our platform or delay our pursuit of potential in-licenses or acquisitions. We have not initiated clinical development of any potential product candidate and expect that it will be many years, if ever, before we have a product candidate ready for commercialization. To become and remain profitable, we must develop and, either directly or through collaborators, eventually commercialize a therapy or therapies with market potential. This will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including identifying product candidates, completing preclinical studies and clinical trials of product candidates, obtaining regulatory approval for these product candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling those therapies for which we may obtain regulatory approval and satisfying any post-marketing requirements. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability. 34 Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing our technology and any potential product candidates, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses or when we will become profitable, if at all. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment. We have never generated revenue from product sales and may never become profitable. Our ability to generate revenue from product sales and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with collaborative partners, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to commercialize, product candidates we may identify for development. We may not generate revenues from product sales for many years, if ever. Our ability to generate future revenues from product sales depends heavily on our or our collaborators’ ability to successfully: • identify product candidates and successfully complete research development of any product candidates we may identify; • seek and obtain regulatory approvals for any product candidates for which we successfully complete clinical trials; • launch and commercialize any product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval by establishing a sales force, marketing and distribution infrastructure, or alternatively, collaborating with a commercialization partner; • qualify for adequate coverage and reimbursement by government and third-party payors for any product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval; • establish and maintain supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that can provide adequate, in both amount and quality, products and services to support clinical development and the market demand for any product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval; • develop, maintain and enhance a sustainable, scalable, reproducible and transferable manufacturing process for the product candidates we may develop; • address competing technological and market developments; • negotiate favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements into which we may enter and performing our obligations in such collaborations; • receive market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors, and others in the medical community; • maintain, protect, enforce, defend and expand our portfolio of intellectual property and other proprietary rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how; • defend against third-party intellectual property claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violation; and • attract, hire and retain qualified personnel. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) or other regulatory authorities to perform preclinical studies or clinical trials in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Even if one or more of the product candidates we may develop are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate. Additionally, such products may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives. Even if we are able to generate revenues from the sale of any approved product candidates, we may not become profitable and may need to obtain additional funding to continue operations. Our operations will require substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, we may be forced to delay, reduce, or terminate certain of our research and product development programs, future commercialization efforts or other operations. Developing genome editing products, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, is a very time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete. Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception, and we expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we identify, continue the research and development of, initiate and conduct clinical trials of, and seek regulatory approval for, any product candidates we may identify. In addition, if we obtain regulatory approval for any product candidates we may identify, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing, and distribution to the extent that such sales, marketing, manufacturing, and distribution are not the responsibility of a collaborator. Other unanticipated costs may also arise. Furthermore, we expect to continue incurring additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will 35 need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on acceptable terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce, or eliminate our research and product development programs, future commercialization efforts or other operations. As of December 31, 2024, our cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale marketable securities were $248.3 million. We expect that our existing cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale marketable securities, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of issuance of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. However, our operating plan may change as a result of factors currently unknown to us, and we may need to seek funding sooner than planned. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including: • the timing and progress of research and development, preclinical and clinical development activities; • the number, scope and duration of clinical trials required for regulatory approval of our future product candidates; • the costs, timing, and outcome of regulatory review of any of our future product candidates; • the costs of manufacturing clinical and commercial supplies of our future product candidates; • the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including product manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution, for any of our future product candidates for which we receive regulatory approval; • the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting our patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our patents and other intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims; • our ability to maintain existing, and establish new, strategic collaborations, licensing or other arrangements, and the financial terms of any such agreements, including the timing and amount of any future milestone, royalty or other payments due under any such agreement; • our ability to establish and maintain collaboration and license agreements on favorable terms, if at all; • the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies; • any product liability or other lawsuits related to our future product candidates; • our implementation of various computerized informational systems and efforts to enhance operational systems; • expenses incurred to attract, hire and retain skilled personnel; • the costs of operating as a public company; • our ability to establish a commercially viable pricing structure and obtain approval for coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party and government payers; • the extent to which we acquire or invest in businesses, products, and technologies; • the effect of competing technological and market developments; and • pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of a contagious illness, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, which may exacerbate the magnitude of the factors discussed above. Identifying potential product candidates and conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials is a time-consuming, expensive, and uncertain process that takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain regulatory approval and achieve product sales. In addition, our future product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Our commercial revenues, if any, will be derived from sales of products that we do not expect to be commercially available for many years, if at all. Accordingly, we will need to continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, declaring dividends, and possibly other restrictions. Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates. We have no committed sources of additional capital and, if we are unable to 36 raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of our future product candidates or other research and development initiatives. Without sufficient funding, our license agreements and any future collaboration agreements may also be terminated if we are unable to meet the payment or other obligations under such agreements. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce, or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves. Additionally, if we raise funds through additional collaborations, strategic alliances, or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs, or product candidates we develop, or we may have to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us and/or that may reduce the value of our common stock. Our short operating history may make it difficult for you to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability. We are an early-stage company. We commenced our operations in September 2018. Our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, and research and development activities such as acquiring and developing our platform and technology and identifying and beginning to advance preclinical testing of potential product candidates. All of our programs are still in the research or lead optimization stage of development and their risk of failure is high. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to initiate or successfully complete any clinical trials, including large-scale, pivotal clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale therapy, arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization. Our limited operating history, particularly in light of the rapidly evolving genome editing field, may make it difficult to evaluate our technology and industry and predict our future performance. Our short history as an operating company makes any assessment of our future success or viability subject to significant uncertainty. We will encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by very early stage companies in rapidly evolving fields. If we do not address these risks successfully, our business will suffer. In addition, as a new business that is rapidly growing, we may encounter other unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, and delays in our product development. We will need to transition from a company with a research focus to a company capable of conducting clinical trials and ultimately supporting commercial activities if any of our future product candidates are approved. We may not be successful in such a transition. Our future ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited. Since our inception, we have incurred losses and we may never achieve profitability. As of December 31, 2024, we had U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards of $45.6 million (which are not subject to expiration) and state net operating loss carryforwards of $118.3 million (which begin to expire in various amounts in 2037), and $4.5 million of research credit carryforwards for state income tax purposes (which do not expire and can be carried forward indefinitely). To the extent that we continue to generate taxable losses, under current law, our unused U.S. federal net operating losses (“NOLs”) may be carried forward to offset a portion of future taxable income, if any. Additionally, we continue to generate business tax credits, including research and development tax credits, which generally may be carried forward to offset a portion of future taxable income, if any, subject to expiration of such credit carryforwards. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as one or more shareholders or groups of shareholders who own at least 5 percent of the corporation’s equity increasing their equity ownership in the aggregate by more than 50 percentage points (by value) over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research and development tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We may experience ownership changes in the future, some of which are outside of our control. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs or other pre-change tax attributes to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. Additional limitations on our ability to utilize our NOLs to offset future taxable income may arise as a result of our corporate structure whereby NOLs generated by our subsidiary may not be available to offset taxable income earned by our subsidiary. There is a risk that due to changes under the tax law, regulatory changes or other unforeseen reasons, our existing NOLs or business tax credits could expire or otherwise be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities. At the state level, there may also be periods during which the use of NOLs or business tax credits is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed. For these reasons, we may not be able to realize a tax benefit from the use of our NOLs or tax credits, even if we attain profitability. Changes in tax laws or in their implementation or interpretation may adversely affect our business and financial condition. The rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative 37 process and by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could adversely affect our business and our financial condition. In recent years, many such changes have been made and changes are likely to continue to occur in the future. We cannot predict whether, when, in what form or with what effective dates, tax laws, regulations and rulings may be enacted, promulgated or decided or whether they could increase our tax liability or require changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize increases in our tax liability. Risks Related to Business, Technology, and Industry We are very early in our development efforts, and we have not yet initiated IND-enabling studies or clinical development of any product candidate. As a result, we expect it will be many years before we commercialize any product candidate, if ever. If we are unable to advance our future product candidates into and through clinical trials, obtain regulatory approval and ultimately commercialize our product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed. We are very early in our development efforts and have focused our research and development efforts to date on research efforts including preclinical studies. Currently, all of our programs are still in the research or lead optimization stage of development. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development, regulatory approval and eventual commercialization of our future product candidates, which may never occur. We have not yet generated revenue from product sales, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product. Commencing clinical trials in the United States is subject to acceptance by the FDA of an investigational new drug (“IND”) application and finalizing the trial design based on discussions with the FDA. In the event that the FDA requires us to complete additional preclinical studies or we are required to satisfy other FDA requests prior to commencing clinical trials, the start of our first clinical trials may be delayed or we may be unsuccessful obtaining clearance to proceed into clinical development. Even after we receive and incorporate guidance from the FDA, the FDA could disagree that we have satisfied their requirements to commence any clinical trial or change their position on the acceptability of our trial design or the clinical endpoints selected, which may require us to complete additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, delay the enrollment of our clinical trials, abandon our clinical development plans or meet stricter approval conditions than we currently expect. There are equivalent processes and risks applicable to clinical trial applications in other countries, including countries in the European Union. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval in any other country. We may conduct one or more of our clinical trials with one or more trial sites that are located outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of these data is subject to conditions imposed by the FDA, and there can be no assurance that the FDA will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept the data from any trial that we conduct outside the United States, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and could delay or permanently halt our development of the applicable product candidates. Commercialization of any product candidates we may develop will require preclinical and clinical development; regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions; manufacturing supply, capacity and expertise; a commercial organization; and significant marketing efforts. The success of product candidates we may identify and develop will depend on many factors, including the following: • timely and successful completion of preclinical studies, including toxicology studies, biodistribution studies and minimally efficacious dose studies in animals, where applicable; • effective INDs or comparable foreign applications that allow commencement of our planned clinical trials or future clinical trials for any product candidates we may develop; • successful enrollment and completion of clinical trials, including under the FDA’s current Good Clinical Practices (“GCPs”), current Good Laboratory Practices (“GLPs”), and any additional regulatory requirements from foreign regulatory authorities; • positive results from our future clinical trials that support a finding of safety and effectiveness and an acceptable risk-benefit profile in the intended populations; • receipt of regulatory approvals from applicable regulatory authorities; • establishment of arrangements through our own facilities or with third-party manufacturers for clinical supply and, where applicable, commercial manufacturing capabilities; • establishment, maintenance, defense and enforcement of patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property protection or regulatory exclusivity for any product candidates we may develop; • commercial launch of any product candidates we may develop, if approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others; 38 • acceptance of the benefits and use of our product candidates we may develop, including method of administration, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors; • effective competition with other therapies; • maintenance of a continued acceptable safety, tolerability and efficacy profile of any product candidates we may develop following approval; and • establishment and maintenance of healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement by payors. If we do not succeed in one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize any product candidates we may develop, which would materially harm our business. If we are unable to advance our product candidates to clinical development, obtain regulatory approval and ultimately commercialize our product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed. We are subject to additional development challenges and risks due to the novel nature of our genome editing technology. Because our in vivo technology potentially involves genome editing across multiple cell and tissue types, we are subject to many of the challenges and risks that other genome editing therapeutics and gene therapies face, including: • regulatory guidance regarding the requirements governing gene and genome editing therapy product candidates have changed and may continue to change in the future; • to date, only a limited number of products that involve in vivo gene transfer have been approved globally; • improper modulation of a gene sequence, including unintended editing events or insertion of a sequence into certain locations in a patient’s chromosome, could lead to cancer, other aberrantly functioning cells or other diseases, including death; • corrective expression of a missing protein in patients’ cells could result in the protein being recognized as foreign, and lead to a sustained immunological reaction against the expressed protein or expressing cells, which could be severe or life-threatening; and • regulatory agencies may require extended follow-up observation periods of patients who receive treatment using genome editing product candidates including, for example, the FDA’s recommended 15-year follow-up observation period for these patients, and we will need to adopt such observation periods for product candidates we develop if required by the relevant regulatory agency, which could vary by country or region. Furthermore, our technology has potential application for ex vivo immune cell editing strategies. Because ex vivo application of our technology potentially involves editing human cells and then delivering modified cells to patients, we may be subject to many of the challenges and risks that engineered cell therapies face. For example, clinical trials using engineered cell-based gene therapies may require unique products to be created for each patient and such individualistic manufacturing may be both inefficient and cost-prohibitive. Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. Because genome editing is relatively novel and the regulatory landscape that will govern our potential product candidates is uncertain and may change, we cannot predict the time and cost of obtaining regulatory approval, if we receive it at all, for our potential product candidates. The time required to obtain approval for any of our potential product candidates from the FDA, the European Commission (“EC”) or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of regulatory authorities. For more information on the regulatory approval process, see “Business—Government Regulation” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The U.S. Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision to overturn prior established case law giving deference to regulatory agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutory language has introduced uncertainty regarding the extent to which FDA’s regulations, policies and decisions may become subject to increasing legal challenges, delays, and/or changes. Clinical trials may fail to demonstrate that our product candidates are safe for humans and effective for indicated uses. Even if initial clinical trials in any of any product candidates we may develop are successful, such product candidates may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy in later stages of clinical development despite having successfully advanced through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. There is a high failure rate for drugs and biologics proceeding through clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in later stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in earlier stage clinical trials. Because genome editing is relatively novel, the regulatory requirements that will govern any novel genome editing product candidates we develop may continue to evolve. Only one genome editing therapy, CASGEVY, has received marketing authorization from the FDA and EC to date and, within the broader genetic therapy field, a limited number of gene therapy products have received marketing 39 authorization from the FDA and the EC. Even with respect to more established products that fit into the categories of gene therapies or cell therapies, the regulatory landscape is still developing. Regulatory requirements governing gene therapy products and cell therapy products have changed frequently and may continue to change in the future. For example, in January 2020, the FDA issued several new guidance documents on gene therapy products, and in January 2024, the FDA published a final guidance document providing recommendations for human genome editing gene therapy products. Moreover, there is substantial, and sometimes uncoordinated, overlap in those responsible for regulation of existing gene therapy products and cell therapy products. For example, in the United States, the FDA has established the Office of Therapeutic Products (“OTP”) within its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (“CBER”) to consolidate the review of gene therapy and related products, and the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee to advise CBER on its review. Gene therapy clinical trials may also be subject to review and oversight by an institutional biosafety committee (“IBC”), a local institutional committee that reviews and oversees certain basic and clinical research conducted at the institution participating in the clinical trial. Although the FDA decides whether individual gene therapy protocols may proceed, the review process and determinations of other reviewing bodies, such as an IBC or institutional review board (“IRB”), can impede or delay the initiation of a clinical trial, even if the FDA has reviewed the trial and approved its initiation. For example, more recently, some genome editing companies have seen significant delays in receiving FDA authorization to allow the initiation of their clinical trials, and has suspended ongoing trials, due to the FDA’s placement of clinical holds on their INDs. The same applies in the European Union. The European Medicines Agency’s (“EMA”) Committee for Advanced Therapies (“CAT”) is responsible for assessing the quality, safety and efficacy of advanced-therapy medicinal products (i.e. gene therapy, somatic-cell therapy or tissue-engineered medicines). The role of the CAT is to prepare a draft opinion on an application for marketing authorization for a gene therapy medicinal candidate that is submitted to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) before the CHMP adopts its opinion which is submitted to the EC for the final decision on whether to grant a marketing authorization or not. In the European Union, the EMA publishes guidelines for the development and evaluation of gene therapy medicinal products to assist in preparing marketing authorization applications, however these are continually under review. The EMA may issue new guidelines concerning the development and marketing authorization for gene therapy medicinal products and require that we comply with these new guidelines. Adverse developments in post-marketing experience or in clinical trials conducted by others of gene therapy products, cell therapy products or products developed through the application of genome editing technology may cause the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory bodies to revise the requirements for development or approval of our potential product candidates or limit the use of products utilizing genome editing technologies, either of which could materially harm our business. In addition, the clinical trial requirements of the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory authorities and the criteria these regulators use to determine the safety and efficacy of a product candidate vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty and intended use and market of the potential products. The regulatory approval process for novel product candidates can be more expensive and take longer than for other, better known or more extensively studied pharmaceutical or other product candidates. Regulatory agencies administering existing or future regulations or legislation may not allow production and marketing of products utilizing genome editing technology in a timely manner or under technically or commercially feasible conditions. In addition, regulatory action or private litigation could result in expenses, delays or other impediments to our research programs or the commercialization of resulting products. The regulatory review committees and advisory groups described above and any new guidelines they promulgate may lengthen the regulatory review process, require us to perform additional studies or trials, increase our development costs, lead to changes in regulatory positions and interpretations, delay or prevent approval and commercialization of these treatment candidates or lead to significant post-approval limitations or restrictions. As we advance our research programs and develop future product candidates, we will be required to consult with these regulatory and advisory groups and to comply with applicable guidelines. If we fail to do so, we may be required to delay or discontinue development of any product candidates we identify and develop. The genome editing field is relatively new and is evolving rapidly. We are focusing our research and development efforts on genome editing using programmable nucleases, base editing, and RNA and DNA-mediated integration systems (including prime editors and CRISPR-associated (“Cas”) transposases), but other genome editing technologies may be discovered that provide significant advantages over such technologies, which could materially harm our business. To date, we have focused our efforts on genome editing technologies using programmable nucleases, base editing, and RNA and DNA-mediated integration systems (including prime editors and Cas transposases backed by our metagenomics database). Other companies have previously undertaken research and development of genome editing technologies using zinc finger nucleases, engineered meganucleases and transcription activator-like effector nucleases, but to date none have obtained regulatory approval for a product candidate. There can be no certainty that genome editing technology will lead to the development of genetic medicines or that other genome editing technologies will not be considered better or more attractive for the development of medicines. A number of alternative approaches are being developed by others. Our investments may not be consistent with the expectations of our stockholders and may not produce the benefits that we expect, in which case our growth, business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Business, Technology and Industry—We face significant 40 competition in an environment of rapid technological change, and there is a possibility that our competitors may achieve regulatory approval before us or develop therapies that are safer or more advanced or effective than ours, which may harm our financial condition and our ability to successfully market or commercialize any product candidates we may develop.” Similarly, another new genome editing technology that has not been discovered yet may be more attractive than programmable nucleases, base editing, and RNA and DNA-mediated integration systems. Moreover, if we decide to develop genome editing technologies other than those involving such technologies, we cannot be certain we will be able to obtain rights to such technologies. Any of these factors could reduce or eliminate our commercial opportunity, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If any of the product candidates we may develop or the delivery modes we rely on cause undesirable side effects, it could delay or prevent their development or potential regulatory approval, limit the commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences following any potential regulatory approval. To date, we have not evaluated any product candidates in human clinical trials. It is impossible to predict when or if any product candidates we may develop will ultimately prove safe in humans. In the genomic medicine field, there have been several significant adverse events from gene therapy treatments in the past, including reported cases of leukemia and death. Product candidates we may develop may be associated with undesirable side effects, unexpected characteristics or other serious adverse events, including off-target cuts of DNA, or the introduction of cuts in DNA at locations other than the target sequence. These off-target cuts could lead to disruption of a gene or a genetic regulatory sequence at an unintended site in the DNA, or, in those instances where we also provide a segment of DNA to serve as a repair template, it is possible that following off-target cut events, DNA from such repair template could be integrated into the genome at an unintended site, potentially disrupting another important gene or genomic element. There is also the potential risk of delayed adverse events following exposure to genome editing therapy due to persistent biologic activity of the genetic material or other components of products used to carry the genetic material. Possible adverse side effects that could occur with treatment with genome editing products include an immunologic reaction after administration which could substantially limit the effectiveness of the treatment If any of our genome editing technologies demonstrate a similar effect, we may decide or be required to halt or delay preclinical development or clinical development of any product candidates we may develop. In addition to serious adverse events or side effects caused by any product candidate we may develop, the administration process or related procedures also can cause undesirable side effects. If any such events occur, our preclinical studies or clinical trials could be delayed, suspended or terminated. There can be no assurance that our genome editing technologies will not cause severe or undesirable side effects. If in the future we are unable to demonstrate that such adverse events were caused by factors other than our product candidate, the FDA, the EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further clinical studies of, or deny approval of, any product candidates we develop for any or all targeted indications. Even if we are able to demonstrate that all future serious adverse events are not product-related, such occurrences could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial. Moreover, if we elect, or are required, to delay, suspend or terminate any clinical trial of any product candidate we may develop, the commercial prospects of such product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates may be delayed or eliminated. Any of these occurrences may harm our ability to identify and develop product candidates, and may harm our business, financial condition, result of operations and prospects significantly. Viral vectors, including the adeno-associated virus (“AAV”), which are relatively new approaches used for disease treatment, also have known side effects, and for which additional risks could develop in the future. In past clinical trials that were conducted by others with non-AAV vectors, significant side effects were caused by gene therapy treatments, including reported cases of myelodysplasia, leukemia and death. Other potential side effects could include an immunologic reaction and insertional oncogenesis, which is the process whereby the insertion of a functional gene near a gene that is important in cell growth or division results in uncontrolled cell division, which could potentially enhance the risk of cancer. If the vectors we use demonstrate a similar side effect, or other adverse events, we may be required to halt or delay further clinical development of any potential product candidates. Such delayed adverse events may also occur in other viral vectors, including AAV vectors. In addition to side effects and adverse events caused by our product candidates, the conditioning, administration process or related procedures which may be used to condition a patient for gene therapy treatment also can cause adverse side effects and adverse events. A gene therapy patient is generally administered cytotoxic drugs to remove stem cells from the bone marrow to create sufficient space in the bone marrow for the modified stem cells to engraft and produce new cells. This procedure compromises the patient’s immune system, and conditioning regimens have been associated with adverse events in clinical trial participants. Additionally, if we successfully develop a product candidate and it receives regulatory approval, the FDA could require us to adopt a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) to ensure that the benefits of treatment with such product candidate outweighs the 41 risks for each potential patient, which may include, among other things, a medication guide outlining the risks of the product for distribution to patients, a communication plan to healthcare practitioners, extensive patient monitoring, or distribution systems and processes that are highly controlled, restrictive, and more costly than what is typical for the industry. Furthermore, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by any product candidate that we may develop that receives regulatory approval, several potentially significant negative consequences could result, including: • regulatory authorities may revoke licenses or suspend, vary or withdraw approvals of such product candidate; • regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label; • we may be required to change the way a product candidate is administered or conduct additional clinical trials; • we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients; and • our reputation may suffer. Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of our genome editing technology and any product candidates we may identify and develop and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Positive results from early preclinical studies of any product candidates we may develop may not necessarily be predictive of the results of later preclinical studies and any future clinical trials of such product candidates. If we cannot replicate the positive results from our earlier preclinical studies of any product candidates we may develop in our later preclinical studies and future clinical trials, we may be unable to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize such product candidates. Any positive results from our preclinical studies of any product candidates we may develop may not necessarily be predictive of the results from later preclinical studies and clinical trials of such product candidates. Similarly, even if we are able to complete our planned preclinical studies or any future clinical trials of any product candidates we may develop according to our current development timeline, the positive results from such preclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates may not be replicated in subsequent preclinical studies or clinical trial results. Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials after achieving positive results in early-stage development and we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, preclinical findings made while clinical trials were underway or safety or efficacy observations made in preclinical studies and clinical trials, including previously unreported adverse events. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses and many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials nonetheless failed to obtain regulatory approval. We may also consider additional delivery modes, which may carry additional known and unknown risks. We may also consider additional delivery modes, which may carry additional known and unknown risks. For example, we intend to use lipid nanoparticles (“LNPs”) to deliver our nucleases. While LNPs have been used to deliver smaller molecules, such as small interfering RNA (“siRNA”), they have not been clinically proven to deliver large RNA molecules. Furthermore, as with many AAV-mediated gene therapy approaches, certain patients’ immune systems might prohibit the successful delivery, thereby potentially limiting treatment outcomes of these patients. Even if initial clinical trials in any of our potential product candidates we may develop are successful, these product candidates we may develop may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy in later stages of clinical development despite having successfully advanced through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. We may find it difficult to enroll patients in our future clinical trials given the limited number of patients who have the diseases any product candidates we identify or develop are intended to target. If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, our clinical development activities and our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented. As we progress our programs, we may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for any product candidates we identify or develop if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities outside the United States, or as needed to provide appropriate statistical power for a given trial. Enrollment may be particularly challenging for some of the rare genetically defined diseases we are targeting in some of our discovery programs. In addition, if patients are unwilling to participate in our genome editing trials because of negative publicity from adverse events related to the biotechnology, gene therapy or genome editing fields, competitive clinical trials for similar patient populations, clinical trials in competing product candidates or for other reasons, the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting studies and obtaining regulatory approval of our potential product candidates may be delayed. Moreover, some of our 42 competitors may have ongoing clinical trials for product candidates that would treat the same indications as our potential product candidates, and patients who would otherwise be eligible for our future clinical trials may instead enroll in clinical trials of our competitors’ product candidates. Patient enrollment is also affected by other factors, some of which may include: • severity of the disease under investigation; • size of the patient population and process for identifying patients, including proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients with conditions that have small patient pools; • design of the trial protocol, including efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials; • availability and efficacy of approved medications for the disease under investigation; • availability of genetic testing for potential patients and ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment; • ability to obtain and maintain patient informed consent; • risk that enrolled patients will drop out before completion of the trial; • eligibility and exclusion criteria for the trial in question; • perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under trial and genome editing as a therapeutic approach; and • patient referral practices of physicians. In addition, our ability to successfully initiate, enroll and complete a clinical trial in any foreign country is subject to numerous risks unique to conducting business in foreign countries, some of which may include: • difficulty in establishing or managing relationships with clinical research organizations (“CROs”) and physicians; • different standards for the conduct of clinical trials; • different standard-of-care for patients with a particular disease; • difficulty in locating qualified local consultants, physicians and partners; and • potential burden of complying with a variety of foreign laws, medical standards and regulatory requirements, including the regulation of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products and treatment and of genome editing technologies. Enrollment delays in our future clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our potential product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing. If we or our collaborators have difficulty enrolling a sufficient number of patients to conduct our future clinical trials as planned, we may need to delay, limit or terminate ongoing or planned clinical trials or entire clinical programs, any of which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Genetic therapies are novel, and any product candidates we develop may be complex and difficult to manufacture. We could experience delays in satisfying regulatory authorities or production problems that result in delays in our development programs, limit the supply of the product candidates we may develop or otherwise harm our business. Any product candidates we may develop will likely require processing steps that are more complex than those required for most chemical pharmaceuticals. Moreover, unlike chemical pharmaceuticals, the physical and chemical properties of a biologic such as the product candidates we intend to develop generally cannot be fully characterized. As a result, assays of the finished product candidate may not be sufficient to ensure that the product candidate will perform in the intended manner. Problems with the manufacturing process, even minor deviations from the normal process, could result in product defects or manufacturing failures that result in lot failures, product recalls, product liability claims, insufficient inventory or potentially delay progression of our potential IND filings. If we successfully develop product candidates, we may encounter problems achieving adequate quantities and quality of clinical-grade materials that meet the FDA, the EMA or other comparable applicable foreign standards or specifications with consistent and acceptable production yields and costs. For example, the current approach of manufacturing AAV vectors may fall short of supplying required number of doses needed for advanced stages of preclinical studies or clinical trials, and the FDA may ask us to demonstrate that we have the appropriate manufacturing processes in place to support the higher-dose group in our preclinical studies or clinical trials. In addition, any product candidates we may develop will require complicated delivery methods, each of which will introduce additional complexities in the manufacturing process. In addition, the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory authorities may require us to submit samples of any lot of any approved product together with the protocols showing the results of applicable tests at any time. Under some circumstances, the FDA, the EMA or other 43 regulatory authorities may require that we not distribute a lot until the agency authorizes its release. Slight deviations in the manufacturing process, including those affecting quality attributes and stability, may result in unacceptable changes in the product that could result in lot failures or product recalls. Lot failures or product recalls could cause us to delay clinical trials or product launches, which could be costly to us and otherwise harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Given the nature of biologics manufacturing there is a risk of contamination during manufacturing. Any contamination could materially harm our ability to produce product candidates on schedule and could harm our results of operations and cause reputational damage. Some of the raw materials that we anticipate will be required in our manufacturing process are derived from biologic sources. Such raw materials are difficult to procure and may be subject to contamination or recall. A material shortage, contamination, recall or restriction on the use of biologically derived substances in the manufacture of any product candidates we may develop could adversely impact or disrupt the commercial manufacturing or the production of clinical material, which could materially harm our development timelines and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Any problems in our manufacturing process or the facilities with which we contract could make us a less attractive collaborator for potential partners, including larger pharmaceutical companies and academic research institutions, which could limit our access to additional attractive development programs. Problems in third-party manufacturing process or facilities also could restrict our ability to ensure sufficient clinical material for any clinical trials we may be conducting or are planning to conduct and meet market demand for any product candidates we develop and commercialize. We face significant competition in an environment of rapid technological change, and there is a possibility that our competitors may achieve regulatory approval before us or develop therapies that are safer or more advanced or effective than ours, which may harm our financial condition and our ability to successfully market or commercialize any product candidates we may develop. The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. Moreover, the genome editing field is characterized by rapidly changing technologies, significant competition and a strong emphasis on intellectual property. We will face competition with respect to any product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. Potential competitors also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent or other intellectual property protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization. There are a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of products for the treatment of the disease indications for which we have research programs. Some of these competitive products and therapies are based on scientific approaches that are the same as or similar to our approach, while others are based on entirely different approaches. Amongst publicly traded peers, there are several companies utilizing CRISPR/Cas technology, including Caribou Biosciences, Inc., Editas Medicine, Inc., CRISPR Therapeutics AG and Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. Several additional companies such as Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., Precision BioSciences, Inc., bluebird bio, Inc., and Cellectis Inc. utilize alternative nuclease-based genome editing technologies, including zinc finger nucleases (“ZFNs”), engineered meganucleases and transcription-activator like effector nucleases (“TALENs”). Beam Therapeutics utilizes base editing technology. Prime Medicine utilizes prime editing technology. In addition, other private companies such as Tessera Therapeutics, Inc. and Tome Biosciences, Inc. have announced their work in recombinase DNA and RNA gene writers, although little is known publicly about their science or portfolio. Most recently, new epigenetic editing companies have emerged, such as Chroma Medicine, Inc. and Tune Therapeutics, Inc. In addition, we face competition from companies utilizing gene therapy, oligonucleotides and cell therapy therapeutic approaches. Several private companies such as Arbor Biotechnologies, Inc., nChroma Bio, Scribe Therapeutics Inc., and Mammoth Biosciences, Inc. are actively searching for novel genome editing components and have reported the discovery of new DNA-cutting enzymes. Other companies are active in LNP delivery technologies and advancing those into therapeutics using genetic therapies, including Recode Therapeutics, Inc., Verve Therapeutics, Inc., Generation Bio Co. and Beam Therapeutics, among others. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future that are approved to treat the same diseases for which we may obtain approval for any product candidates we may develop. This may include other types of therapies, such as small molecule, antibody and/or protein therapies. For example, valoctocogene roxaparvovec, the first hemophilia A gene therapy, was conditionally approved for use in Europe in August 2022 and was approved in the United States in June 2023. Many of our current or potential competitors, either alone or with their collaboration partners, may have significantly greater financial 44 resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and gene therapy industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize product candidates that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient, or are less expensive than any product candidates that we may develop or that would render any product candidates that we may develop obsolete or non-competitive. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their product candidates more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. Additionally, technologies developed by our competitors may render our potential product candidates uneconomical or obsolete, and we may not be successful in marketing any product candidates we may develop against competitors. In addition, as a result of the expiration or successful challenge of our patent or other intellectual property rights, we could face risks relating to our ability to successfully prevent or delay launch of competitors’ products. The availability of our competitors’ products could limit the demand and the price we are able to charge for any product candidates that we may develop and commercialize. Adverse public perception of genome editing and cellular therapy products may negatively impact demand for, or regulatory approval of, any product candidates we may develop. The product candidates we may develop will involve editing the human genome. The clinical and commercial success of any product candidates we may develop will depend in part on public acceptance of the use of genome editing therapies for the prevention or treatment of human diseases. Public attitudes may be influenced by claims that genome editing is unsafe, unethical, or immoral, and, consequently, our products may not gain the acceptance of the public or the medical community. Negative public reaction to gene therapy in general could result in greater government regulation and stricter labeling requirements of genome editing products, including any of our product candidates, and could cause a decrease in the demand for any products we may develop. Adverse public attitudes may adversely impact our ability to enroll clinical trials. Additionally, ethical, social and legal concerns about genome editing and gene therapy could result in additional regulations restricting or prohibiting any product candidates we may develop. The commercial success of any of the product candidates we may develop will depend upon the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. Even if we obtain the requisite approvals from the FDA in the United States, the EC in the European Union and other regulatory authorities internationally, the commercial success of any product candidates we may develop will depend, in part, on the acceptance of physicians, patients and health care payors of genome editing and gene therapy products in general, and our product candidates in particular, as medically necessary, cost-effective and safe. Any product that we commercialize may not gain acceptance by physicians, patients, health care payors and others in the medical community who may opt for existing treatments with which they are already familiar and for which greater clinical data may be available. The degree of market acceptance of genome editing and gene therapy products and, in particular, any product candidates we may develop, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on several factors, including: • the efficacy, durability and safety of such product candidates as demonstrated in any future clinical trials; • the potential and perceived advantages of such product candidates over alternative treatments; • the cost of treatment relative to alternative treatments; • the clinical indications for which the product candidate is approved by the FDA, the EC or other regulatory authorities; • patient awareness of, and willingness to seek, genotyping; • the willingness of physicians to prescribe new therapies; • the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies; • the prevalence and severity of any side effects; • product labeling or product insert requirements of the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities, including any limitations or warnings contained in a product’s approved labeling; • relative convenience and ease of administration; • the strength of marketing and distribution support; 45 • the timing of market introduction of competitive products; • publicity concerning our products or competing products and treatments; and • sufficient third-party payor coverage and reimbursement. Even if a potential product displays a favorable efficacy and safety profile in preclinical studies and future clinical trials, market acceptance of the product will not be fully known until after it is launched. If any product candidates we may develop do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance following regulatory approval, if ever, we may not generate significant product revenue and may not become profitable. We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success. We have limited financial and managerial resources. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to timely capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate. If, in the future, we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market products based on our technologies, we may not be successful in commercializing our future product candidates if and when any such product candidates are approved and we may not be able to generate any revenue. We do not currently have a sales or marketing infrastructure and, as a company, have no experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of therapeutic products. To achieve commercial success for any potential approved product candidate for which we retain sales and marketing responsibilities, we must build our sales, marketing, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. In the future, we may choose to build a focused sales and marketing infrastructure to sell, or participate in sales activities with our collaborators for, some of our product candidates if and when they are approved. There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel. Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our product candidates on our own include: • our inability to recruit, train and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel; • the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to physicians or persuade adequate numbers of physicians to prescribe any future product that we may develop; • the lack of complementary treatments to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and • unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization. If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenue or the profitability to us from these revenue streams is likely to be lower than if we were to market and sell any product candidates that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our product candidates effectively. If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates. Further, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects will be materially adversely affected. Due to the novel nature of our technology and the potential for any product candidates we may develop to offer therapeutic benefit in a single administration or limited number of administrations, we face uncertainty related to pricing and reimbursement for such product candidates. 46 Our initial target patient populations are relatively small, as a result of which the pricing and reimbursement of any product candidates we may develop, if approved, must be adequate to support the necessary commercial infrastructure. If we are unable to obtain adequate levels of reimbursement, our ability to successfully market and sell any such product candidates will be adversely affected. The manner and level at which reimbursement is provided for services related to any product candidates we may develop (e.g., for administration of our product candidate to patients) is also important. Inadequate reimbursement for such services may lead to physician and payor resistance and adversely affect our ability to market or sell our product candidates. In addition, we may need to develop new reimbursement models in order to realize adequate value. Payors may not be able or willing to adopt such new models, and patients may be unable to afford that portion of the cost that such models may require them to bear. If we determine such new models are necessary but we are unsuccessful in developing them, or if such models are not adopted by payors, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be adversely affected. We expect the cost of a single administration of a genome editing therapy, such as those we are seeking to develop, to be substantial, when and if they achieve regulatory approval. We expect that coverage and reimbursement by government and private payors will be essential for most patients to be able to afford these treatments. Accordingly, sales of any such product candidates will depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of any of our product candidates will be paid by government authorities, private health plans, and other third-party payors. Payors may not be willing to pay high prices for a single administration. Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon several factors, including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is: • a covered benefit under its health plan; • safe, effective, and medically necessary; • appropriate for the specific patient; • cost-effective; and • neither experimental nor investigational. Obtaining coverage and reimbursement for a product from third-party payors is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to the payor supporting scientific, clinical, and cost-effectiveness data. There is significant uncertainty related to third-party coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. We may not be able to provide data sufficient to gain acceptance with respect to coverage and reimbursement. If coverage and reimbursement are not available, or are available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any of our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be adequate to realize a sufficient return on our investment. In the United States, no uniform policy exists for coverage and reimbursement for products among third-party payors. Therefore, decisions regarding the extent of coverage and amount of reimbursement to be provided can differ significantly from payor to payor. The process for determining whether a payor will provide coverage for a product may be separate from the process for setting the reimbursement rate a payor will pay for the product. One third-party payor’s decision to cover a particular product or service does not ensure that other payors will also provide coverage for the medical product or service. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list or formulary, which may not include all FDA-approved products for a particular indication. Further, third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price and examining the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety and efficacy. In order to secure coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for sale, we may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of any product candidates we may develop, in addition to the costs required to obtain FDA or comparable regulatory approvals. Additionally, we may also need to provide discounts to purchasers, private health plans or government healthcare programs. Despite our best efforts, any product candidates we may develop may not be considered medically necessary or cost-effective. If third-party payors do not consider a product to be cost-effective compared to other available therapies, they may not cover an approved product as a benefit under their plans or, if they do, the level of payment may not be sufficient to allow us to sell our products at a profit. A decision by a third-party payor not to cover a product could reduce physician utilization once the product is approved and have a material adverse effect on sales, our operations and financial condition. Finally, in some foreign countries, the proposed pricing for a product candidate must be approved before it may be lawfully marketed. The requirements governing product pricing vary widely from country to country. For example, in the EU, pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceutical products are regulated at a national level under the individual EU Member States’ social security systems. Some foreign countries provide options to restrict the range of medicinal products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement and can control the prices of medicinal products for human use. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval, some of these countries may require the completion of clinical trials that compare the cost effectiveness of a particular product candidate to currently available therapies. A country may approve a specific price for the medicinal product or it may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the medicinal product on the market. There can be no assurance 47 that any country that has price controls or reimbursement limitations for products will allow favorable reimbursement and pricing arrangements for any of our product candidates. Even if approved for reimbursement, historically, product candidates launched in some foreign countries, such as some countries in the EU, do not follow price structures of the United States and prices generally tend to be significantly lower. If we are not able to establish collaborations on a timely basis, on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, we may have to alter, reduce or delay our development and commercialization plans, or increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities at our own expense. For some of the product candidates we may develop, we may decide to collaborate with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for the development and potential commercialization of those product candidates. We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborations and collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration, and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of clinical trials, the likelihood of approval by the FDA, the EMA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject product candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such product candidate to patients, the potential of competing products, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge, and industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us. We may also be restricted under existing collaboration agreements from entering into future collaboration agreements on certain terms with potential collaborators. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators, which further increases competition we face in seeking potential collaborations. We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of the product candidate for which we are seeking to collaborate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to develop product candidates or bring them to market and generate product revenue. Unfavorable global economic conditions could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy, geopolitical tensions and in the global financial markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn or additional global financial and political crises could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for any product candidates we develop or our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy could also strain our suppliers or other third parties and create import and export issues, possibly resulting in supply disruption. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the current economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business. The future geopolitical landscape also remains particularly uncertain with the change in presidential administration. Any resulting changes in international trade relations, legislation and regulations, including those related to trade tariffs, taxation, and importation, or economic and monetary policies, or heightened diplomatic tensions or political and civil unrest, among other potential impacts, could adversely impact the global economy and our operating results. We face risks related to health epidemics, pandemics and other widespread outbreaks of contagious disease, which could significantly disrupt our operations, impact our financial results or otherwise adversely impact our business. Significant outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments could have a material impact on our business operations and operating results. For example, the spread of COVID-19 has affected segments of the global economy and our operations. As a result of similar public health crises that may arise, we may experience disruptions that could adversely impact our operations, research and development, and as we continue developing, any preclinical studies, clinical trials and manufacturing activities we may conduct, some of which may include: • delays or disruptions in research programs, preclinical studies, clinical trials or IND-enabling studies that we or our collaborators may conduct; 48 • interruption or delays in the operations of the FDA, the EMA and comparable foreign regulatory agencies; • interruption of, or delays in receiving and distributing, supplies of drug substance and drug product from our contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”), to preclinical or clinical research sites or delays or disruptions in any preclinical studies or clinical trials performed by CROs; • limitations imposed on our business operations by local, state or federal authorities to address a pandemic or similar public health crises; and • business disruptions caused by potential workplace, laboratory and office closures and an increased reliance on employees working from home, disruptions to or delays in ongoing laboratory experiments and operations, staffing shortages, travel limitations, and cybersecurity and data accessibility or security issues. In addition, the trading prices for biopharmaceutical companies have been highly volatile as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and we may face similar volatility in our stock price. If we or any of the third parties with whom we engage were to experience additional shutdowns or other business disruptions, our ability to conduct our business in the manner and on the timelines presently planned could be materially and negatively affected, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, our results of operations and prospects. Furthermore, public health crises could exacerbate the other risks described in this section. Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by disasters, terrorist activity, pandemics and other events beyond our control, which could harm our business. Our facilities are located in California. We have not undertaken a systematic analysis of the potential consequences to our business and financial results from a major flood, power loss, terrorist activity, pandemics or other regional or global disasters and generally do not have a recovery plan for such events. In addition, we do not carry sufficient insurance to compensate us for actual losses from interruption of our business that may occur, and any losses or damages incurred by us could harm our business. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. We may use artificial intelligence in our business, and challenges with properly managing its use, as well as uncertainty regarding the legal landscape surrounding the use of AI could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, and adversely affect our results of operations. We incorporate artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions into our platform, and these applications may become important in our operations over time. There are significant risks involved in utilizing AI and no assurance can be provided that the usage of such AI will enhance our business or assist our business in being more efficient or profitable. If we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy due to perceived or actual negative societal impact, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. Known risks of AI currently include inaccuracy, bias, toxicity, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy and cybersecurity and data provenance. In addition, AI may have errors or inadequacies that are not easily detectable. AI may also be subject to data herding and interconnectedness (i.e., multiple market participants utilizing the same data), which may adversely impact our business. If the data used to train AI or the content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications assist in producing are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, incomplete, overbroad or biased, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected. The legal landscape and subsequent legal protection for the use of AI remains uncertain, and development of the law in this area could impact our ability to enforce our proprietary rights or protect against infringing uses. If we do not have sufficient rights to use the data on which AI relies or to the outputs produced by AI applications, we may incur liability through the violation of certain laws, third-party privacy or other rights or contracts to which we are a party. Additionally, we expect to see increasing government and supranational regulation related to artificial intelligence use and ethics, which may also significantly increase the burden and cost of research, development and compliance in this area. For example, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act (“AI Act”) — the world’s first comprehensive AI law — which has entered into force on August 1, 2024 and most provisions of which will become effective on August 2, 2026. This legislation imposes significant obligations on providers and deployers of high risk artificial intelligence systems, and encourages providers and deployers of artificial intelligence systems to account for EU ethical principles in their development and use of these systems. If we develop or use AI systems that are governed by the AI Act, it may necessitate ensuring higher standards of data quality, transparency, and human oversight, as well as adhering to specific and potentially burdensome and costly ethical, accountability, and administrative requirements. Likewise, in the U.S., a number of states have proposed and passed laws regulating various uses of AI, and federal regulators have issued guidance affecting the use of AI in regulated sectors. Even in the absence of dedicated AI laws and regulations, we may be subject to novel legal and business risks relating to our adoption of these new technologies. Our vendors may in turn incorporate AI tools into their own offerings, and the providers of these AI tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards, including with respect to privacy and data security. Bad actors around the world use increasingly sophisticated methods, including the use of AI, to engage in illegal activities involving the 49 theft and misuse of personal information, confidential information, and intellectual property. Our use of AI applications may also, in the future, result in cybersecurity incidents that implicate the personal information of customers or patients. Any such cybersecurity incidents related to our use of AI applications could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations. Risks Related to Regulatory, Legal, and Clinical Trials While we intend to seek designations for our potential product candidates with the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities that are intended to confer benefits such as a faster development process or an accelerated regulatory pathway, there can be no assurance that we will successfully obtain such designations. In addition, even if one or more of our potential product candidates are granted such designations, we may not be able to realize the intended benefits of such designations. The FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities offer certain designations for product candidates that are designed to encourage the research and development of product candidates that are intended to address conditions with significant unmet medical need. These designations may confer benefits such as additional interaction with regulatory authorities, a potentially accelerated regulatory pathway and priority review. However, there can be no assurance that we will successfully obtain such designations for any potential product candidates. In addition, while such designations could expedite the development or approval process, they generally do not change the standards for approval. Even if we obtain such designations for one or more of our potential product candidates, there can be no assurance that we will realize their intended benefits. For example, we may seek fast track designation for some of our potential product candidates. If a therapy is intended for the treatment of a serious or life threatening condition and the therapy nonclinical or clinical data demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for this condition, the therapy sponsor may apply for fast track designation. The FDA has broad discretion whether or not to grant this designation, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for this designation, there can be no assurance that the FDA would decide to grant it. Even if we do receive fast track designation, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures, and receiving a fast track designation does not provide assurance of ultimate FDA approval. In addition, the FDA may withdraw fast track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program. Additionally, we may seek a breakthrough therapy designation for some of our potential product candidates. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a therapy that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other therapies, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the therapy may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For therapies that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Therapies designated as breakthrough therapies by the FDA may also be eligible for accelerated approval. Designation as a breakthrough therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe one of our potential product candidates meets the criteria for designation as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. In any event, the receipt of a breakthrough therapy designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to therapies considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our potential product candidates qualify as breakthrough therapies, the FDA may later decide that such product candidates no longer meet the conditions for qualification. In addition, we may seek a regenerative medicine advanced therapy (“RMAT”) designation for some of our potential product candidates. An RMAT is defined as cell therapies, therapeutic tissue engineering products, human cell and tissue products and combination products using any such therapies or products. Gene therapies, including genetically modified cells that lead to a durable modification of cells or tissues may meet the definition of a regenerative medicine therapy. The RMAT program is intended to facilitate efficient development and expedite review of RMATs, which are intended to treat, modify, reverse or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition. A new drug application or a biologics license application (“BLA”) for an RMAT may be eligible for priority review or accelerated approval through (1) surrogate or intermediate endpoints reasonably likely to predict long-term clinical benefit or (2) reliance upon data obtained from a meaningful number of sites. Benefits of such designation also include early interactions with the FDA to discuss any potential surrogate or intermediate endpoint to be used to support accelerated approval. A regenerative medicine therapy that is granted accelerated approval and is subject to post-approval requirements may fulfill such requirements through the submission of clinical evidence, clinical trials, patient registries or other sources of real world evidence, such as electronic health records; the collection of larger confirmatory data sets; or post-approval monitoring of all patients treated with such therapy prior to its approval. RMAT designation is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe one of our potential product candidates meets the criteria for designation as a regenerative medicine advanced therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. In any event, the receipt of RMAT designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our potential product candidates qualify as for RMAT designation, the FDA may later decide that the biological products no longer meet the conditions for qualification. We may also seek rare pediatric disease designation for some of our potential product candidates. The FDA defines “rare pediatric disease” as a (i) serious or 50 life-threatening disease in which the serious or life-threatening manifestations primarily affect individuals aged from birth to 18 years, including age groups often called neonates, infants, children, and adolescents; and (ii) a rare disease or condition within the meaning of the Orphan Drug Act. Designation of a product candidate as a product for a rare pediatric disease does not guarantee that a marketing application for such product candidate will meet the eligibility criteria for a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher (“PRV”) at the time the application is approved. Under the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), we will need to request a rare pediatric disease PRV in our original marketing application for any potential product candidates for which we have received rare pediatric disease designation. However, the FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority voucher program began to sunset on December 20, 2024, on failure to pass a continuing resolution package that included its reauthorization. Under the amended statutory sunset provisions, after December 20, 2024, the FDA may award a PRV for an approved rare pediatric disease product application only if the sponsor has rare pediatric disease designation for the drug and if that designation was granted by December 20, 2024. After September 30, 2026, the FDA may not award any rare pediatric disease PRVs. Congress may vote to reauthorize this program, but its future remains unknown at this time. Further, even if Congress were to reauthorize this program, the FDA may determine that a marketing application for any such product candidates, if approved, does not meet the eligibility criteria for a PRV. In the future, we may also seek approval of product candidates under the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway. A product may be eligible for accelerated approval if it is designed to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and generally provides a meaningful advantage over available therapies upon a determination that the product candidate has an effect on a surrogate endpoint or intermediate clinical endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality (“IMM”) that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on IMM or other clinical benefit. The FDA considers a clinical benefit to be a positive therapeutic effect that is clinically meaningful in the context of a given disease, such as IMM. For the purposes of accelerated approval, a surrogate endpoint is a marker, such as a laboratory measurement, radiographic image, physical sign or other measure that is thought to predict clinical benefit, but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit. An intermediate clinical endpoint is a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. The accelerated approval pathway may be used in cases in which the advantage of a new drug over available therapy may not be a direct therapeutic advantage, but is a clinically important improvement from a patient and public health perspective. If granted, accelerated approval is usually contingent on the sponsor’s agreement to conduct, in a diligent manner, additional post-approval confirmatory studies to verity and describe the drug’s clinical benefit. Under the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022 (“FDORA”), the FDA is permitted to require, as appropriate, that a post-approval confirmatory study or studies be underway prior to approval or within a specified time period after the date of approval for a product granted accelerated approval. FDORA also requires sponsors to send updates to the FDA every 180 days on the status of such studies, including progress toward enrollment targets, and the FDA must promptly post this information publicly. FDORA also gives the FDA increased authority to withdraw approval of a drug or biologic granted accelerated approval on an expedited basis if the sponsor fails to conduct such studies in a timely manner, send the necessary updates to the FDA, or if such post-approval studies fail to verify the drug’s predicted clinical benefit. Under FDORA, the FDA is empowered to take action, such as issuing fines, against companies that fail to conduct with due diligence any post-approval confirmatory study or submit timely reports to the agency on their progress. There can be no assurance that the FDA would allow any of the product candidates we may develop to proceed on an accelerated approval pathway, and even if the FDA did allow such pathway, there can be no assurance that such submission or application will be accepted or that any expedited development, review or approval will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. Moreover, even if we received accelerated approval, any post-approval studies required to confirm and verify clinical benefit may not show such benefit, which could lead to withdrawal of any approvals we have obtained. Receiving accelerated approval does not assure that the product’s accelerated approval will eventually be converted to a traditional approval. If the FDA determines that a product candidate offers a treatment for a serious condition and, if approved, the product would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness, the FDA may designate the product candidate for priority review. A priority review designation means that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review period of ten months. We may request priority review for the product candidates that we may develop. The FDA has broad discretion with respect to whether or not to grant priority review status to a product candidate, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for such designation or status, the FDA may decide not to grant it. Moreover, a priority review designation does not necessarily result in an expedited regulatory review or approval process or necessarily confer any advantage with respect to approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. Receiving priority review from the FDA does not guarantee approval within the six-month review cycle or at all. In addition, in the European Union, we may seek to participate in the PRIority Medicines (“PRIME”) scheme for our potential product candidates. The PRIME scheme is intended to encourage development of products in areas of unmet medical need and provides accelerated assessment of products representing substantial innovation, where the marketing authorization application will be made through the centralized procedure in the European Union. Products from small-and medium-sized enterprises may qualify for earlier entry into the PRIME scheme than larger companies on the basis of compelling non-clinical data and tolerability data from initial 51 clinical trials. Eligible products must target conditions for which there is an unmet medical need (no treatment option exists in the European Union or, they can offer a major therapeutic advantage over existing treatments). Many benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and accelerated marketing authorization application assessment once a dossier has been submitted. There is no guarantee, however, that our potential product candidates would be deemed eligible for the PRIME scheme and even if we do participate in the PRIME scheme, where during the course of development a product no longer meets the eligibility criteria, support under the PRIME scheme may be withdrawn. PRIME eligibility does not change the standards for product approval, and there is no assurance that any such designation or eligibility will result in expedited review or approval. Healthcare and other reform legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us and any collaborators we may have to obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize any product candidates we may develop and affect the prices we, or they, may obtain. In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been and continue to be ongoing efforts to implement legislative and regulatory changes regarding the healthcare system. Such changes could prevent or delay regulatory approval of any product candidates that we may develop, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval. Although we cannot predict what healthcare or other reform efforts will be successful, such efforts may result in more rigorous coverage criteria, in additional downward pressure on the price that we, or our future collaborators, may receive for any approved products or in other consequences that may adversely affect our ability to achieve or maintain profitability. Within the United States, the federal government and individual states have aggressively pursued healthcare reform, as evidenced by the passing of the Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “ACA”), and the ongoing efforts to modify or repeal that legislation. The ACA significantly changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers and contains a number of provisions that affect coverage and reimbursement of drug products and/or that could potentially reduce the demand for pharmaceutical products such as increasing drug rebates under state Medicaid programs for brand name prescription drugs and extending those rebates to Medicaid managed care and assessing a fee on manufacturers and importers of brand name prescription drugs reimbursed under certain government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Other aspects of healthcare reform, such as expanded government enforcement authority and heightened standards that could increase compliance-related costs, could also affect our business. Modifications have been implemented under the former Trump administration and additional modifications or repeal may occur. There have also been executive, judicial, and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. It is unclear how other healthcare reform measures of the presidential administration or other efforts, if any, to challenge, repeal or replace the ACA will impact our business. There is no assurance that federal or state healthcare reform will not adversely affect our future business and financial results, and we cannot predict how future federal or state legislative, judicial or administrative changes relating to healthcare reform will affect our business. In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 eliminated the statutory Medicaid drug rebate cap, previously set at 100 percent of a drug’s average manufacturer price, for single source and innovator multiple source drugs, beginning January 1, 2024. The U.S. Budget Control Act of 2011 and subsequent legislation, among other things, included aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, which remain in effect through 2032. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 further reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. Additionally, there has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to drug pricing practices, which has resulted in several U.S. Congressional inquiries and federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”), for example, includes several provisions that may impact our business to varying degrees, including provisions that reduce the out-of-pocket spending cap for Medicare Part D beneficiaries to $2,000 starting in 2025, eliminating the prescription drug coverage gap; impose new manufacturer financial liability on certain drugs under Medicare Part D, allow the U.S. government to negotiate Medicare Part B and Part D price caps for certain high-cost drugs and biologics without generic or biosimilar competition; require companies to pay rebates to Medicare for certain drug prices that increase faster than inflation; and delay until January 1, 2032 the implementation of an HHS rebate rule that would have limited the fees that pharmacy benefit managers can charge. Further, under the IRA, orphan drugs are exempted from the Medicare drug price negotiation program, but only if they have one orphan designation and for which the only approved indication is for that disease or condition. If a product receives multiple orphan designations or has multiple approved indications, it may not qualify for the orphan drug exemption. The effects of the IRA on our business and the healthcare industry in general is not yet known. 52 We cannot predict the initiatives that may be adopted in the future. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payors of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of healthcare and/or impose price controls may adversely affect: • the demand for our product candidates, if we obtain regulatory approval; • our ability to set a price that we believe is fair for our approved products; • our ability to generate revenue and achieve or maintain profitability; • the level of taxes that we are required to pay; and • the availability of capital. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors, which may adversely affect our future profitability. Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain drug access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. Legally mandated price controls on payment amounts by third-party payors or other restrictions could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. This could reduce the ultimate demand for our drugs or put pressure on our drug pricing, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Because we are developing product candidates in the field of genetic medicines in which there is little clinical experience, there is increased risk that the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities may not consider the endpoints of our clinical trials to provide clinically meaningful results and that these results may be difficult to analyze. In order to proceed into clinical development of any product candidates we identify, we will need to submit INDs or clinical trial applications to regulatory authorities and obtain regulatory clearance to commence clinical development. Because the product candidates we identify are based on novel gene-editing technology, we may be unsuccessful in obtaining clearance from regulatory authorities to proceed into clinical development. In order to commence clinical development, we will need to identify success criteria and endpoints such that the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities will be able to determine the clinical efficacy and safety profile of any product candidates we may develop. As we are initially seeking to identify and develop product candidates to treat diseases in which there is little clinical experience using new technologies, and while we may have opportunities to discuss our clinical development plans with regulatory authorities prior to commencing clinical development, there is heightened risk that the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities may not consider the clinical trial endpoints that we propose to provide clinically meaningful results (reflecting a tangible benefit to patients). In addition, the resulting clinical data and results may be difficult to analyze. Even if the FDA does find our success criteria to be sufficiently validated and clinically meaningful, we may not achieve the pre-specified endpoints to a degree of statistical significance. This may be a particularly significant risk for many of the genetically defined diseases for which we plan to develop product candidates because many of these diseases such as Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1 have small patient populations, and designing and executing a rigorous clinical trial with appropriate statistical power is more difficult than with diseases that have larger patient populations. Furthermore, even if we do achieve the pre-specified criteria, we may produce results that are unpredictable or inconsistent with the results of the non-primary endpoints or other relevant data. The FDA also weighs the benefits of a product against its risks, and the FDA may view the efficacy results in the context of safety as not being supportive of regulatory approval. Other regulatory authorities in the European Union and other countries may make similar comments with respect to these endpoints and data. Any product candidates we may develop will be based on a novel technology that makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of development and of subsequently obtaining regulatory approval. No genome editing therapeutic product has been approved in the United States or in Europe. Within the broader genome product field, only a limited number of gene therapy products, such as uniQure N.V.’s Glybera and Abecma from Bristol Myers Squibb and bluebird bio, have received marketing authorization or regulatory approval from the European Commission or the FDA. Some of these products have taken years to register and have had to deal with significant issues in their post-marketing experience. If preclinical studies or clinical trials of any product candidates we may identify and develop fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of regulatory authorities or do not otherwise produce positive results, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of such product candidates. 53 Before obtaining regulatory approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any product candidates we may identify and develop, we must complete preclinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete, and is uncertain as to outcome. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. Many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain regulatory approval of their product candidates. We and our collaborators, if any, may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize any product candidates we may identify and develop, including: • delays in reaching a consensus with regulators on trial design; • regulators, IRBs, or independent ethics committees may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site; • delays in reaching or failing to reach agreement on acceptable clinical trial contracts or clinical trial protocols with prospective CROs and clinical trial sites; • clinical trials of any product candidates we may develop may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon product development or research programs; • difficulty in designing well-controlled clinical trials due to ethical considerations which may render it inappropriate to conduct a trial with a control arm that can be effectively compared to a treatment arm; • difficulty in designing clinical trials and selecting endpoints for diseases that have not been well-studied and for which the natural history and course of the disease is poorly understood; • the number of patients required for clinical trials of any product candidates we may develop may be larger than we anticipate; enrollment of suitable participants in these clinical trials, which may be particularly challenging for some of the rare genetically defined diseases we are targeting in our most advanced programs, may be delayed or slower than we anticipate; or patients may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate; • our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all; • regulators, IRBs, or independent ethics committees may require that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research or clinical trials of any product candidates we may develop for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements, a finding of undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, or that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or after an inspection of our clinical trial operations or trial sites; • the cost of clinical trials of any product candidates we may develop may be greater than we anticipate; • the supply or quality of any product candidates we may develop or other materials necessary to conduct preclinical studies or clinical trials of any product candidates we may develop may be insufficient or inadequate, including as a result of delays in the testing, validation, manufacturing, and delivery of any product candidates we may develop to the preclinical study sites or clinical sites by us or by third parties with whom we have contracted to perform certain of those functions; • delays in having patients complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up; • clinical trial sites dropping out of a trial; • selection of clinical endpoints that require prolonged periods of clinical observation or analysis of the resulting data; • occurrence of serious adverse events associated with any product candidates we may develop that are viewed to outweigh their potential benefits; • occurrence of serious adverse events in trials of the same class of agents conducted by other sponsors; and • changes in regulatory requirements and guidance that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols. If we or our collaborators are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of any product candidates we may develop beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we or our collaborators are unable to successfully complete clinical trials or other testing of any product candidates we may develop, or if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we or our collaborators may: 54 • be delayed in obtaining regulatory approval for any such product candidates we may develop or not obtain regulatory approval at all; • obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired; • obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings, including boxed warnings; • be subject to changes in the way the product is administered; • be required to perform additional clinical trials to support approval or be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements; • have regulatory authorities withdraw, or suspend, their approval of the product or impose restrictions on its distribution in the form of a REMS, or through modification to an existing REMS; • be sued; or • experience damage to our reputation. Product development costs will also increase if we or our collaborators experience delays in clinical trials or other testing or in obtaining regulatory approvals. We do not know whether any clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured, or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize any product candidates we may develop, could allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, and could impair our ability to successfully commercialize any product candidates we may develop, any of which may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Failure to access or a significant delay in accessing animal research models may materially adversely affect our ability to advance our preclinical programs and successfully develop any product candidates we may identify, which could result in significant harm to our business. Consistent with various rules, regulations and current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”), our ability to advance our preclinical programs and successfully develop any product candidates we may identify requires access to animal research models sufficient to assess safety and in some cases to establish the rationale for therapeutic use. Failure to access or a significant delay in accessing animal research models that meet our needs or that fulfil regulatory requirements may materially adversely affect our ability to advance our preclinical programs and successfully develop any product candidates we may identify and this could result in significant harm to our business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers and CROs (including those engaged by us) experienced significant limitations in their access to animal research models, specifically including a sharp reduction in the availability of non-human primates (“NHPs”) originating from breeding farms in Southeast Asia and limited access to the generation of genetically-modified rodent models used in efficacy evaluations. Prior to the pandemic, China was the leading exporter of NHPs employed in basic and applied research; however, early in 2020, China ceased exportation of cynomolgus monkeys, the species most commonly involved in pharmaceutical product development. This change in the world supply of a critical research model has resulted in increased demand from breeding farms principally located in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Mauritius Island, with a resultant marked increase in unit pricing. Consequently, this has further exacerbated an already constrained NHP supply for research purposes. If we are unable to obtain NHPs in sufficient quantities and in a timely manner to meet the needs of our preclinical research programs, if the price of NHPs that are available increases significantly, or if our suppliers are unable to ship the NHPs in their possession that are reserved for us, our ability to advance our preclinical programs and successfully develop any preclinical candidates we may identify may be materially adversely affected or significantly delayed. Even if we complete the necessary clinical trials, we cannot predict when, or if, we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate we may develop in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and any such approval may be for a more narrow indication than we seek. We cannot commercialize a product candidate until the appropriate regulatory authorities have reviewed and approved the product candidate. Even if our product candidates meet their safety and efficacy endpoints in clinical trials, the regulatory authorities may not complete their review processes in a timely manner, or we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval. Additional delays may result if an FDA advisory committee or other regulatory authority recommends non-approval or restrictions on approval. In addition, we may experience delays or rejections based upon additional government regulation from future legislation or administrative action, or changes in regulatory authority policy during the period of product development, clinical trials, and the review process. Regulatory authorities also may approve a product candidate for more limited indications than requested or they may impose significant limitations in the form of narrow indications, warnings or a REMS. These regulatory authorities may require labeling that includes precautions or contraindications with respect to conditions of use, or may grant approval subject to the performance of costly 55 post-marketing clinical trials. In addition, regulatory authorities may not approve the labeling claims that are necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of our product candidates. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial prospects for our product candidates and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Regulatory approval by the FDA in the United States, if obtained, does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval in any other country. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional product candidate testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking regulatory approval outside the United States could result in difficulties and costs for us and require additional preclinical studies or clinical trials which could be costly and time-consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our product candidates in those countries. The foreign regulatory approval process involves all of the risks associated with FDA approval. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in any jurisdiction, including international markets, and we do not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory approvals in international markets are delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be unrealized. Even if we, or any of our collaborators or strategic partners, obtain regulatory approvals for any product candidates we may develop, the terms of approvals and ongoing regulation of such product candidates could require the substantial expenditure of resources and may limit how we, or they, manufacture and market such product candidates, which could materially impair our ability to generate revenue. Any product candidate for which we obtain regulatory approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such product, will be subject to continual requirements of and review by the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, facility registration and drug listing requirements, cGMP relating to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, applicable product tracking and tracing requirements and requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. In addition, our manufacturing and testing facilities will be required to undergo pre-license inspections and pre-approval inspections. Even if regulatory approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the products may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the products. Accordingly, assuming we, or any collaborators we may have, receive regulatory approval for one or more product candidates we develop, we, and such collaborators, and our and their contract manufacturers will continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production, product surveillance and quality control. If we and such collaborators are not able to comply with post-approval regulatory requirements, we and such collaborators could have the regulatory approvals for our products withdrawn by regulatory authorities and our, or such collaborators’, ability to market any future products could be limited, which could adversely affect our ability to achieve or sustain profitability. Furthermore, the cost of compliance with post-approval regulations may have a negative effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects. We may not be able to obtain orphan drug designation or exclusivity for our potential product candidates, and even if we do, that designation may not provide an expedited development or regulatory review or approval process and any orphan drug exclusivity we may receive for approved products may not prevent the FDA or the EMA from approving other competing products. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product candidate as an orphan drug if it is a drug or biologic intended to treat a rare disease or condition. A similar regulatory scheme governs approval of orphan product candidates by the EMA in the European Union. Generally, if a product with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first regulatory approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA or the EMA (as applicable) from approving another marketing application for another similar product candidate for the same orphan therapeutic indication for that time period. The applicable period is seven years in the United States and ten years in the European Union. The exclusivity period in the European Union can be reduced to six years if at the end of the fifth year it is determined that a product no longer meets the criteria for orphan designation, including if the product is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified. In order for the FDA to grant orphan drug exclusivity to one of our potential product candidates, the agency must find that the product candidate is indicated for the treatment of a condition or disease that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States or that affects 200,000 or more individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the product candidate available for the disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the United States. In the European Union, a medicinal product may be designated as orphan if (1) it is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or 56 treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition; (2) either (a) such condition affects no more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union when the application is made, or (b) it is unlikely that the product, without the benefits derived from orphan status, would generate sufficient return in the European Union to justify the necessary investment in its development; and (3) there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of such condition authorized for marketing in the European Union, or if such a method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by the condition. The FDA or EMA may conclude that the condition or disease for which we seek orphan drug exclusivity does not meet this standard. Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product candidate, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product candidate from competition because different product candidates can be approved for the same condition. In addition, even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA or EMA can subsequently approve the same product candidate for the same condition if the FDA or EMA (as applicable) concludes that the later product candidate is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care compared with the product that has orphan exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity may also be lost if the FDA or EMA determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the product to meet the needs of the patients with the rare disease or condition. We are subject to U.S. and certain foreign export and import controls, sanctions, embargoes, anti-corruption laws, and anti-money laundering laws and regulations. Compliance with these legal standards could impair our ability to compete in domestic and international markets. We can face criminal liability and other serious consequences for violations, which can harm our business. We are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations, various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and other state and national anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in the countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, agents, contractors, and other collaborators from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or anything else of value to recipients in the public or private sector. We may engage third parties to sell our products outside the United States, to conduct clinical trials, and/or to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations, and other regulatory approvals. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities, and other organizations. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our employees, agents, contractors, and other collaborators, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities. Any violations of the laws and regulations described above may result in substantial civil and criminal fines and penalties, imprisonment, the loss of export or import privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm, and other consequences. If we or any contract manufacturers and suppliers we engage fail to comply with environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business. We and any contract manufacturers and suppliers we engage are subject to numerous federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety laws, regulations, and permitting requirements, including those governing laboratory procedures; the generation, handling, use, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous and regulated materials and wastes; the emission and discharge of hazardous materials into the ground, air, and water; and employee health and safety. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. Under certain environmental laws, we could be held responsible for costs relating to any contamination at our current or past facilities and at third-party facilities. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties. Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations may be expensive, and current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our research and product development efforts. In addition, we cannot entirely eliminate the risk of accidental injury or contamination from these materials or wastes. Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We carry pollution insurance to protect against possible biological or hazardous waste accidents. However, in the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for damages or be penalized with fines in an amount exceeding our resources, and our clinical trials or regulatory approvals could be suspended, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health, and safety laws, regulations, and permitting requirements. These current or future laws, regulations, and permitting requirements may impair our research, development, or production efforts. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations, and permitting requirements also may 57 result in substantial fines, penalties, or other sanctions or business disruption, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Any third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers we engage will also be subject to these and other environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations. Liabilities they incur pursuant to these laws and regulations could result in significant costs or an interruption in operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading. We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees, consultants and commercial partners, and, if we commence clinical trials, our principal investigators. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional failures to comply with FDA regulations or the regulations applicable in the European Union and other jurisdictions, provide accurate information to the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory authorities, comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations in the United States and abroad, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such misconduct also could involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials or interactions with the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. We are also exposed to risks in connection with any insider trading violations by employees or others affiliated with us. We have adopted a code of conduct and an insider trading policy applicable to all of our employees, but it is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from government investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions. Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and could limit commercialization of any product candidates that we may develop. We will face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of any product candidates we may develop in human clinical trials and will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell such product candidates. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our product candidates caused injuries, we could incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in: • decreased demand for any product candidates that we may develop; • injury to our reputation and significant negative media attention; • withdrawal of clinical trial participants; • significant costs to defend the related litigation; • substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients; • loss of revenue; and • the inability to commercialize any product candidates that we may develop. We anticipate that we will need to increase our insurance coverage when we begin clinical trials and if we successfully commercialize any product candidate. Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise. Our internal computer and information technology systems, or those of our third-party vendors, collaborators, contractors, consultants or other third parties, may fail, become unavailable, or suffer security incidents or data breaches, loss or leakage of data and other disruptions, which could result in a material disruption of our product development programs, compromise confidential, sensitive or personal information related to our business or prevent us from accessing critical information, potentially exposing us to liability or otherwise adversely affecting our business. Our internal computer and information technology systems and those of our current and any future third-party vendors, collaborators, 58 contractors, consultants or other third parties, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among other things, computer viruses, computer hackers, social engineering attacks (including phishing attacks), ransomware, malware, social engineering, service interruptions, system malfunction, malicious code, employee theft, fraud, misconduct or misuse, denial-of-service attacks, sophisticated nation-state and nation-state-supported actors, wrongful conduct by insider employees or vendors, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. While we seek to protect our information technology systems from system failure, accident and cybersecurity incidents or data breaches, we and our third-party vendors, like other companies in our industry, have in the past and may in the future experience cybersecurity incidents which could result in a disruption of our development programs and our business operations, whether due to a loss of our trade secrets or other proprietary, personal or confidential information or other disruptions. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from future clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Controls employed by our information technology department and other third parties could prove inadequate, and our ability to monitor such third parties’ data security practices is limited. Due to applicable laws, rules, regulations and standards or contractual obligations, we may be held responsible for any information security failure or cybersecurity attack attributed to our third-party vendors as they relate to the information we share with them. If we were to experience a cybersecurity incident, data breach, or other security event relating to our information systems or data, the costs, time and effort associated with the investigation, remediation and potential notification of the breach to counterparties, regulators and data subjects could be material. We may incur significant costs in an effort to detect and prevent security incidents or data breaches, and we may face increased costs and requirements to expend substantial resources in the event of an actual or perceived security incident or data breach. In addition, techniques used to sabotage or to obtain unauthorized access to networks in which data is stored or through which data is transmitted change frequently, become more complex over time and generally are not recognized until launched against a target. The risk of a cybersecurity incident, data breach, or other security event, particularly through cyberattacks including supply chain attacks such as SolarWinds or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity, and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. As a result, we and our third-party vendors may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures quickly enough to prevent either an electronic intrusion into our systems or services or a compromise of critical information. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to detect or prevent any such incidents, and our remediation efforts may not be successful or timely. Our efforts to improve security and protect data from compromise may also identify previously undiscovered instances of data breaches or other cybersecurity incidents. If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build and sustain the proper technology and cybersecurity infrastructure, we could suffer significant business disruption, including transaction errors, supply chain or manufacturing interruptions, processing inefficiencies, data loss or the loss of or damage to intellectual property or other proprietary, personal or confidential information. To the extent that any cybersecurity incident, data breach, or other security event were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our or our third-party vendors’, collaborators’, contractors’, consultants’ or other third parties’ data, including personal information, or applications or inappropriate disclosure, loss, destruction or alteration of, or access to, confidential, personal or proprietary information, we would be required to notify affected stakeholders and could incur significant liability including litigation exposure, substantial penalties and fines, we could become the subject of regulatory action, inquiry or investigation, our competitive position could be harmed, we could incur significant reputational damage and the further development and commercialization of any product candidates we may develop could be delayed. Any of the above could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. Laws and regulations governing any international operations we may have in the future may preclude us from developing, manufacturing and selling certain product candidates we may identify outside of the United States and require us to develop and implement costly compliance programs. We are subject to numerous laws and regulations in each jurisdiction outside the United States in which we operate. The creation, implementation and maintenance of international business practices compliance programs is costly and such programs are difficult to enforce, particularly where reliance on third parties is required. The FCPA, prohibits any U.S. individual or business from paying, offering, authorizing payment or offering of anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party or candidate for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of the foreign entity in order to assist the individual or business in obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the United States to comply with certain accounting provisions requiring the company to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations. The anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA are enforced primarily by the Department of Justice. The SEC is involved with enforcement of the books and records provisions of the FCPA. 59 Similarly, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 has extra-territorial effect for companies and individuals having a connection with the United Kingdom. The U.K. Bribery Act prohibits inducements both to public officials and private individuals and organizations. Compliance with the FCPA and the U.K. Bribery Act is expensive and difficult, particularly in countries in which corruption is a recognized problem. In addition, the FCPA presents particular challenges in the pharmaceutical industry, because, in many countries, hospitals are operated by the government, and doctors and other hospital employees are considered foreign officials. Certain payments to hospitals in connection with clinical trials and other work have been deemed to be improper payments to government officials and have led to FCPA enforcement actions. Various laws, regulations and executive orders also restrict the use and dissemination outside of the United States, or the sharing with certain non-U.S. nationals, of information classified for national security purposes, as well as certain products and technical data relating to those products. Our expansion outside of the United States has required, and will continue to require, us to dedicate additional resources to comply with these laws, and these laws may preclude us from developing, manufacturing or selling certain drugs and drug candidates outside of the United States, which could limit our growth potential and increase our development costs. The failure to comply with laws governing international business practices may result in substantial penalties, including suspension or debarment from government contracting. Violation of the FCPA can result in significant civil and criminal penalties. Indictment alone under the FCPA can lead to suspension of the right to do business with the U.S. government until the pending claims are resolved. Conviction of a violation of the FCPA can result in long-term disqualification as a government contractor. The termination of a government contract or relationship as a result of our failure to satisfy any of our obligations under laws governing international business practices would have a negative impact on our operations and harm our reputation and ability to procure government contracts. The SEC also may suspend or bar issuers from trading securities on U.S. exchanges for violations of the FCPA’s accounting provisions. We are subject to stringent and often unsettled laws, rules, regulations, policies, standards and contractual obligations related to data privacy and security and changes in such laws, rules, regulations, policies, standards and contractual obligations could adversely affect our business. We are subject to data privacy and protection laws, rules, regulations, policies, standards and contractual obligations that apply to the collection, transmission, storage, use, disclosure, transfer, maintenance and other processing of sensitive, personal and personally-identifying information, which, among other things, impose certain requirements relating to the privacy, security, transmission and other processing of personal information, including comprehensive regulatory systems in the United States and European Union. The legislative and regulatory landscape for privacy and data protection continues to evolve in jurisdictions worldwide, and there has been an increasing focus on privacy and data protection issues with the potential to affect our business. However, our data privacy program is in its early stages and we have not yet assessed the applicability of and our compliance with data privacy-related laws, rules and regulations. As a result, we cannot guarantee that we are and have been in compliance with all applicable data privacy and protection laws, rules regulations, policies and standards, and we may need to expend significant resources to implement privacy compliance measures. Additionally, we rely on certain third-party vendors to process certain confidential, sensitive or personal information on our behalf. Failure by us or our third-party vendors to comply with any of these laws, rules, regulations, contractual obligations or standards could result in notification obligations, enforcement actions, regulatory investigations or inquiries, significant fines, imprisonment of company officials and public censure, litigation and claims for damages by affected individuals, customers or business partners, damage to our reputation and loss of goodwill, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. There are numerous U.S. federal and state laws, rules and regulations related to the collection, use, disclosure and security of personal information. Additionally, laws in all 50 states require businesses to provide notice to customers whose personally identifiable information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. These laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach is difficult and may be costly. Moreover, states have been frequently amending existing laws, requiring attention to changing regulatory requirements. We also may be contractually required to notify patients or other counterparties of a cybersecurity incident or data breach. Although we may have contractual protections with our service providers, any actual or perceived cybersecurity incident or data breach could harm our reputation and brand, expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on data security and in responding to any such actual or perceived cybersecurity incident or data breach. Any contractual protections we may have from our service providers may not be sufficient to adequately protect us from any such liabilities and losses, and we may be unable to enforce any such contractual protections. In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups have and may in the future propose self-regulatory standards from time to time. These and other industry standards may legally or contractually apply to us, or we may elect to comply with such standards. Determining whether personal information has been handled in compliance with applicable privacy standards and our contractual obligations can be complex and may be subject to changing interpretation. 60 Data privacy remains an evolving landscape at both the domestic and international level, with new laws, rules and regulations coming into effect and continued legal challenges. At the federal level, regulations promulgated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), establish privacy and security standards that limit the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information, or protected health information, and require the implementation of administrative, physical and technological safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information and ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA”), which clarified that genetic information is protected under HIPAA and restricts the use and disclosure of genetic information. In addition, certain state laws govern privacy and security of personal information. Further, failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (the FTCA), 15 U.S.C § 45(a). The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. Further, through executive and legislative action, the federal government has also taken steps to restrict data transactions involving certain sensitive data categories – including health data, genetic data, and biospecimens – with persons affiliated with China, Russia, and other countries of concern. Certain state laws also govern the privacy and security of personal information. For example, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which went into effect on January 1, 2020 and, among other things, required companies that process information on California residents to make new disclosures to consumers about their data collection, use and sharing practices, allowed consumers to opt out of certain data sharing with third parties and provided a new cause of action for data breaches. Additionally, California voters approved the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), which went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CPRA significantly modified the CCPA, including by introducing additional obligations such as data minimization and storage limitations and granting additional rights to California residents such as correction of personal information and additional opt-out rights. The CPRA also created a new state agency that has been vested with authority to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA. The enactment of the CCPA has prompted a wave of similar legislative developments in other states and at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. For example, similar laws have been passed in numerous other states. Other states have proposed similar laws, if enacted, may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment of resources in compliance programs, impact strategies and the availability of previously useful data and could result in increased compliance costs and/or changes in business practices and policies. Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to confidential, sensitive and personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, which may complicate compliance efforts. The existence of comprehensive privacy laws in different states in the country would make our compliance obligations more complex and costly and may increase the likelihood that we may be subject to enforcement actions or otherwise incur liability for noncompliance. There are also states that are specifically regulating health information. For example, Washington’s My Health My Data Act, which became effective on March 31, 2024, regulates the collection and sharing of health information and has a private right of action, which further increases the relevant compliance risk. Connecticut and Nevada have also passed similar laws regulating consumer health data. In addition, other states have proposed and/or passed legislation that regulates the privacy and/or security of certain specific types of information. For example, a small number of states have passed laws that regulate biometric data specifically. These various privacy and security laws may impact our business activities, including our identification of research subjects, relationships with business partners and ultimately the marketing and distribution of our products. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in the U.S. Congress of a new comprehensive federal data privacy law to which we may likely become subject, if enacted. In addition, our operations may be subject to European data privacy laws, regulations and guidelines. The collection, use, storage, disclosure, transfer, or other processing of personal information regarding individuals in the EEA and UK, including personal health data, is subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation, or EU GDPR, with respect to the EEA and the UK General Data Protection Regulation and UK Data Protection Act 2018 with respect to the UK, or UK GDPR, and collectively with the EU GDPR referred to as the “GDPR” in this document unless specified otherwise. The GDPR is wide-ranging in scope and imposes numerous requirements on companies that process personal information, including requirements relating to processing of special categories of personal information (such as health data), relying on a legal basis or condition for processing personal information, where required obtaining consent of the individuals to whom the personal information relates, providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities, conducting privacy impact assessments for “high risk” processing, implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal information, implementing limitations on the retention of personal information, providing mandatory notification of data breaches, and taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors. The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal information to countries outside the EEA and UK to non-adequate territories, including the United States in certain circumstances unless derogation exists or a valid GDPR transfer mechanism (for example, the European Commission approved Standard Contractual Clauses, or SCCs, and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement/Addendum, or UK 61 IDTA) have been put in place. Where relying on the SCCs /UK IDTA for data transfers, we may also be required to carry out transfer impact assessments to assess whether the recipient is subject to local laws which allow public authority access to personal information. Failure to comply with the GDPR, and any supplemental EEA Member State or UK national data protection laws which may apply by virtue of the location of the individuals whose personal information we collect, may result in substantial penalties, including potential fines of up to €20 million (£17.5 million for the UK GDPR) or 4% of annual global revenues for the preceding financial year, whichever is greater. The GDPR also confers a private right of action on data subjects and consumer associations to lodge complaints with supervisory authorities, seek judicial remedies, and obtain compensation for damages resulting from violations of the GDPR. The GDPR increases our responsibility and liability in relation to personal information that we process where such processing is subject to the GDPR, and requires us to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance with the GDPR, including as implemented by individual countries. Compliance with the GDPR will be a rigorous and time-intensive process that may increase our cost of doing business or require us to change our business practices, and despite those efforts, there is a risk that we may be subject to fines and penalties, litigation, and reputational harm in connection with our European activities. Although the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR currently impose substantially similar obligations, it is possible that over time the UK GDPR could become less aligned with the EU GDPR. The UK Government has introduced a Data Protection and Digital Information Bill to reform the UK data protection legal framework which failed in the UK legislative process. A new Data (Use and Access) Bill (“UK Bill”) has been introduced into parliament. If passed, the final version of the UK Bill may have the effect of further altering the similarities between the UK and EEA data protection regime and threaten the UK Adequacy Decision from the European Commission, or EC. Further, this may lead to additional compliance costs and could increase our overall risk In addition, EEA Member States have adopted national laws which may partially deviate from the EU GDPR, and the competent authorities in the EEA Member States may interpret EU GDPR obligations slightly differently from country to country, such that we do not expect to operate in a uniform legal landscape in the EEA. Also, as it relates to processing and transfer of genetic data, the GDPR specifically allows national laws to impose additional and more specific requirements or restrictions, and European laws have historically differed quite substantially in this field, leading to additional uncertainty. This possible divergence in the future creates additional regulatory challenges and uncertainties for us. The lack of clarity on future UK laws and regulations and their interaction with EU laws and regulations could add legal risk, uncertainty, complexity and compliance cost to the handling of European personal information and our privacy and data security compliance. Our efforts to comply with the evolving data protection laws, rules and regulations may be unsuccessful. It is possible that these laws, rules and regulations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices and our efforts to comply with the evolving data protection rules may be unsuccessful. The laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread cybersecurity incident or data breach is costly and time-consuming. States are also frequently amending existing laws, requiring attention to frequently changing regulatory requirements. We must devote significant resources to understanding and complying with this changing landscape. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs, such as costs related to organizational changes, implementing additional protection technologies, training employees and engaging consultants and legal advisors, which are likely to increase over time. In addition, such requirements may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, utilize management’s time and/or divert resources from other initiatives and projects. If we are unable to properly protect the privacy and security of personal information, we could be alleged or actually found to have breached our contracts. Furthermore, if we fail to comply with applicable privacy laws, including applicable HIPAA privacy and security standards, we could face significant administrative, civil and criminal penalties. HHS has the discretion to impose penalties without attempting to resolve violations through informal means, and such enforcement activity can result in financial liability and reputational harm, and responses to such enforcement activity can consume significant internal resources. In addition, state attorneys general are authorized to bring civil actions seeking either injunctions or damages in response to violations that threaten the privacy or security of the personal information of state residents. We cannot be sure how these laws, rules and regulations will be interpreted, enforced or applied to our operations. In addition to the risks associated with enforcement activities and potential contractual liabilities, our ongoing efforts to comply with evolving laws, rules and regulations at the international, federal and state level may be costly and require ongoing modifications to our policies, procedures and systems. We make public statements about our use, collection, disclosure and other processing of personal information through our privacy policies and information provided on our website. Although we endeavor to comply with our public statements and documentation, we may at times fail to do so or be alleged to have failed to do so. The publication of our privacy policies and other statements that provide promises and assurances about data privacy and security can subject us to potential government or legal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair or misrepresentative of our actual practices. Failure by us or our third-party vendors to comply with laws, rules and regulations regarding data privacy and protection would expose us to risk of enforcement actions taken by data protection authorities and carries with it the potential for significant penalties if we are found to be non-compliant. Similarly, failure to comply with federal and state laws, rules and regulations in the United States regarding privacy and security of personal information could expose us to penalties under such laws, rules and regulations. Any such 62 failure by us or our third-party vendors to comply with data protection and privacy laws, rules and regulations could result in significant government-imposed fines or orders requiring that we change our practices, claims for damages or other liabilities, regulatory investigations and enforcement action, litigation and significant costs for remediation, any of which could adversely affect our business. Even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, rules or regulations, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. Risks Related to Third Party Relationships If conflicts arise between us and our collaborators or strategic partners, these parties may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies. If conflicts arise between our collaborators and corporate or strategic partners and us, the other party may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies. Some of our collaborators and strategic partners are conducting multiple product development efforts within each area that is the subject of the collaboration with us. Our collaborators or strategic partners, however, may develop, either alone or with others, products in related fields that are competitive with the product candidates we may develop that are the subject of these collaborations with us. Competing products, either developed by the collaborators or strategic partners or to which the collaborators or strategic partners have rights, may result in the withdrawal of partner support for any product candidates we may develop. Additionally, some of our collaborators or strategic partners could also become our competitors in the future. Our collaborators or strategic partners could develop competing products, preclude us from entering into collaborations with their competitors, fail to obtain timely regulatory approvals, prevent us from obtaining timely regulatory approvals, terminate their agreements with us prematurely or fail to devote sufficient resources to the collaboration efforts, including development, delivery, manufacturing and commercialization of products. Any of these developments could harm our company and product development efforts. We have entered into collaborations, and may enter into additional collaborations, with third parties for the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of programs or product candidates. If these collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected. As part of our strategy, we have entered into collaborations and intend to seek to enter into additional collaborations with third parties for one or more of our programs or product candidates we may develop. For example, in June 2022, we entered into a Development, Option and License Agreement with Affini-T Therapeutics, Inc. (“Affini-T”) to develop and commercialize gene edited T-cell receptor (“TCR”)-based therapeutic products exclusively in the field of treatment, prevention or diagnosis of any human cancer using products with any engineered primary TCR alpha/beta T cells and non-exclusively in the field of treatment, prevention or diagnosis of any human cancer using products with certain other engineered immune cells worldwide, and in November 2022, we entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Ionis”) to research, develop and commercialize investigational medicines using genome editing technologies. Our likely collaborators for any other collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies. We have under these agreements, and we may have under any other arrangements that we may enter into with any third parties, limited control over the amount and timing of resources that collaborators dedicate to the development or commercialization of our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenue from these arrangements may depend on our collaborators’ abilities to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements. Collaborations that we enter into may not be successful, and any success will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of such collaborators. Collaborations pose a number of risks, including the following: • collaborators have significant discretion in determining the amount and timing of efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations; • collaborators may not perform their obligations as expected; • collaborators may not pursue development of our product candidates or may elect not to continue or renew development programs based on results of clinical trials or other studies, changes in the collaborators’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that divert resources or create competing priorities; • collaborators may not pursue commercialization of any product candidates that achieve regulatory approval or may elect not to continue or renew commercialization programs based on results of clinical trials or other studies, changes in the collaborators’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that may divert resources or create competing priorities; • collaborators may delay preclinical studies and clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a preclinical study or clinical trial 63 program, stop a preclinical study or clinical trial or abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new preclinical studies or clinical trials or require a new formulation of a product candidate for preclinical or clinical testing; • we may not have access to, or may be restricted from disclosing, certain information regarding product candidates being developed or commercialized under a collaboration and, consequently, may have limited ability to inform our stockholders about the status of such product candidates on a discretionary basis; • collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our product candidates and products if the collaborators believe that the competitive products are more likely to be successfully developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive than ours; • product candidates discovered in collaboration with us may be viewed by our collaborators as competitive with their own product candidates or products, which may cause collaborators to cease to devote resources to the commercialization of our product candidates; • a collaborator may fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements regarding the development, manufacture, distribution or marketing of a product candidate or product; • a collaborator with marketing and distribution rights to one or more of our product candidates that achieve regulatory approval may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product or products; • disagreements with collaborators, including disagreements over intellectual property or proprietary rights, contract interpretation or the preferred course of development, might cause delays or terminations of the research, development or commercialization of product candidates, might lead to additional responsibilities for us with respect to product candidates, or might result in litigation or arbitration, any of which would be time-consuming and expensive; • collaborators may not properly obtain, maintain, enforce, defend or protect our intellectual property or proprietary rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to potentially lead to disputes or legal proceedings that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation; • disputes may arise with respect to the ownership of intellectual property or other rights developed pursuant to our collaborations; • collaborators may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability; and • collaborations may be terminated for the convenience of the collaborator, and, if terminated, we could be required to raise additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates. Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner, or at all. If any current or future collaborations do not result in the successful development and commercialization of products or if one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may not receive any future research funding or milestone or royalty payments under the collaboration. If we do not receive the funding we expect under these agreements, our development of our product candidates could be delayed and we may need additional resources to develop our product candidates. All of the risks relating to product development, regulatory approval and commercialization described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K also apply to the activities of our collaborators. Collaboration agreements may require us to incur non-recurring and other charges, increase our near- and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing stockholders, or disrupt our management and business. For more information, see the section titled “Business—Our License and Collaboration Agreements.” We could face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators, and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex. Our ability to reach a definitive collaboration agreement will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration, and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of several factors. If we license rights to any product candidates we or our collaborators may develop, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture. We may also be restricted under existing collaboration agreements from entering into future collaboration agreements on certain terms with potential collaborators. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators, which further increases competition we face in seeking potential collaborations. 64 Additionally, subject to its contractual obligations to us, if a collaborator of ours is involved in a business combination, the collaborator might deemphasize or terminate the development or commercialization of any product candidate licensed to it by us. If one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may find it more difficult to attract new collaborators and our perception in the business and financial communities could be adversely affected. Our collaborators and strategic partners may control aspects of our clinical trials, which could result in delays and other obstacles in the commercialization of our proposed products and materially harm our results of operations. For some programs, we will depend on third party collaborators and strategic partners to design and conduct our clinical trials. As a result, we may not be able to conduct these programs in the manner or on the time schedule we currently contemplate, which may negatively impact our business operations. In addition, if any of these collaborators or strategic partners withdraw support for our programs or proposed products or otherwise impair their development, our business could be negatively affected. In June 2022, we entered into a Development, Option and License Agreement with Affini-T to develop and commercialize gene edited TCR-based therapeutic products exclusively in the field of treatment, prevention or diagnosis of any human cancer using products with any engineered primary TCR alpha/beta T cells and non-exclusively in the field of treatment, prevention or diagnosis of any human cancer using products with certain other engineered immune cells worldwide, and in November 2022, we entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement with Ionis to research, develop and commercialize investigational medicines for up to eight potential genetic targets using genome editing technologies. Our lack of control over the clinical development in our agreements with Affini-T and Ionis could cause delays or other difficulties in the development and commercialization of product candidates, which may prevent completion of intended IND applications in a timely fashion, if at all. In addition, the termination of these agreements would prevent us from receiving any milestone, royalty payments and other benefits under that agreement, which would have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations. Our collaborators or strategic partners may decide to adopt alternative technologies or may be unable to develop commercially viable products with our technology, which would negatively impact our revenues and our strategy to develop these products. Our collaborators or strategic partners may adopt alternative technologies, which could decrease the marketability of our genome editing technology. Additionally, because our current or future collaborators or strategic partners are likely to be working on more than one development project, they could choose to shift their resources to projects other than those they are working on with us. If they do so, this would delay our ability to test our technology and would delay or terminate the development of potential products based on our genome editing technology. Further, our collaborators and strategic partners may elect not to develop products arising out of our collaborative and strategic partnering arrangements or to devote sufficient resources to the development, manufacturing, marketing or sale of these products. The failure to develop and commercialize a product candidate pursuant to our agreements with our current or future collaborators would prevent us from receiving future milestone and royalty payments which would negatively impact our revenues. We expect to rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and some aspects of our research, as well as some aspects of our delivery methods, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, research or testing. We expect to rely on third parties, such as CROs, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions, preclinical laboratories and clinical investigators, to conduct some aspects of our research. For example, we may rely on a third party to supply LNPs or AAVs, or to conduct our preclinical animal experiments. Any of these third parties may terminate their engagements with us at any time under certain criteria. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, it may delay our product development activities. Our reliance on these third parties for clinical research and other development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Moreover, the FDA, the EMA and other regulatory authorities require us and the study sites and investigators we work with to comply with standards, commonly referred to as GLPs and GCPs for conducting, recording and reporting the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials to assure, amongst other things, that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. In the United States, we also are required to register certain clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials on a government-sponsored database, ClinicalTrials.gov, within certain timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions. Although we intend to design the preclinical studies and clinical trials for our potential product candidates, CROs will conduct some or all of the preclinical studies and clinical trials. As a result, many important aspects of our development programs, including their conduct and timing, will be outside of our direct control. Our reliance on third parties to conduct preclinical studies and future clinical 65 trials will also result in less direct control over the management of data developed through preclinical studies and clinical trials than would be the case if we were relying entirely upon our own staff. Communicating with outside parties can also be challenging, potentially leading to mistakes as well as difficulties in coordinating activities. Among other reasons that may delay or impact the development of our potential product candidates, outside parties may: • have staffing difficulties; • fail to comply with contractual obligations; • experience regulatory compliance issues; • undergo changes in priorities or become financially distressed; or • form relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. These factors may materially adversely affect the willingness or ability of third parties to conduct our preclinical studies and clinical trials and may subject us to unexpected cost increases that are beyond our control. If the CROs and other third parties do not perform such preclinical studies and future clinical trials in a satisfactory manner, breach their obligations to us or fail to comply with regulatory requirements, the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our potential product candidates may be delayed, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval and commercialize our potential product candidates or our development programs may be materially and irreversibly harmed. If we are unable to rely on preclinical and clinical data collected by our CROs and other third parties, we could be required to repeat, extend the duration of or increase the size of any preclinical studies or clinical trials we conduct and this could significantly delay commercialization and require greater expenditures. We may also expect to rely on other third parties to store and distribute drug supplies for our future clinical trials. Any performance failure on the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or regulatory approval of any product candidates we may develop or commercialization of our therapies, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue. Manufacturing biologic products is complex and subject to product loss for a variety of reasons. We contract with third parties for the manufacture of certain materials for our development programs and expect to continue to do so for clinical trials and commercialization. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our future product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts. We operate and are expanding our cGMP manufacturing facility which is currently capable of manufacturing clinical grade nucleases and mRNA to supply both wholly-owned and collaboration programs. We also partner with CMOs for guide RNA (“gRNA”) and DNA template development and supply. We also rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for gRNA and DNA template development and supply, as well as for preclinical and clinical testing and commercial manufacture if any of our product candidates receive regulatory approval. We also expect to rely on these third parties for certain logistics, including packaging, labeling, storage, and distribution. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our materials or future product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts. We may be unable to establish any agreements with third-party manufacturers or to do so on acceptable terms. Even if we are able to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails additional risks, including: • reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance; • the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party; • the possible misappropriation of our proprietary information, including our trade secrets and know-how; and • the possible termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us. We or our third-party manufacturers may encounter shortages in the raw materials or active pharmaceutical ingredients necessary to produce our future product candidates in the quantities needed for our preclinical studies or clinical trials or, if our future product candidates are approved, in sufficient quantities for commercialization or to meet an increase in demand, as a result of capacity constraints or delays or disruptions in the market for the raw materials or active pharmaceutical ingredients, including shortages caused by the purchase of such raw materials or active pharmaceutical ingredient by our competitors or others. The failure of us or our third-party manufacturers to obtain the raw materials or active pharmaceutical ingredients necessary to manufacture sufficient quantities of our future product candidates may have a material adverse effect on our business. Components of a finished therapeutic product approved for commercial sale or used in late-stage clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with cGMP. We, along with our third-party manufacturers, are subject to inspection and approval by regulatory 66 authorities before we can commence the manufacture and sale of any of our future product candidates, and thereafter subject to ongoing inspection from time to time. We or our third-party manufacturers may not be able to comply with cGMP or similar regulatory requirements outside of the United States. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in regulatory actions, such as the issuance of FDA Form 483 notices of observations, warning letters or sanctions being imposed on us, including clinical holds, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our products. Manufacturing biologic products, such as the product candidates we intend to develop, is complex, especially in large quantities. Biologic products must be made consistently and in compliance with a clearly defined manufacturing process. Accordingly, it is essential to be able to validate and control the manufacturing process to assure that it is reproducible. Any product candidates and products that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. As a result, we may not obtain access to these facilities on a priority basis or at all. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP and that might be capable of manufacturing for us. Any performance failure on the part of our existing or future manufacturers could delay clinical development or regulatory approval. We do not currently have arrangements in place for redundant supply or a source for bulk drug substance nor do we have any agreements with third-party manufacturers for long-term commercial supply. If any of our contract manufacturers cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace such manufacturers. Although we believe that there are several potential alternative manufacturers who could manufacture materials or future product candidates or products we may develop, we may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement or be unable to reach agreement with an alternative manufacturer. If we are required to change third party-manufacturers for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new third party-manufacturer maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations. We will also need to verify, such as through a manufacturing comparability study, that any new manufacturing process will produce our materials or future product candidates or products according to the specifications previously submitted to the FDA or another regulatory authority. The delays associated with the verification of a new third party-manufacturer could negatively affect our ability to develop product candidates or commercialize our products in a timely manner or within budget. Furthermore, a third party-manufacturer may possess technology related to the manufacture of our materials or future product candidates or products that such third party-manufacturer owns independently. This would increase our reliance on such third party-manufacturer or require us to obtain a license from such third party-manufacturer in order to have another third party-manufacturer manufacture our materials or future product candidates or products, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, changes in manufacturers often involve changes in manufacturing procedures and processes, which could require that we conduct bridging studies between our prior clinical supply used in our clinical trials and that of any new manufacturer. We may be unsuccessful in demonstrating the comparability of clinical supplies which could require the conduct of additional clinical trials. Our current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of materials and any future product candidates or products we may develop may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to commercialize any products that receive regulatory approval on a timely and competitive basis. Our relationships with healthcare providers, physicians, and third-party payors will be subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, anti-bribery and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm, and diminished profits and future earnings. Healthcare providers, including physicians, and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates that we may develop for which we obtain regulatory approval and marketing approval. Our current and future arrangements with third-party payors, healthcare providers and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell, and distribute our products for which we obtain regulatory approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, including certain laws and regulations applicable only if we have marketed products, include the following: • the civil FCA, prohibits knowingly presenting or causing the presentation of a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim for payment to the U.S. government. Actions under the FCA may be brought by the Attorney General or as a qui tam action by a private individual in the name of the government. Violations of the FCA can result in very significant monetary penalties, for each false claim and treble the amount of the government’s damages. Manufacturers can be held liable under the FCA even when they do not submit claims directly to government payors if they are deemed to “cause” the submission of false or fraudulent claims; • the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons from soliciting, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual, for an item or service or the purchasing or ordering of a good or service, for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The federal 67 Anti-Kickback Statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between manufacturers on one hand and prescribers, purchasers, and formulary managers on the other. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. A violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute can also form the basis for FCA liability; • HIPAA, which, in addition to privacy protections applicable to healthcare providers and other entities, prohibits executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation; • HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (“HITECH”), and its implementing regulations, including the final omnibus rule published on January 25, 2013, imposes, among other things, certain requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information. Among other things, HITECH makes HIPAA’s privacy and security standards directly applicable to “business associates,” defined as independent contractors or agents of covered entities that create, receive, maintain, transmit, or obtain, protected health information in connection with providing a service for or on behalf of a covered entity, and their covered subcontractors. HITECH also increased the civil and criminal penalties that may be imposed against covered entities, business associates and possibly other persons, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorney’s fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions; • the FDCA, which among other things, strictly regulates drug marketing, prohibits manufacturers from marketing such products for off-label use and regulates the distribution of samples; • federal laws that require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report certain calculated product prices to the government or provide certain discounts or rebates to government authorities or private entities, often as a condition of reimbursement under government healthcare programs; • federal transparency laws, including the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the ACA), and its implementing regulations, which requires manufacturers of certain drugs, devices, medical supplies, and biologics, among others, to track and disclose payments under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) and other transfers of value they make to U.S. physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), certain non-physician providers such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members. This information is subsequently made publicly available in a searchable format on a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) website. Failure to disclose required information may result in civil monetary penalties for all payments, transfers of value or ownership or investment interests that are not timely, accurately and completely reported in an annual submission. Certain states also mandate implementation of compliance programs, impose restrictions on drug manufacturer marketing practices and/ or require the tracking and reporting of gifts, compensation and other remuneration to physicians and/or other healthcare providers; and • analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback, anti-bribery and false claims laws, which may apply to healthcare items or services that are reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers. Some state laws also require pharmaceutical companies to comply with specific compliance standards, restrict financial interactions between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers or require pharmaceutical companies to report information related to payments to healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Given the breadth of the laws and regulations, limited guidance for certain laws and regulations and evolving government interpretations of the laws and regulations, governmental authorities may possibly conclude that our business practices may not comply with healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other government regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, individual imprisonment, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. The provision of benefits or advantages to physicians to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order, or use of medicinal products is prohibited in the European Union. The provision of benefits or advantages to also induce or reward improper performance generally is governed by the national anti-bribery laws of European Union Member States, and the Bribery Act 2010 in the United Kingdom. Infringement of these laws could result in substantial fines and 68 imprisonment. EU Directive 2001/83/EC, which is the EU Directive governing medicinal products for human use, further provides that, where medicinal products are being promoted to persons qualified to prescribe or supply them, no gifts, pecuniary advantages or benefits in kind may be supplied, offered or promised to such persons unless they are inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy. This provision has been transposed into the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 and so remains applicable in the United Kingdom despite its departure from the EU. Payments made to physicians in certain European Union Member States must be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with physicians often must be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, his or her competent professional organization, and/or the regulatory authorities of the individual European Union Member States. These requirements are provided in the national laws, industry codes, or professional codes of conduct applicable in the European Union Member States. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment. Risks Related to Personnel, Operations, and Growth Our future success depends on our ability to retain our Chief Executive Officer and other key executives and to attract, retain, and motivate qualified personnel. We are highly dependent on Brian C. Thomas, our Chief Executive Officer as well as the other principal members of our management and scientific teams. Dr. Thomas and such other principal members are engaged “at will,” meaning we or they may terminate the relationship at any time. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other employees. The loss of the services of any of these persons could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives. For us to successfully compete and grow, we must recruit, retain, and develop talent who can provide the necessary expertise across a broad spectrum of disciplines. In addition, we must develop, maintain and, as necessary, implement appropriate succession plans to ensure we have the necessary human capital capable of maintaining continuity in our business. Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our success. In addition, our company-building efforts and establishment of a company culture will also be important to developing an innovative company in a high-evolving area. We may not be able to succeed in these efforts to build Metagenomi as an attractive and exciting place to build a career or to attract and retain these types of personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors, including our scientific co-founders, may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. We may also encounter problems hiring and retaining the experienced scientific, quality control and manufacturing personnel needed to manage our manufacturing process, which could result in delays in our production or difficulties in maintaining compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. The inability to recruit, or loss of services of, certain executives, key employees, consultants or advisors, may impede the progress of our research, development and commercialization objectives and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. We expect to expand our research, development, delivery, manufacturing, commercialization, regulatory, and future sales and marketing capabilities over time, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations. We may fail to manage our growth effectively. As of December 31, 2024, we had 202 full-time employees, of which 69 have M.D. or Ph.D. degrees. Within our workforce, 169 employees are engaged in research and development and 33 are engaged in business develo