Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of operations of SmartKem, Inc. (“SmartKem” or the “Company”) should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in Item 1 of Part I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 to provide an understanding of its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
All references in this Quarterly Report to “we,” “our,” “us” and the “Company” refer to SmartKem, Inc., and its subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise.
DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “may,” “can,” “continue,” “potential,” “should,” and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology often identify forward-looking statements. Statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Report”) that are not historical facts are hereby identified as “forward-looking statements” for the purpose of the safe harbor provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements, including the risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (the “10-K”) in Item 1A under “Risk Factors” and the risks detailed from time to time in our future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
● the implementation of our business model and strategic plans for our business, technologies and products;
● the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our products or organic semiconductor technology in
general, including changes due to the impact of (i) new semiconductor technologies, including MicroLED technology, (ii) the performance of organic semiconductor technology, whether perceived or actual, relative to competing semiconductor materials, and (iii) the performance of our products, whether perceived or actual, compared to competing silicon-based and other products;
● the timing and success of our, and our customers’, product releases;
● our ability to develop new products and technologies;
● our ability to meet management goals;
● our ability to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”);
● our estimates of our expenses, ongoing losses, future revenue and capital requirements, including
our needs for additional financing;
● our ability to obtain additional funds for our operations and our intended use of any such funds;
● our ability to remain eligible on an over-the-counter quotation system;
● our receipt and timing of any royalties, milestone payments or payments for products, under any current or future collaboration, license or other agreements or arrangements;
● our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our technologies and products and our ability to operate our business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others;
● the strength and marketability of our intellectual property portfolio;
● our dependence on current and future collaborators for developing, manufacturing or otherwise bringing our products to market;
● the ability of our third-party supply and manufacturing partners to meet our current and future business needs;
● our exposure to risks related to international operations;
● our dependence on third-party fabrication facilities;
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● our relationships with our executive officers, directors, and significant stockholders;
● our expectations regarding our classification as a “smaller reporting company,” as defined under the Exchange Act, and an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”) in future periods;
● our future financial performance;
● the competitive landscape of our industry;
● the impact of government regulation and developments relating to us, our competitors, or our industry; and
● other risks and uncertainties, including those listed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our 10-K.
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. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under “Risk Factors” in our 10-K and in this Report and elsewhere in this Report.
Any forward-looking statement in this Report reflects our current view with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our business, results of operations, industry and future growth. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance. You should read this Report and the documents that we reference in this Report and have filed with the SEC as exhibits hereto 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. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.
Company Overview
We are seeking to change the world of electronics with a new class of transistor developed using our proprietary advanced semiconductor materials that we believe has the potential to revolutionize the display industry. Our TRUFLEX® semiconductor polymers enable low temperature printing processes that are compatible with existing manufacturing infrastructure to deliver low-cost, high-performance displays. Our semiconductor platform can be used in a range of display technologies including MicroLED, miniLED and AMOLED, as well as in applications in advanced chip packaging, sensors, and logic .
We design and develop our materials at our research and development facility in Manchester, UK and provide prototyping services at the Centre for Process Innovation (“CPI”) in Sedgefield, UK. We also operate a field application office in Hsinchu, Taiwan, close to our collaboration partner, The Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan (“ITRI”). With our collaboration partners, we are developing a commercial-scale production process and EDA tools for our materials to demonstrate the commercial viability of manufacturing a new generation of displays using our materials. We have an extensive IP portfolio including 138 granted patents across 17 patent families, 16 pending patents and 40 codified trade secrets .
Since our inception in 2009, we have devoted substantial resources to the research and development of materials and production processes for the manufacture of organic thin film transistors and the enhancement of our intellectual property.
Our loss before income taxes was $2.1 million and $1.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024. As of March 31, 2025, our accumulated deficit was $116.8 million. Substantially all our operating losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with research and development activities and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations.
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Results of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025
Three months ended March 31, 2025 compared with three months ended March 31, 2024
Revenue and Cost of revenue
We had revenue of $23.0 thousand and cost of revenue of $1.0 thousand in the three months ended March 31, 2025. We had no revenue or cost of revenue in the same period of 2024. Both revenue and related cost of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025 are a result of sales of OTFT backplanes and TRUFLEX® materials for customer assessment and development purposes.
Other operating income
Other operating income was $0.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to $0.2 million in the same period of 2024. The primary source of other operating income is related to a research grant and research and development tax credits.
Operating expenses
Operating expenses were $3.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to $2.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024.
Research and development expenses are incurred for the development and process validation for TRUFLEX inks to make OTFT circuits, OTFT based display concepts integrating novel display technology, and provide dielectric solutions for packaging applications. The expenses consist primarily of payroll, technical facilities overheads, and development consumables costs. The research and development expenses represent 43.9% and 48.1% of the total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Research and development expenses increased $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to the same period for the prior year. This increase primarily resulted from higher personnel expenses.
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of payroll and professional services such as investor relations, accounting and legal services . These expenses represent 58.9% and 51.4% of our total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to the same period for the prior year. This increase primarily resulted from an increase in personnel expenses as well as professional service fees primarily related to legal fees and investor relation activities.
Non-Operating income/(expense)
Non-operating income of $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 resulted primarily from the revaluation of our warrant liability. Because of changes in certain of our warrants that occurred as a result of the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on May 31, 2024, those warrants were accounted for as an equity instrument beginning on that date and as a result there was no similar gain or loss in the same period of 2025. We recorded a gain on foreign currency of $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, with no similar gain or loss in the same period of 2024.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of March 31, 2025, our cash and cash equivalents were $3.9 million compared with $7.1 million as of December 31, 2024. We believe our cash balance at March 31, 2025 will not be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for the 12 months from the issuance of these financial statements and that we will require additional capital funding to continue our operations and research development activity. It is possible this period could be shortened if there are any significant increases in spending or more rapid progress of development programs than anticipated.
Our expected cash payments over the next twelve months include (a) $1.4 million to satisfy accounts payable and accrued expenses and (b) $24 thousand to satisfy the lease liabilities. Additional expected cash payments beyond the next twelve months include $21 thousand of lease liabilities.
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Our future viability is dependent on our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations. We will need to obtain additional funds to satisfy our operational needs and to fund our sales and marketing efforts, research and development expenditures, and business development activities. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate sufficient cash through revenue, management’s plans are to finance our working capital requirements through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our existing security holders will likely experience dilution. If we borrow money, the incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could require us to agree to operating and financial covenants that could restrict our operations. If we enter into a collaboration, strategic alliance or other similar arrangement, we may be forced to give up valuable rights. There can be no assurance however that such financing will be available in sufficient amounts, when and if needed, on acceptable terms or at all. The precise amount and timing of the funding needs cannot be determined accurately at this time, and will depend on a number of factors, including the market demand for our products and services, the quality of product development efforts, management of working capital, and continuation of normal payment terms and conditions for purchase of services. If we are unable to substantially increase revenues, reduce expenditures, or otherwise generate cash flows for operations, then we will need to raise additional funding.
Cash Flow
Net cash used in operating activities was $3.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared to $1.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, an increase of $1.7 million. The increase is related to the payout of bonuses and payments made related to business development initiatives. During the three months ended March 31, 2025, we had no cash flows from investing or financing activities.
Contractual Payment Obligations
Our principal commitments primarily consist of obligations under leases for office space and purchase commitments in the normal course of business for research and development facilities and services, communications infrastructure, and administrative services. We expect to fund these commitments from our cash balances and working capital.
Critical Accounting Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), which require our management to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet dates, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our financial condition or results of operations would be affected. We base our estimates on our own historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable after taking account of our circumstances and expectations for the future based on available information. We evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis.
We consider an accounting estimate to be critical if: (i) the accounting estimate requires us to make assumptions about matters that were highly uncertain at the time the accounting estimate was made, and (ii) changes in the estimate that are reasonably likely to occur from period to period or use of different estimates that we reasonably could have used in the current period, would have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.
Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. In addition, there are other items within our financial statements that require estimation but are not deemed critical as defined above. Changes in estimates used in these and other items could have a material impact on our financial statements.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Not applicable.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.