Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
The risks and uncertainties described below may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results. In addition, we may be adversely affected by risks that we currently deem immaterial or by other risks that are not currently known to us. You should carefully consider these risks before making an investment decision. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing the risks described below, you should also refer to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Our Products, Programs and Operations
Our ability to achieve profitability is highly dependent on the commercial success of OMIDRIA, and to the extent OMIDRIA is not successful, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected and the price of our common stock may decline.
OMIDRIA is currently our only product that has been approved by FDA for commercial sale in the U.S. For the three and 12 months ended December 31, 2020, we recorded net sales of OMIDRIA of $10.6 million and $73.8 million, respectively. Revenues from sales of OMIDRIA have not been sufficient to fund our operations fully in prior periods and we cannot provide assurance that revenues from OMIDRIA sales will be sufficient to fund our operations fully in the future. We will need to generate substantially more product revenue from OMIDRIA or generate other revenue such as through sales of future approved products to achieve and sustain profitability. We may be unable to sustain or increase revenues generated from OMIDRIA product sales for a number of reasons, including:
● reduced volume of ophthalmic surgical procedures and corresponding reduction in demand for OMIDRIA as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;
● whether CMS will maintain its current payment policies, which can be revised through annual rulemaking and associated comment periods, and continue to pay separately under Medicare Part B for non-opioid pain management drugs like OMIDRIA when used during surgery in the ASC setting;
● pricing, coverage and reimbursement policies of government and private payers such as Medicare, Medicaid, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, group purchasing organizations, insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and other plan administrators;
● a lack of acceptance by physicians, patients and other members of the healthcare community;
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● interruptions in supply of OMIDRIA from our contract manufacturing partners;
● the availability, relative price and efficacy of the product as compared to alternative treatment options or branded, compounded or generic competing products;
● an unknown safety risk;
● the failure to enter into and maintain acceptable partnering arrangements for marketing and distribution of OMIDRIA outside of the U.S.; and
● changed or increased regulatory restrictions in the U.S., EU and/or other foreign territories.
Clinical trials evaluating narsoplimab for treatment of COVID-19 may be unsuccessful and, even if successful, we may be unable to manufacture narsoplimab in quantities adequate to meet demand.
Narsoplimab has been used to treat approximately 20 critically ill COVID-19 patients under our compassionate use program with highly positive results. However, we cannot provide assurance that the results observed in the compassionate use program will be observed in any future study of narsoplimab for this indication, including the I-SPY COVID-19 trial, or that we will receive regulatory authorization or approval for narsoplimab in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Narsoplimab or any other therapeutic candidate that we may develop to treat COVID-19 will be subject to risks in addition to those normally associated with pharmaceutical research, development, and commercialization, such as higher risk of technical failure, lower and transient opportunities for revenue, higher manufacturing costs, product safety or efficacy risks related to an expedited research and development timeline, and novel liability theories. FDA or other regulatory bodies may require that we conduct a large-scale trial of narsoplimab in COVID-19 patients, in addition to the I-SPY COVID-19 trial to grant any approval or authorization. These risks may affect our ability to develop or commercialize a therapeutic for COVID-19 or any other current or future indication.
Additionally, contract manufacturing capacity and supplies of raw materials necessary for the production of narsoplimab are limited and we may be unable to secure the large-scale manufacturing capacity from third parties necessary to manufacture narsoplimab in sufficient quantities to enable broader availability of narsoplimab for COVID-19 patients. In addition, widespread vaccination and/or the availability of alternative therapies for COVID-19 could lead to the diversion of governmental and other potential sources of funding or other manufacturing assistance away from us and toward COVID-19 vaccines or other therapeutics and/or limit the commercial viability of narsoplimab for the treatment of COVID-19.
The spread of COVID-19 and efforts to reduce its transmission may negatively impact our business, operations and financial results.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the global economy and has adversely affected our sales of OMIDRIA due to a reduction in the overall volume of cataract surgery and intraocular lens replacement procedures. Although cataract surgeries have resumed to varying degrees in locations throughout the country, if the number of cataract procedures once again becomes meaningfully limited, either by necessity for time-consuming safety protocols, reduction in patient demand, or the imposition of prohibitions on elective surgeries in some localities, then we would expect there to be a corresponding reduction in demand for OMIDRIA.
We may also experience disruptions to our operations due to COVID-19, such as delays or disruptions with respect to manufacturing of clinical or commercial drug substance or drug product and delays in our clinical trials or in the submission or review of regulatory applications. Such delays or disruptions could negatively affect our commercial operations, clinical programs, and research and development. The health of our employees, contractors and other persons on whom we rely may be adversely affected by COVID-19. Although we are taking precautionary measures intended to help minimize the risk of the virus to our employees, these measures may be ineffective or may otherwise adversely
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affect our productivity. In addition, the conditions created by the pandemic may intensify other risks inherent in our business. Due to the unknown magnitude, duration and outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not possible to estimate precisely its impact on our business, operations or financial results; however, the impact could be material.
To the extent COVID-19 adversely affects our business, financial condition, and results of operations and global economic conditions more generally, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risk factors set forth herein..
If OMIDRIA or any other product that we develop and commercialize does not receive adequate coverage or reimbursement from governments and/or private payers, or if we do not establish and maintain market-acceptable pricing for OMIDRIA or those potential other commercialized products, our prospects for revenue and profitability would suffer.
Our revenues depend heavily on the pricing, availability and duration of adequate coverage or reimbursement for the use of products that we or our third-party business partners commercialize, including OMIDRIA, from government, private and other third-party payers, both in the U.S. and in other countries.
Pass-through reimbursement, which allows for separate payment (i.e., outside the packaged payment rate for the surgical procedure) under Medicare Part B, expired for OMIDRIA on October 1, 2020. In December 2020, CMS confirmed that OMIDRIA qualifies for separate payment when used on Medicare Part B patients in the ASC setting under CMS’ policy for non-opioid pain management surgical drugs. CMS made separate payment for OMIDRIA effective retroactively as of October 1, 2020. CMS’ current non-opioid separate payment policy and, as a result, separate payment for OMIDRIA thereunder, like other CMS policies in the OPPS and ASC systems, can be changed by CMS through its OPPS/ASC annual rulemaking and comment process. We believe that CMS will continue its separate payment policy for non-opioid pain management surgical drugs, which has been in effect since 2019, and that OMIDRIA will continue to be separately reimbursed when used in the ASC setting. However, we can provide no guarantee that CMS will continue its separate payment policy in future years. If the future reimbursement status of OMIDRIA continues to be uncertain, then demand for OMIDRIA from ASCs and hospitals may be reduced substantially. In such event, sales to our wholesalers may decrease correspondingly, as they adjust on-hand inventory in anticipation of reduced demand from end users.
There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage or reimbursement for newly approved products, and we may not be able to provide data sufficient to be granted adequate coverage or reimbursement. Even when a payer determines that a product is eligible for reimbursement, coverage may be limited to the uses of a product that are either approved by FDA (or, in other countries, the relevant country’s regulatory agency) and/or appear in a recognized drug compendium, or other conditions may apply. Moreover, eligibility for coverage does not mean that any product will be reimbursed at a rate that allows us to make a profit in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacturing, sales and distribution. Increasingly, government and private third-party payers that reimburse for healthcare services and products are requiring that companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products, which could adversely impact the pricing of our products. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payers. Pricing may also be adversely affected by changes in the terms, scope and/or complexity of government pricing requirements. Even if we achieve coverage or reimbursement for a product, the initial rate or method at which the product will be reimbursed could become unfavorable to us at the time reimbursement is initiated or in the future or may be of a limited duration. In addition, obtaining acceptable coverage and reimbursement from one payer does not guarantee that we will obtain similar acceptable coverage or reimbursement from another payer.
In non-U.S. jurisdictions, we must obtain separate reimbursement approvals and comply with related foreign legal and regulatory requirements. In some countries, including those in the EU, our products may be subject to government price controls. Pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take a considerable amount of time and expenditure of resources after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. We provide no assurances that the price of any product in one or more of these countries or regions will allow us to make a profit or cover our costs, including research, development, manufacturing, sales and distribution, and as a result we may decide to delay, potentially indefinitely, initiating sales in the particular country or region.
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If the reimbursement or pricing that we are able to obtain and maintain for any product that we develop and commercialize, including OMIDRIA, is inadequate, is significantly delayed or is subject to overly restrictive conditions, our ability to generate revenue, attain profitability and/or commercialize our product candidates may be impaired and there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects and trading price of our stock could decline.
Failure to obtain and maintain regulatory approval in the U.S. or in foreign jurisdictions would prevent us from marketing our current and future products.
Our BLA for narsoplimab for the treatment of HSCT-TMA is under priority review by FDA. The regulatory process is subject to substantial agency discretion and risks, including those described herein and elsewhere in these “Risk Factors.” FDA may require additional data regarding narsoplimab or HSCT-TMA for any reason, which could delay or require a resubmission our BLA, or FDA may approve narsoplimab for a much narrower indication or patient population than we have requested and/or with significant restrictions on distribution or use, including through a REMS. Ultimately, we cannot guarantee that FDA will ever approve narsoplimab for the treatment of HSCT-TMA or any other indication.
We also intend to have OMIDRIA and our current and future product candidates, if approved, marketed outside the U.S. In order to market our products in non-U.S. jurisdictions, we or our partners must obtain separate regulatory approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The regulatory approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing and data review. The requirements governing marketing authorization, the conduct of clinical trials, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country. Approval by FDA does not ensure approval by the EMA, and approval by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory agencies in other foreign countries or by FDA. The time required to obtain regulatory approval outside the U.S. and EU may differ from that required to obtain FDA or EU approval. The foreign regulatory approval process may include all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval discussed in these “Risk Factors” and we may not obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis, or at all. In addition, even if we were able to obtain regulatory approval for a product in one or more foreign jurisdictions, we may need to complete additional requirements to maintain that approval and our ability to market the product in the applicable jurisdiction.
Our operating results are unpredictable and may fluctuate.
Our operating results are difficult to predict and will likely fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year. We believe that our quarterly and annual results of operations may be affected by a variety of factors, including:
● the level and timing of commercial sales of OMIDRIA, as well as our product candidates if and when approved or commercialized;
● the extent of coverage and reimbursement for OMIDRIA;
● the amount of OMIDRIA chargebacks, rebates and product returns;
● the extent of any payments received from collaboration arrangements and development funding as well as the achievement of development and clinical milestones under collaboration and license agreements that we may enter into from time to time and that may vary significantly from quarter to quarter; and
● the timing, cost and level of investment in our research and development activities as well as expenditures we will or may incur to acquire or develop additional technologies, products and product candidates, or in preparation for potential commercialization of our product candidates.
In addition, the number of procedures or cases in which OMIDRIA or any of our product candidates, if commercialized, would be used may be significantly less than the total number of such procedures performed or total possible market size. These and other factors, including multiple changes in the reimbursement status for OMIDRIA since initially approved, make it difficult for us to forecast and provide accurate guidance (including updates to prior
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guidance) related to our expected financial performance. If our operating results are below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, the trading price of our stock could decline.
We have incurred cumulative operating losses since inception. If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed, our commercial operations may be limited and we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates or to continue our other preclinical development programs.
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since our incorporation and, as of December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $872.7 million. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to:
● initiate and conduct clinical trials and manufacture clinical and registration batches for our programs and product candidates;
● continue OMIDRIA sales and marketing;
● continue research and development in our programs;
● make principal, interest and fee payments as required under our 6.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the “2023 Notes”) and 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes” and together with the 2023 Notes, the “Convertible Notes”); and
● commercialize and launch product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval.
We expect to continue to incur additional losses until such time as we generate significant revenue from the sale of OMIDRIA, other commercial products or partnerships. We are unable to predict the extent of any future losses and cannot provide assurance that we will generate sufficient revenue from OMIDRIA or other commercial products in the future to fund our operations fully. If we are unable to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of OMIDRIA, other commercialized products or partnership arrangements, we may never become and remain profitable and will be required to raise additional capital to continue to fund our operations. We cannot be certain that additional capital will be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all, when required. Adverse developments to our financial condition or business, as well as disruptions in the global equity and credit markets, may limit our ability to access capital. If we do not raise additional capital when needed through one or more funding avenues, such as debt or equity financings or corporate partnering, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of one or more of our product candidates or one or more of our preclinical programs or other research and development initiatives. In addition, we may be required to seek collaborators for one or more of our current or future products at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than otherwise might be available or to relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to technologies or products that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves. We also may have insufficient funds or otherwise be unable to advance our preclinical programs, such as potential new drug targets developed from our GPCR program, to a point where they can generate revenue through partnerships, collaborations or other arrangements. Any of these actions could limit the amount of revenue we are able to generate and harm our business and prospects.
We are subject to extensive government regulation and the failure to comply with these regulations may have a material adverse effect on our operations and business.
Both before and after approval of any product, we and our suppliers, contract manufacturers and clinical investigators are subject to extensive regulation by governmental authorities in the U.S. and other countries, covering, among other things, testing, manufacturing, quality control, clinical trials, post-marketing studies, reporting, risk management plans, labeling, advertising, promotion, distribution, import and export, governmental pricing, price reporting and rebate requirements. Failure to comply with applicable requirements could result in one or more of the following actions: warning letters; unanticipated expenditures; delays in approval or refusal to approve a product candidate; product recall or seizure; interruption of manufacturing or clinical trials; operating or marketing restrictions; injunctions; criminal prosecution and civil or criminal penalties including fines and other monetary penalties; adverse publicity; and disruptions to our business. Further, government investigations into potential violations of these laws
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would require us to expend considerable resources and face adverse publicity and the potential disruption of our business even if we are ultimately found not to have committed a violation.
Obtaining FDA approval of our product candidates requires substantial time, effort and financial resources and may be subject to both expected and unforeseen delays, and there can be no assurance that any approval will be granted on any of our product candidates on a timely basis, if at all. Even if we discuss with, and obtain feedback from, FDA regarding our proposed clinical trials, clinical data collection protocols and nonclinical studies before initiating those trials or studies, FDA may decide that the design of our clinical trials or clinical data collection protocols as actually run, or our resulting data, are insufficient for approval of our product candidates and may require us to run additional preclinical, clinical or other studies or perform additional work related to chemistry, manufacturing and controls. In addition, we, FDA or an independent institutional review board or ethics committee may suspend or terminate human clinical trials at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the patients are or would be exposed to an unacceptable health risk or because of the way in which the investigators on whom we rely carry out the trials. We are subject to extensive government regulation of the testing of our investigational products, including the requirement that we conduct all of our clinical trials in accordance with FDA’s GCP requirements and similar requirements outside of the United States. If we are unable to comply with these requirements, if we are required to conduct additional trials or to conduct other testing of our product candidates beyond that which we currently contemplate for regulatory approval, if we are unable to complete our clinical trials or other testing successfully, or if the results of these and other trials or tests fail to demonstrate efficacy or raise safety concerns, we may face substantial additional expenses, be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates or may never obtain marketing approval.
We are also required to comply with extensive governmental regulatory requirements after a product has received marketing authorization. Governing regulatory authorities may require post-marketing studies that may negatively impact the commercial viability of a product. Once on the market, a product may become associated with previously undetected adverse effects and/or may develop manufacturing difficulties. We are required to comply with other post-marketing requirements including current Good Manufacturing Practices, advertising and promotion restrictions, pharmacovigilance requirements including risk management activities, reporting and recordkeeping obligations, and other requirements. As a result of any of these or other problems or failure to comply with our regulatory obligations, a product’s regulatory approval could be withdrawn, which could harm our business and operating results. In addition, we must maintain an effective healthcare compliance program in order to comply with U.S. and other laws applicable to marketed drug products and, in particular, laws (such as the Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act and the Sunshine Act) applicable when drug products are purchased or reimbursed by a federal or state healthcare program. U.S. laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibit the offering or payment of bribes or inducements to foreign public officials, including potentially physicians or other medical professionals who are employees of public healthcare entities in jurisdictions outside the U.S. In addition, many countries have their own laws similar to the healthcare compliance laws that exist in the U.S. Implementing and maintaining an effective compliance program requires the expenditure of significant time and resources. If we are found to be in violation of any of these laws, we may be subject to significant penalties, including but not limited to civil or criminal penalties, damages and fines as well as exclusion from government healthcare programs.
We may face difficulties from changes to current regulations as well as future legislation.
Existing regulatory policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the U.S. or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
There is uncertainty with respect to the impact that healthcare reform legislation and the policies of the Biden administration may have on coverage and reimbursement for healthcare items and services covered by plans that are authorized by the ACA. We expect that the ACA, if it remains in effect, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and apply downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government
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programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payers. If the ACA were to be invalidated by the Supreme Court or repealed, any resulting reduction in the percentage of the U.S. population that has healthcare insurance could reduce the market for our products. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate sufficient revenue, attain and/or maintain profitability or commercialize our product candidates. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on OMIDRIA or the marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be.
We have no internal capacity to manufacture commercial or clinical supplies of OMIDRIA or our product candidates and intend to continue to rely solely on third-party manufacturers. If the contract manufacturers that we rely on experience difficulties manufacturing and supplying OMIDRIA or our product candidates, or fail FDA or other regulatory inspections, our clinical trials, regulatory submissions and ability to sell OMIDRIA or any other commercialized product and generate revenue may be significantly limited or delayed.
We rely and intend to continue to rely on third-party manufacturers to produce commercial quantities of OMIDRIA and clinical drug supplies of our product candidates that are needed for clinical trials and to support NDAs, BLAs, or similar applications to regulatory authorities seeking marketing approval for our product candidates, as well as to produce inventory of our product candidates for commercial use in anticipation of marketing approval. We cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to enter into or maintain these types of arrangements on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we or one of our manufacturers were to terminate one of these arrangements early, or the manufacturer was unable to supply product quantities sufficient to meet our requirements, we would be required to transfer manufacturing to an approved alternative facility and/or establish additional manufacturing and supply arrangements. We may also need to establish additional or replacement manufacturers, potentially with little or no notice, in the event that one of our manufacturers fails to comply with FDA and/or other pharmaceutical manufacturing regulatory requirements. Even if we are able to establish additional or replacement manufacturers, identifying these sources and entering into definitive supply agreements and obtaining regulatory approvals may require a substantial amount of time and cost and may create a shortage of the product. It can take several years to qualify and validate a new contract manufacturer, and we cannot guarantee that we would be able to complete in a successful and timely manner the appropriate validation processes or obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for one or more additional or replacement manufacturers. Such alternate supply arrangements may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Additionally, if we are unable to engage multiple suppliers to manufacture our products, we may have inadequate supply to meet demand for our product.
In addition, narsoplimab is a biologic drug product and any other product candidate from certain of our programs, including but not limited to MASP-2 and MASP-3, could be a biologic drug product. We do not have the internal capability to produce biologics for use in clinical trials or on a commercial scale. There are only a limited number of manufacturers of biologic drug products and we may be unable to enter into agreements on commercially reasonable terms with a sufficient number of them to meet clinical or commercial demand, if at all. The regulatory requirements for commercial supply are more stringent than for clinical supply and we cannot guarantee that a contract manufacturer producing drug product for clinical trials will be able to complete successfully the appropriate validation processes or obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for marketing approval and commercial supply in a timely manner or at all.
Our contract manufacturers may encounter difficulties with formulation, manufacturing, supply chain and/or release processes that could result in delays in clinical trials and/or regulatory submissions or that could impact adversely the commercialization of our products or product candidates, as well as in the initiation of enforcement actions by FDA and other regulatory authorities. For example, our manufacturers are required to comply with FDA’s GMP requirements and are subject to periodic inspections by FDA. If our manufacturers are unable to comply with FDA requirements, they may be unable to meet our supply needs. These difficulties also could result in the recall or withdrawal of a product from the market or a failure to have adequate supplies to meet market demand. If the safety or manufacturing quality of OMIDRIA or any product candidate supplied by contract manufacturers is compromised due to one or more of those contract manufacturers’ failure to adhere to applicable laws or for other reasons, we may not be able to maintain regulatory approval of OMIDRIA, to continue sales and marketing of OMIDRIA, to run clinical trials or to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for one or more of our product candidates, which would harm our business and prospects significantly.
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Any significant delays in the manufacture and/or supply of clinical or commercial supplies could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Ingredients, excipients, test kits and other materials necessary to manufacture OMIDRIA or our product candidates may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, which may adversely affect the sales of OMIDRIA or development and commercialization of our product candidates.
We and our third-party manufacturers must obtain from third-party suppliers the APIs, excipients, and/or other raw materials plus primary and secondary packaging materials necessary for our contract manufacturers to produce OMIDRIA and our product candidates for our clinical trials and, to the extent approved or commercialized, for commercial distribution. Although we have entered or intend to enter into agreements with third-party suppliers that will guarantee the availability and timely delivery of APIs, excipients, test kits and materials for OMIDRIA and our product candidates, we have not yet entered into agreements for the supply of all such ingredients, excipients, test kits or materials, and we may be unable to secure all such supply agreements or guarantees on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Even if we were able to secure such agreements or guarantees, our suppliers may be unable or choose not to provide us the ingredients, excipients, test kits or materials in a timely manner or in the quantities required. If we or our third-party manufacturers are unable to obtain the quantities of these ingredients, excipients or materials that are necessary for the manufacture of commercial supplies of OMIDRIA, our ability to generate revenue from the sale of OMIDRIA would be materially and adversely affected. Further, if we or our third-party manufacturers are unable to obtain APIs, excipients, test kits and materials as necessary for our clinical trials or for the manufacture of commercial supplies of our product candidates, if approved, potential regulatory approval or commercialization would be delayed, which would materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenue from the sale of our product candidates.
If our clinical trials or clinical protocols are delayed, suspended or terminated, we may be unable to develop our product candidates on a timely basis, which would adversely affect our ability to obtain regulatory approvals, increase our development costs and delay or prevent commercialization of approved products.
We cannot predict whether we will encounter problems with any of our completed, ongoing or planned clinical trials or clinical data collection protocols that will cause regulatory agencies, institutional review boards or ethics committees, or us to delay our clinical trials or suspend or delay the analysis of the data from those trials. Clinical trials and clinical data protocols can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including:
● discussions with FDA, the EMA or other foreign authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials or clinical data collection protocols;
● delays or the inability to obtain required approvals from institutional review boards, ethics committees or other responsible entities at clinical sites selected for participation in our clinical trials;
● delays in enrolling patients into clinical trials, collecting data from enrolled patients or collecting historical control data for any reason including disease severity, trial or data collection protocol design, study eligibility criteria, patient population size ( e.g. , for orphan diseases or for some pediatric indications), proximity and/or availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients, availability of competing therapies and clinical trials, regional differences in diagnosis and treatment, perceived risks and benefits of the product or product candidate, disruptions due to external events, including an outbreak of pandemic or contagious disease such as the COVID-19 coronavirus, which has slowed enrollment in our clinical trials of narsoplimab in patients with IgA nephropathy;
● lower than anticipated retention rates of patients in clinical trials;
● the need to repeat or conduct additional clinical trials as a result of inconclusive or negative results, failure to replicate positive early clinical data in subsequent clinical trials, failure to deliver an efficacious dose of a product candidate, poorly executed testing, a failure of a clinical site to adhere to the clinical protocol or to follow GCPs or other study requirements, an unacceptable study design or other problems;
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● adverse findings in clinical or nonclinical studies related to the safety of our product candidates in humans;
● an insufficient supply of product candidate materials or other materials necessary to conduct our clinical trials;
● the need to qualify new suppliers of product candidate materials for FDA and foreign regulatory approval;
● an unfavorable inspection or review by FDA or other regulatory authority of a clinical trial site or records of any clinical investigation;
● the occurrence of unacceptable drug-related side effects or adverse events experienced by participants in our clinical trials;
● the suspension by a regulatory agency of a trial by imposing a clinical hold; or
● the amendment of clinical trial or data collection protocols to reflect changes in regulatory requirements and guidance or other reasons as well as subsequent re-examination of amendments to clinical trial or data collection protocols by regulatory agencies, institutional review boards or ethics committees.
In addition, our clinical trial or development programs have been, and in the future may be, suspended or terminated by us, FDA or other regulatory authorities, or institutional review boards or ethics committees due to a number of factors, including:
● failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols;
● inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial sites by FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold;
● our failure to comply with our regulatory obligations as a sponsor of clinical research, such as adverse event reporting, control of study drug, adequate study monitoring, and other obligations;
● the failure to remove a clinical hold in a timely manner, if at all;
● unforeseen safety issues or any determination that a trial presents unacceptable health risks;
● inability to deliver an efficacious dose of a product candidate; or
● lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial or development program, including as a result of unforeseen costs due to enrollment delays, requirements to conduct additional trials and studies and/or increased expenses associated with the services of our contract research organizations (“CROs”), or other third parties.
If the results of our clinical trials are not available when we expect or if we encounter any delay in the analysis of data from our clinical trials, we may be unable to file for regulatory approval or conduct additional clinical trials on the schedule we currently anticipate. Many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate. Any delays in completing our clinical trials could increase our development costs, could slow down our product development and regulatory submission process, could delay our receipt of product revenue and could make it difficult to raise additional capital. In addition, significant clinical trial delays also could allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to commercialize our future products, potentially harming our business.
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Because we have a number of product candidates and development programs, we may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications for which there is a greater likelihood of obtaining regulatory approval and that may be more profitable, if approved.
We have limited resources and must focus on the product candidates and clinical and preclinical development programs that we believe are the most promising. As a result, we may forgo or delay the pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential and may not be able to progress development programs as rapidly as otherwise possible. Further, 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 through collaboration, license or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights.
Our product candidates may not successfully complete clinical development or be suitable for successful commercialization or generation of revenue through partnerships, and our preclinical programs may not produce product candidates that are suitable for clinical trials.
We must successfully complete preclinical testing, which may include demonstrating efficacy and the lack of toxicity in established animal models, before commencing clinical trials for any product candidate. Many pharmaceutical and biological product candidates do not successfully complete preclinical testing. There can be no assurance that positive results from preclinical studies will be predictive of results obtained from subsequent preclinical studies or clinical trials. Even if preclinical testing is successfully completed, we cannot be certain that any product candidates that do advance into clinical trials will successfully demonstrate safety and efficacy in clinical trials. Even if we achieve positive results in early clinical trials, they may not be predictive of the results in later trials, and safety and/or efficacy outcomes of early clinical trials may not be consistent with outcomes of subsequent clinical trials. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully commercialize our current or future product candidates or to meet our expectations with respect to revenues or profits from such products.
We may incur substantial costs as a result of commercial disputes, claims, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to our business operations, especially with regard to patent and other intellectual property rights, and such costs or an adverse outcome in such a proceeding may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and/or stock price.
Our business involves numerous commercial contractual arrangements, important intellectual property rights, potential product liability, uncertainties with respect to clinical development, manufacture and regulatory approvals and other aspects that create heightened risks of disputes, claims and legal proceedings. These include claims that may be faced in one or more jurisdictions related to the safety of our product candidates and products, the development of our product candidates, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, our expectations regarding product development and regulatory approval, sales and marketing practices, commercial disputes including with contract manufacturers, competition, environmental matters, employment matters and other matters. These matters could consume significant time and resources, even if we are successful. Many of our competitors and contractual counterparties are significantly larger than we are and, as a result, may be able to sustain the costs of complex litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, we may pay damage awards or settlements or become subject to equitable remedies that could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations or stock price. Any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation also could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the capital necessary to continue our operations.
We may initiate or become subject to litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. Patent infringement litigation involves many complex technical and legal issues and its outcome is often difficult to predict and the risk involved in doing so can be substantial. Generic drug manufacturers could seek approval to market a generic version of our products or challenge our intellectual property rights with respect to our product candidates.
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It may not be feasible to detect and undertake patent enforcement action to stop infringing activity by a number of individual entities, each on a small scale, such as compounding pharmacies. Further, our industry has produced a large number of patents and it is not always clear which patents cover various types of products or methods of use. A third party may claim that we or our contract manufacturers are using inventions covered by the third party’s patent rights and may go to court to stop us from engaging in the alleged infringing activity, including making, using or selling our products and product candidates. These lawsuits are costly and could affect our results of operations and divert the attention of managerial and technical personnel. There is a risk that a court would decide that we, or our contract manufacturers, are infringing the third party’s patents and would order us or our contractors to stop the activities covered by the patents. In addition, if we or our contract manufacturers are found to have violated a third party’s patent, we or our contract manufacturers could be ordered to pay damages to the other party. We have agreed to or may agree to indemnify our contract manufacturers against certain patent infringement claims and thus may be responsible for any of their costs associated with such claims and actions. If we were sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our products and product candidates or methods of use either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent or that the patent claims are invalid, and we might be unable to do this. Proving invalidity, in particular, is difficult since it requires clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents.
It is difficult and costly to protect our intellectual property and our proprietary technologies, and we may not be able to ensure their protection.
Our commercial success will depend in part on obtaining and maintaining patent protection and trade secret protection for the use, formulation and structure of our products and product candidates, the methods used to manufacture them, the related therapeutic targets and associated methods of treatment as well as on successfully defending these patents against potential third-party challenges. Our ability to protect our products and product candidates from unauthorized making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing by third parties is dependent on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents that cover these activities.
The patent positions of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other life sciences companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the U.S. and other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property. Further, the determination that a patent application or patent claim meets all of the requirements for patentability is a subjective determination based on the application of law and jurisprudence. The ultimate determination by the USPTO or by a court or other trier of fact in the U.S., or corresponding foreign national patent offices or courts, on whether a claim meets all requirements of patentability cannot be assured. Although we have conducted searches for third-party publications, patents and other information that may affect the patentability of claims in our various patent applications and patents, we cannot be certain that all relevant information has been identified. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or patent applications, in our licensed patents or patent applications or in third-party patents.
We cannot provide assurances that any of our patent applications will be found to be patentable, including over our own prior art patents, or will issue as patents. Neither can we make assurances as to the scope of any claims that may issue from our pending and future patent applications nor to the outcome of any proceedings by any potential third parties that could challenge the patentability, validity or enforceability of our patents and patent applications in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions. Any such challenge, if successful, could limit patent protection for our products and product candidates and/or materially harm our business.
The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain because legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. In addition, to the extent that we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for one of our products or product candidates or in the event that such patent protection expires or is limited to method of use patent protection, it may no longer be cost-
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effective to extend our portfolio by pursuing additional development of a product or product candidate for follow-on indications.
We also may rely on trade secrets to protect our technologies or products, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, our employees, consultants, contractors, outside scientific collaborators and other advisers may unintentionally or willfully disclose our information to competitors. Enforcing a claim that a third-party entity illegally obtained and is using any of our trade secrets is expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the U.S. are sometimes less willing to protect trade secrets. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how.
Our indebtedness and liabilities could limit the cash flow available for our operations and expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As of December 31, 2020, we had issued $320.0 million total aggregate principal amount of our 2023 Notes and 2026 Notes, and we had approximately $1.8 million of outstanding finance lease obligations. We may incur additional indebtedness to meet future financing needs. Our existing and future indebtedness could have significant negative consequences for our security holders and our business, results of operations and financial condition by, among other things:
● requiring a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service our indebtedness, which will reduce the amount of cash available for other purposes;
● limiting our ability to obtain additional financing;
● limiting our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business;
● diluting the interests of our existing stockholders as a result of issuing shares of our common stock upon conversion of the Convertible Notes;
● placing us at a possible competitive disadvantage with competitors that are less leveraged than we are or have better access to capital; and
● increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions.
Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, or to refinance our indebtedness, including the Convertible Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to many factors, including, economic, financial, competitive and other circumstances beyond our control. Our business may not generate sufficient funds, and we may otherwise be unable to maintain sufficient cash reserves, to pay amounts due under our indebtedness, including the Convertible Notes, and our cash needs may increase in the future. In addition, future indebtedness that we may incur may contain, financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to operate our business, raise capital or make payments under our other indebtedness. If we fail to comply with these covenants or to make payments under our indebtedness when due, then we would be in default under that indebtedness, which could, in turn, result in that and our other indebtedness becoming immediately payable in full.
Our competitors may develop products that are less expensive, safer or more effective, or which may otherwise diminish or eliminate the success of any products that we may commercialize.
We may not achieve commercial success if our competitors, many of whom have significantly more resources and experience than we, market products that are safer, more effective, less expensive or faster to reach the market than any products that we may develop and commercialize. Our competitors also may market a product that proves to be unsafe or ineffective, which may affect the market for our competing product, or future product, regardless of the safety or efficacy of our product. The failure of OMIDRIA or any future product that we may market to compete effectively with
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products marketed by our competitors would impair our ability to generate revenue, which would have a material adverse effect on our future business, our financial condition and our results of operations.
The loss of members of our management team could substantially disrupt our business operations.
Our success depends to a significant degree on the continued individual and collective contributions of our management team. The members of our management team are at-will employees, and we do not maintain any key-person life insurance policies other than on the life of Gregory A. Demopulos, M.D., our president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors. Losing the services of any key member of our management team, whether from death or disability, retirement, competing offers or other causes, without having a readily available and appropriate replacement could delay the execution of our business strategy, cause us to lose a strategic partner, or otherwise materially affect our operations.
We rely on highly skilled personnel and, if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel or hire qualified personnel, we may not be able to maintain our operations or grow effectively.
Our performance is largely dependent on the talents and efforts of highly skilled individuals, many of whom possess specialized expertise that may be difficult to replace. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. If we are unable to hire and train a sufficient number of qualified employees for any reason, we may not be able to implement our current initiatives or grow effectively. We maintain a rigorous, highly selective and time-consuming hiring process. We believe that our approach to hiring has significantly contributed to our success to date. If we do not succeed in attracting qualified personnel and retaining and motivating existing personnel, our existing operations may suffer and we may be unable to grow effectively.
We may encounter difficulties managing our growth, which could delay our business plans or adversely affect our results of operations.
To manage our future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems and continue to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel. We may not be able to implement necessary business processes and systems, recruit, train and retain additional qualified personnel and otherwise manage the growth of our enterprise due to factors such as limited financial resources and competition for qualified personnel within local, national and international markets. The expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations. Additionally, our inability to manage growth effectively could cause our operating costs to grow even faster than we currently are anticipating.
Our credit facility contains restrictive covenants that may limit our operating flexibility.
In August 2019, we entered into a loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”), under which we may borrow up to the lesser of $50.0 million and 85.0% of our eligible accounts receivable, less certain reserves . The credit facility contains restrictive covenants that limit our ability to transfer or dispose of assets, merge with other companies or consummate certain changes of control, acquire other companies, incur additional indebtedness and liens and enter into new businesses. We therefore may not be able to engage in any of the foregoing transactions unless we obtain the consent of the lender or terminate the credit facility, which may limit our operating flexibility. In addition, our credit facility is secured by all of our assets, excluding our intellectual property and development program inventories. While we had no outstanding borrowings under the credit facility and were in compliance with all covenants as of December 31, 2020, there is no guarantee that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flow or revenue to meet these financial covenants or pay the principal and interest on any future borrowings under our facility.
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Product liability claims may damage our reputation and, if insurance proves inadequate, these claims may harm our business.
We may be exposed to the risk of product liability claims that is inherent in the biopharmaceutical industry. A product liability claim may damage our reputation by raising questions about our product’s safety and efficacy and could limit our ability to sell one or more products by preventing or interfering with commercialization of our products and product candidates. In addition, product liability insurance for the biopharmaceutical industry is generally expensive to the extent it is available at all. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain or maintain such insurance on acceptable terms or that we will be able to secure and maintain increased coverage for OMIDRIA or any other product we bring to market. Further, our product liability insurance coverage may not provide coverage for or may be insufficient to reimburse us for any or all expenses or losses we may suffer. A successful claim against us with respect to uninsured liabilities or in excess of insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on third parties to conduct portions of our preclinical research and clinical trials. If these third parties do not perform as contractually required or otherwise expected, or if we fail to adequately supervise or monitor these parties, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates.
We rely on third parties, such as CROs, medical and research institutions and clinical investigators, to conduct a portion of our preclinical research, assist us in conducting our clinical trials or to conduct third party-sponsored clinical trials of our products and product candidates. Nonetheless, we are responsible for confirming that our preclinical research and clinical trials are conducted in accordance with applicable regulations, the relevant trial protocol and within the context of approvals by an institutional review board or ethics committee, and we may not always be successful in ensuring such compliance. Our reliance on these third parties does not relieve us of responsibility for ensuring compliance with FDA and other regulations and standards for conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of preclinical research and clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the trial participants are adequately protected. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or regulatory obligations or meet expected deadlines, if the third parties need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the data they obtain is compromised due to their failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our preclinical and clinical development processes may be extended, delayed, suspended or terminated, and we may not be able to commercialize or obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates.
We may need to maintain licenses for active ingredients from third parties to develop and commercialize some of our product candidates, which could increase our development costs and delay our ability to commercialize those product candidates.
Should we decide to use APIs in any of our product candidates that are proprietary to one or more third parties, such as our PDE7 program (OMS527), we would need to maintain licenses to those active ingredients from those third parties. If we are unable to continue to access rights to these active ingredients prior to conducting preclinical toxicology studies intended to support clinical trials, we may need to develop alternate product candidates from these programs by either accessing or developing alternate active ingredients, resulting in increased development costs and delays in commercialization of these product candidates. If we are unable to maintain continued access rights to the desired active ingredients on commercially reasonable terms or develop suitable alternate active ingredients, or if we do not meet diligence or other obligations under the corresponding licenses, we may not be able to commercialize product candidates from these programs.
We use hazardous materials in our business and must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive.
Our research operations produce hazardous waste products, which include chemicals and radioactive and biological materials. We are subject to a variety of federal, state and local regulations relating to the use, handling, storage and disposal of these materials. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of these materials comply with applicable legal regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be eliminated. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of such substances and store our low-level
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radioactive waste at our facility until the materials are no longer considered radioactive. We may be required to incur further costs to comply with current or future environmental and safety regulations. In addition, although we carry insurance, in the event of accidental contamination or injury from these materials, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any such liability could exceed our insurance coverage and other resources.
General Risk Factors Related to our Business
Cyber-attacks or other failures in telecommunications or information technology systems could result in information theft, data corruption and significant disruption of our business operations.
We utilize information technology systems and networks to process, transmit and store electronic information in connection with our business activities. As use of digital technologies has increased, cyber incidents, including deliberate attacks and attempts to gain unauthorized access to computer systems and networks, have increased in frequency and sophistication. These threats pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks, the confidentiality and the availability and integrity of our data. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in preventing cyber-attacks or mitigating their effects. Similarly, there can be no assurance that our collaborators, CROs, third-party logistics providers, distributors and other contractors and consultants will be successful in protecting our clinical and other data that is stored on their systems. Any cyber-attack or destruction or loss of data could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects. In addition, we may suffer reputational harm or face litigation or adverse regulatory action as a result of cyber-attacks or other data security breaches and may incur significant additional expense to implement further data protection measures.
Our stock price has been and may continue to be volatile, and the value of an investment in our common stock may decline.
During the 12-month period ended December 31, 2020, our stock traded as high as $25.46 per share and as low as $8.50 per share. The trading price of our common stock is likely to continue to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, the stock market has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of publicly traded companies. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of companies’ stock, including ours, regardless of actual operating performance. These fluctuations may be even more pronounced in the trading market for our stock. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
If we issue additional shares of our common stock or other securities that may be convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, our common stock, our existing shareholders would experience further dilution.
To the extent that we raise additional funds in the future by issuing equity securities, our shareholders would experience dilution, which may be significant and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline significantly. In addition, approximately 12.2 million shares of common stock were subject to outstanding options and warrants as of December 31, 2020 and may become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting agreements. As of December 31, 2020, we also had approximately 4.1 million shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our employee benefit plans that are not subject to outstanding options. Further, to the extent we issue common stock upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, such conversion would dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders despite the expected reduction of such dilution as a result of the capped call transactions that we entered into in connection with the original issuances of the Convertible Notes. If the holders of outstanding options or warrants elect to exercise some or all of them, or if the shares subject to our employee benefit plans are issued and become eligible for sale in the public market, or we issue common stock upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, our shareholders would experience dilution and the market price of our common stock could decline.
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Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Washington law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our shareholders, difficult and prevent attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our current management.
Provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws and under Washington law may delay or prevent an acquisition of us or a change in our management. These provisions include a classified board of directors, a prohibition on shareholder actions by less than unanimous written consent, restrictions on the ability of shareholders to fill board vacancies and the ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without shareholder approval. In addition, because we are incorporated in Washington, we are governed by the provisions of Chapter 23B.19 of the Washington Business Corporation Act, which, among other things, restricts the ability of shareholders owning 10% or more of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us. Although we believe these provisions collectively provide for an opportunity to receive higher bids by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors, they would apply even if an offer may be considered beneficial by some shareholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our current management by making it difficult for shareholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management.
We have never declared or paid dividends on our capital stock, and we do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future.
Our business requires significant funding. We currently plan to invest all available funds and future earnings, if any, in the development and growth of our business. Additionally, under the loan and security agreement with SVB, we have agreed not to pay any dividends. Therefore, we currently do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. As a result, a rise in the market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable, will be the sole source of potential gain for shareholders in the foreseeable future, and an investment in our common stock for dividend income should not be relied upon.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.