Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.
Autonomix Medical, Inc. disclosed 50 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Autonomix Medical, Inc. reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.
Risk Overview Q4, 2024
Risk Distribution
38% Finance & Corporate
24% Tech & Innovation
16% Legal & Regulatory
12% Production
6% Ability to Sell
4% Macro & Political
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.
Risk Change Over Time
S&P500 Average
Sector Average
Risks removed
Risks added
Risks changed
Autonomix Medical, Inc. Risk Factors
New Risk (0)
Risk Changed (0)
Risk Removed (0)
No changes from previous report
The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
Risk Highlights Q4, 2024
Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 19 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 19 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
50
+1
From last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
50
+1
From last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
3Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Dec 2024
3Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Dec 2024
Number of Risk Changed
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
See the risk highlights of Autonomix Medical, Inc. in the last period.
Risk Word Cloud
The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 50
Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 19/50 (38%)Above Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights11 | 22.0%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
Added
We may be required to issue up to 271,846 shares of common stock in connection with the reverse stock split we completed on October 24, 2024, and we may be subject to potential liability if it is determined that we are required to issue such shares and we fail to issue such shares on a timely basis.
On October 24, 2024, we completed a one-for-twenty reverse stock split of our common stock. In connection with the approval of the reverse stock split, we agreed that no fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse stock split and that we would issue one full share of the post-reverse stock split common stock to any shareholder who would have been entitled to receive a fractional share as a result of the process. On November 1, 2024, we received notice from DTCC on behalf of the brokerage firms that hold the shares of our common stock held in "street name" that in connection with the foregoing rounding of shares we would need to issue 271,846 shares of common stock.
We do not believe the number of shares being requested is correct based on the historical number of shareholders of our common stock and have begun an inquiry into the calculations set forth in the request. During the pendency of this inquiry, we do not expect to issue any shares in connection with the fractional shares being requested. We may face potential liability for our failure to issue the shares of common stock if it is determined that we are required to issue such shares. In addition, our shareholders will be diluted to the extent of any issuances of shares of common stock in connection with the foregoing.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
Added
We completed a reverse stock split on October 24, 2024 in an effort to regain compliance with Nasdaq listing rules and we cannot predict the effect that such reverse stock split will have on the market price for shares of our common stock.
Our board of directors approved a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of our common stock, which became effective at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 24, 2024. We cannot predict the effect that the reverse stock split will have on the market price for shares of our common stock, and the history of similar reverse stock splits for companies in like circumstances has varied. Some investors may have a negative view of a reverse stock split. Even if the reverse stock split has a positive effect on the market price for shares of our common stock, performance of our business and financial results, general economic conditions and the market perception of our business, and other adverse factors which may not be in our control could lead to a decrease in the price of our common stock following the reverse stock split.
Furthermore, even if the reverse stock split does result in an increased market price per share of our common stock, the market price per share following the reverse stock split may not increase in proportion to the reduction of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding before the implementation of the reverse stock split. Accordingly, even with an increased market price per share, the total market capitalization of shares of our common stock after a reverse stock split could be lower than the total market capitalization before the reverse stock split. Also, even if there is an initial increase in the market price per share of our common stock after a reverse stock split, the market price many not remain at that level.
If the market price of shares of our common stock declines following the reverse stock split, the percentage decline as an absolute number and as a percentage of our overall market capitalization may be greater than would occur in the absence of the reverse stock split due to decreased liquidity in the market for our common stock. Accordingly, the total market capitalization of our common stock following the reverse stock split could be lower than the total market capitalization before the reverse stock split.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
Your ownership may be diluted if additional capital stock is issued to raise capital, to finance acquisitions or in connection with strategic transactions.
We intend to seek to raise additional funds, finance acquisitions or develop strategic relationships by issuing equity or convertible debt securities, which would reduce the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders. Our board of directors has the authority, without action or vote of the stockholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares of common or preferred stock. Our certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue up to 500,000,000 shares of common stock and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Future issuances of common or preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which stockholders vote and would be dilutive to earnings per share. In addition, any newly issued preferred stock could have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of the common stock. Those rights, preferences and privileges could include, among other things, the establishment of dividends that must be paid prior to declaring or paying dividends or other distributions to holders of our common stock or providing for preferential liquidation rights. These rights, preferences and privileges could negatively affect the rights of holders of our common stock, and the right to convert such preferred stock into shares of our common stock at a rate or price that would have a dilutive effect on the outstanding shares of our common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
Our Certificate of Incorporation includes a forum selection provision, which could result in less favorable outcomes to the plaintiff(s) in any action against us.
Our Certificate of Incorporation includes a forum selection provision that requires any claims against us by stockholders not arising under the federal securities laws to be brought in the Court of Chancery State in the state of Delaware. This forum selection provision may limit investors' ability to bring claims in judicial forums that they find favorable to such disputes and may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. In addition, this forum selection provision may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders in pursuing the claims identified above, particularly if the stockholders do not reside in or near the State of Delaware.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
The market price of our stock may be highly volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
The market for our common stock may be characterized by significant price volatility when compared to the shares of larger, more established companies that have large public floats, and we expect that our stock price will be more volatile than the shares of such larger, more established companies for the indefinite future. The stock market in general, and the market for stocks of technology companies in particular, has recently been highly volatile. Furthermore, there have been recent instances of extreme stock price run-ups followed by rapid price declines and stock price volatility following a number of recent initial public offerings, particularly among companies with relatively smaller public floats. We may also experience such volatility, including stock run-ups, which may be unrelated to our actual or expected operating performance and financial condition or prospects, making it difficult for prospective investors to assess the rapidly changing value of our common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
As an "emerging growth company" under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act, we are permitted to, and intend to, rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements.
As an "emerging growth company" under the JOBS Act, we are permitted to, and intend to, rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements. We are an emerging growth company until the earliest of:
- the last day of the fiscal year during which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.235 billion or more; - the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common equity pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933; - the date on which we have, during the previous 3-year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt; or - the date on which we are deemed a "large accelerated issuer" as defined under the federal securities laws.
For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to:
- have an auditor report on our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; - comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor's report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); - submit certain executive compensation matters to shareholders advisory votes pursuant to the "say on frequency" and "say on pay" provisions (requiring a non-binding shareholder vote to approve compensation of certain executive officers) and the "say on golden parachute" provisions (requiring a non-binding shareholder vote to approve golden parachute arrangements for certain executive officers in connection with mergers and certain other business combinations) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010; - include detailed compensation discussion and analysis in our filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and instead may provide a reduced level of disclosure concerning executive compensation; - may present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, or MD&A; and - are eligible to claim longer phase-in periods for the adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards under §107 of the JOBS Act.
We intend to take advantage of all of these reduced reporting requirements and exemptions.
- Certain of these reduced reporting requirements and exemptions will already be available to us due to the fact that we also qualify as a "smaller reporting company" under Commission rules. For instance, smaller reporting companies are not required to obtain an auditor attestation and report regarding management's assessment of internal control over financial reporting; are not required to provide a compensation discussion and analysis; are not required to provide a pay-for-performance graph or CEO pay ratio disclosure; and may present only two years of audited financial statements and related MD&A disclosure.
We cannot predict if investors will find our securities less attractive due to our reliance on these exemptions. If investors were to find our common stock less attractive as a result of our election, we may have difficulty raising all of the proceeds in any future offering.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our common stock, then our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our industry and our market. If no analyst elects to cover us and publish research or reports about us, the market for our common stock could be severely limited and our stock price could be adversely affected. As a small-cap company who has recently completed its IPO pursuant to Regulation A, we are more likely than our larger competitors to lack coverage from securities analysts. In addition, even if we receive analyst coverage, if one or more analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. If one or more analysts who elect to cover us issue negative reports or adversely change their recommendations regarding our common stock, our stock price could decline.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
Techniques employed by short sellers may in the future drive down the market price of our common stock.
Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed from a third-party with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is in the short seller's best interests for the price of the stock to decline, many short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, negative opinions regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling a stock short. These short attacks have led to selling of shares in the market. Issuers that have common stock with limited trading volumes and/or have been susceptible to relatively high volatility levels, can be particularly vulnerable to such short seller attacks. The publication of any such articles regarding us in the future may bring about a temporary, or possibly long-term, decline in the market price of our common stock. If we continue to be the subject of unfavorable allegations, we may have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. While we would strongly defend against any such short seller attacks, we may be constrained in the manner in which we can proceed against the relevant short seller by applicable state law or issues of commercial confidentiality. Such a situation could be costly, and time-consuming, and could be distracting for our management team.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
If our stock price fluctuates, you could lose a significant part of your investment.
The market price of our common stock may be subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among other things, the risk factors described in this filing and other factors beyond our control, such as fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us. Furthermore, the stock markets have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, and market conditions, such as recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock. In the past, many companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management's attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10
Concentration of ownership of our common stock among our existing executive officers and directors may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.
Our executive officers and directors, and their affiliates, who are our principal stockholders, in the aggregate, beneficially own approximately 38.3% of our outstanding common stock as of the date hereof. As a result, these persons, acting together, would be able to significantly influence all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors, any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other significant corporate transactions. The minority stockholders have no way of overriding decisions made by our principal stockholders. This level of control may also have an adverse impact on the market value of our shares because our principal stockholders may institute or undertake transactions, policies or programs that result in losses and may not take any steps to increase our visibility in the financial community and/or may sell sufficient numbers of shares to significantly decrease our price per share.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 11
Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, each as amended to date, provide for indemnification of officers and directors at the expense of the Company and limit their liability that may result in a major cost to us and hurt the interests of our stockholders because corporate resources may be expended for the benefit of officers and/or directors.
Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, each as amended to date, provide for the indemnification of our officers and directors. We have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, indemnification for liabilities arising under federal securities laws is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore, unenforceable.
Accounting & Financial Operations4 | 8.0%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
While our Company's management is working to improve our internal controls and procedures, at present management has determined that our internal controls were deemed to be inadequate, which could cause our financial reporting to be unreliable and lead to misinformation being disseminated to the public.
O?ur management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. As defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the principal executive and principal financial officer and effected by the board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:
- pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;- provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and/or directors of the Company; and - provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
We are required to include a report of management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We expect to incur additional expenses and diversion of management's time as a result of performing the system and process evaluation, testing and remediation required in order to comply with the management certification requirements.
Presently, we do not have a sufficient number of employees to segregate responsibilities and may be unable to afford increasing our staff or engaging outside consultants or professionals to overcome our lack of employees. During the course of our testing, we may identify other deficiencies that we may not be able to timely remediate. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our common stock, if a market ever develops, could drop significantly.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. Subject to any series of preferred stock we may issue in the future, we intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, shareholders may have to sell some or all of their shares of our common stock in order to generate cash flow from an investment in our common stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
The report of our independent registered public accounting firm expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
As of March 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $39.0 million, negative cash flows from operating activities of $6.6 million and working capital of $8.6 million, which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Further, we have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant costs in pursuit of our business plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise sufficient capital to fund our business will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to raise additional capital or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
We are a developmental stage company and have not yet had a history of generating revenue.
As a development-stage entity, we have not generated any revenues. Investors are subject to all the risks incident to the creation and development of a new business and each investor should be prepared to withstand a complete loss of investment. We have not emerged from the development stage and may be unable to raise further equity. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Debt & Financing2 | 4.0%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
We will need additional financing over the longer term to execute our business plan and fund operations, which additional financing may not be available on reasonable terms or at all.
We believe that the net proceeds we received in our IPO of $9.8 million, along with our existing capital resources, will be sufficient to fund our operations into the first quarter of 2025 without additional capital infusion.
We will require significant capital to complete clinical trials, seek approval of our products, mount a major sales and marketing effort and execute our business plan. We cannot give any assurance that we will be able to obtain all the necessary funding that we may need. We may pursue additional funding through various financing sources, including additional equity offerings, the issuance of debt securities, fees associated with licensing some or all of our technology, joint ventures with capital partners and project type financing. There can be no assurance that funds will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If financing is not available on satisfactory terms, we may be unable to further pursue our business plan and we may be unable to continue operations, in which case you may lose some or all of your investment.
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 operation plans.
Alternatively, we may consider changes in our business plan that might enable us to achieve aspects of our business objectives and lead to some commercial success with a smaller amount of capital, but we cannot assure that changes in our business plan will result in revenues or maintain any value in your investment.
Debt & Financing - Risk 2
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults, or non-performance by financial institutions or transactional counterparties, could adversely affect our current and projected business operations and our financial condition and results of operations.
Actual events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance, or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions, transactional counterparties or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the FDIC, as receiver. Similarly, on March 12, 2023, Signature Bank Corp., or Signature, and Silvergate Capital Corp. were each swept into receivership. Although the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC ensured that all depositors of SVB would have access to all of their money after only one business day of closure, including funds held in uninsured deposit accounts, borrowers under credit agreements, letters of credit and certain other financial instruments with SVB, Signature or any other financial institution that is placed into receivership by the FDIC may be unable to access undrawn amounts thereunder. Although we were not a borrower under or party to any material letter of credit or any other such instruments with SVB, Signature or any other financial institution currently in receivership, if we enter into any such instruments and any of our lenders or counterparties to such instruments were to be placed into receivership, we may be unable to access such funds. In addition, if any of our partners, suppliers or other parties with whom we conduct business are unable to access funds pursuant to such instruments or lending arrangements with such a financial institution, such parties' ability to pay their obligations to us or to enter into new commercial arrangements requiring additional payments to us could be adversely affected. In this regard, counterparties to credit agreements and arrangements with these financial institutions, and third parties such as beneficiaries of letters of credit (among others), may experience direct impacts from the closure of these financial institutions and uncertainty remains over liquidity concerns in the broader financial services industry. Similar impacts have occurred in the past, such as during the 2008-2010 financial crisis. Inflation and rapid increases in interest rates have led to a decline in the trading value of previously issued government securities with interest rates below current market interest rates. Although the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board have announced a program to provide up to $25 billion of loans to financial institutions secured by certain of such government securities held by financial institutions to mitigate the risk of potential losses on the sale of such instruments, widespread demands for customer withdrawals or other liquidity needs of financial institutions for immediately liquidity may exceed the capacity of such program.
Our access to funding sources and other credit arrangements in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect us, any financial institutions with which we enter into credit agreements or arrangements directly, or the financial services industry or economy in general. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform obligations under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. These factors could involve financial institutions or financial services industry companies with which we have financial or business relationships but could also include factors involving financial markets or the financial services industry generally.
The results of events or concerns that involve one or more of these factors could include a variety of material and adverse impacts on our current and projected business operations and our financial condition and results of operations. These risks include, but may not be limited to, the following:
- delayed access to deposits or other financial assets or the uninsured loss of deposits or other financial assets; - inability to enter into credit facilities or other working capital resources; - potential or actual breach of contractual obligations that require us to maintain letters of credit or other credit support arrangements; or - termination of cash management arrangements and/or delays in accessing or actual loss of funds subject to cash management arrangements.
In addition, investor concerns regarding the U.S. or international financial systems could result in less favorable commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby making it more difficult for us to acquire financing on acceptable terms or at all. Any decline in available funding or access to our cash and liquidity resources could, among other risks, adversely impact our ability to meet our operating expenses or other obligations, financial or otherwise, result in breaches of our financial and/or contractual obligations or result in violations of federal or state wage and hour laws. Any of these impacts, or any other impacts resulting from the factors described above or other related or similar factors, could have material adverse impacts on our liquidity and our current and/or projected business operations and financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, any further deterioration in the macroeconomic economy or financial services industry could lead to losses or defaults by our partners, vendors, or suppliers, which in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our current and/or projected business operations and results of operations and financial condition. For example, a partner may fail to make payments when due, default under their agreements with us, become insolvent or declare bankruptcy, or a supplier may determine that it will no longer deal with us as a customer. In addition, a vendor or supplier could be adversely affected by any of the liquidity or other risks that are described above as factors that could result in material adverse impacts on us, including but not limited to delayed access or loss of access to uninsured deposits or loss of the ability to draw on existing credit facilities involving a troubled or failed financial institution. The bankruptcy or insolvency of any partner, vendor or supplier, or the failure of any partner to make payments when due, or any breach or default by a partner, vendor or supplier, or the loss of any significant supplier relationships, could cause us to suffer material losses and may have a material adverse impact on our business.
Corporate Activity and Growth2 | 4.0%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
Added
Provisions of the Series A Warrants we issued in our November 2024 offering could discourage an acquisition of us by a third party.
The Series A Warrants we issued in our November 2024 offering provide that in the event of a "Fundamental Transaction" (as defined in the related warrant agreement, which generally includes any merger with another entity, the sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets to another entity, or the acquisition by a person of more than 50% of our common stock), each Series A Warrant holder will have the right at any time prior to the consummation of the Fundamental Transaction to require us to repurchase the common warrant for a purchase price in cash equal to the Black-Scholes value (as calculated under the warrant agreement) of the then remaining unexercised portion of such Series A Warrant on the date of such Fundamental Transaction, which may materially adversely affect our financial condition and/or results of operations and may prevent or deter a third party from acquiring us.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management's attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.
As a public company, we incur accounting, legal and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We incur costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. We also incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules and regulations implemented by the United States Security and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Nasdaq. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, these rules and regulations could make it more difficult or costlier for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 12/50 (24%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D3 | 6.0%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
Our clinical studies could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected by many factors, including difficulties in enrolling patients.
Clinical testing can be costly and take many years and the outcome is uncertain and susceptible to varying interpretations. Moreover, success in pre-clinical and early clinical studies does not ensure that large-scale studies will be successful or predict final results. Acceptable results in early studies may not be replicable in later studies. A number of companies have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical studies, even after promising results in earlier studies. Negative or inconclusive results or adverse events or incidents during a clinical study could cause the clinical study to be redone or terminated. In addition, failure to appropriately construct clinical studies could result in high rates of adverse events or incidents, which could cause a clinical study to be suspended, redone or terminated. Our failure or the failure of third-party participants in our studies to comply with their obligations to follow protocols and/or legal requirements may also result in our inability to use the affected data in our submissions to regulatory authorities.
The timely completion of clinical studies depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the study until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical studies for a variety of reasons, including:
- the severity of the disease under investigation; - the limited size and nature of the patient population; - the patient eligibility criteria defined in our protocol and other clinical study protocols; - the nature of the study protocol, including the attractiveness of, or the discomforts and risks associated with, the treatments received by enrolled subjects;- difficulties and delays in clinical studies that may occur as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; - the ability to obtain institutional review board ("IRB") approval at clinical study locations; - clinicians' and patients' perceptions as to the potential advantages, disadvantages and side effects of our products in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs or treatments that may be approved for the indications we are pursuing; - the possibility or perception that enrolling in a product's clinical study may limit the patient's ability to enroll in future clinical studies for other therapies due to protocol restrictions; - the possibility or perception that our software is not secure enough to maintain patient privacy; - the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment; - the availability of appropriate clinical study investigators, support staff, drugs and other therapeutic supplies and proximity of patients to clinical sites; - physicians' or our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and - the risk that patients enrolled in clinical studies will choose to withdraw from or otherwise not be able to complete a clinical study.
If we have difficulty enrolling and retaining a sufficient number or diversity of patients to conduct our clinical studies as planned, or encounter other difficulties, we may need to delay, terminate or modify ongoing or planned clinical studies, any of which would have an adverse effect on our business.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 2
We plan to conduct our initial Proof of Concept trial outside the United States and to present the relevant data from this trial to the FDA in an effort to minimize the clinical requirements for clearance in the United States. There is no assurance that the FDA will accept this data.
Human trials are often designed to begin with a Proof of Concept trial and then progress to a "Pivotal" or approval, trial. We intend our Proof of Concept trial outside the United States. Upon completion, we plan to present the relevant data from this study to the FDA in a pre-submission meeting to request "Breakthrough Status" in an effort to minimize the clinical requirements for clearance in the United States. The first trial is not designed to replace the trial that will be required by the FDA to support our submissions for clearance in the United States, but rather to potentially impact the size of that trial. There is no assurance that the FDA will accept the data from our international trial or that they will not require us to conduct additional studies to supplement this trial. Any additional trials that we are required to conduct will be costly and time-consuming, and may require us to raise additional financing, for which we have no commitments.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 3
The results of our future clinical trials may not support our product candidate claims or may result in the discovery of adverse side effects.
We have not completed any clinical trials and we cannot be certain that their results will support our product candidate claims or that the FDA will agree with our conclusions regarding them. Success in pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and we cannot be sure that the later trials will replicate the results of prior trials and pre-clinical studies. The clinical trial process may fail to demonstrate that our product candidates are safe and effective for the proposed indicated uses, which could cause us to abandon a product candidate and may delay development of others. Any delay or termination of our clinical trials will delay the filing of our product submissions and, ultimately, our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate revenues. It is also possible that patients enrolled in clinical trials will experience adverse side effects that are not currently part of the product candidate's profile.
Trade Secrets5 | 10.0%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patent and other intellectual property rights.
We may from time to time seek to enforce our intellectual property rights against infringers when we determine that a successful outcome is probable and may lead to an increase in the value of the intellectual property. If we choose to enforce our patent rights against a party, then that individual or company has the right to ask the court to rule that such patents are invalid or should not be enforced. Additionally, the validity of our patents and the patents we have licensed may be challenged if a petition for post grant proceedings such as inter-parties review and post grant review is filed within the statutorily applicable time with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). These lawsuits and proceedings are expensive and would consume time and resources and divert the attention of managerial and scientific personnel even if we were successful in stopping the infringement of such patents. In addition, there is a risk that the court will decide that such patents are not valid and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the inventions. There is also the risk that, even if the validity of such patents is upheld, the court will refuse to stop the other party on the ground that such other party's activities do not infringe our intellectual property rights. In addition, in recent years the U.S. Supreme Court modified some tests used by the USPTO in granting patents over the past 20 years, which may decrease the likelihood that we will be able to obtain patents and increase the likelihood of a challenge of any patents we obtain or license.
Trade Secrets - Risk 2
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information and know-how, the value of our technology and products could be adversely affected.
In addition to patented technology, we rely upon, among other things, unpatented proprietary technology, processes, trade secrets and know-how. Any involuntary disclosure to or misappropriation by third-parties of our confidential or proprietary information could enable competitors to duplicate or surpass our technological achievements, potentially eroding our competitive position in our market. We seek to protect confidential or proprietary information in part by confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and third-parties. While we require all of our employees, consultants, advisors and any third-parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information and technology to enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot be certain that this know-how, information and technology will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. These agreements may be terminated or breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such termination or breach. Furthermore, these agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets and know-how in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure. To the extent that any of our staff were previously employed by other pharmaceutical, medical technology or biotechnology companies, those employers may allege violations of trade secrets and other similar claims in relation to their medical device development activities for us.
Trade Secrets - Risk 3
We may be subject to claims that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.
As is common in the medical device industry, we may employ individuals who were previously employed at other medical device companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. We may be subject to claims that these employees, or we, have used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
Trade Secrets - Risk 4
If we are unable to protect the intellectual property used in our products, others may be able to copy our innovations which may impair our ability to compete effectively in our markets.
The strength of our patents involves complex legal and scientific questions and can be uncertain. These patent applications may be challenged or fail to result in issued patents, or if issued, these patents and our existing patents may be too narrow to prevent third-parties from developing or designing around our intellectual property and in that event, we may lose competitive advantage, which could result in harm to our business.
Trade Secrets - Risk 5
If third parties claim that our products infringe their intellectual property rights, we may be forced to expend significant financial resources and management time defending against such actions and our financial condition and our results of operations could suffer.
Third parties may claim that our products infringe their patents and other intellectual property rights. Identifying third-party patent rights can be particularly difficult because, in general, patent applications can be maintained in secrecy for a prolonged period after their earliest priority date. Historically, there has been substantial litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights in the medical device and related industries. If a competitor were to challenge our patents or other intellectual property rights, or assert that our products infringe its patent or other intellectual property rights, we could incur substantial litigation costs, be forced to make expensive changes to our product design, pay royalties or other fees to license rights in order to continue manufacturing and selling our products, or pay substantial damages. Third-party infringement claims, regardless of their outcome, would not only consume our financial resources but also divert our management's time and effort.
Cyber Security2 | 4.0%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
Cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents could adversely affect our business and disrupt operations.
Cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. These incidents can include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to digital systems for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. The result of these incidents could include, but are not limited to, disrupted operations, misstated financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection costs, litigation and reputational damage adversely affecting customer or investor confidence. We are in the process of implementing systems and processes to focus on identification, prevention, mitigation and resolution. However, these measures cannot provide absolute security, and our systems may be vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches such as viruses, hacking, and similar disruptions from unauthorized intrusions. In addition, we rely on third party service providers to perform certain services, such as payroll and tax services. Any failure of our systems or third-party systems may compromise our sensitive information and/or personally identifiable information of our employees or patient health information subject to HIPAA confidentiality requirements. While we are in the process of securing cyber insurance to potentially cover certain risks associated with cyber incidents, there can be no assurance the insurance will be sufficient to cover any such liability.
Cyber Security - Risk 2
Artificial intelligence presents risks and challenges that can impact our business, including by posing security risks to our confidential information , proprietary information and personal data.
Issues in the development and use of artificial intelligence, combined with an uncertain regulatory environment, may result in reputational harm, liability, or other adverse consequences to our business operations. As with many technological innovations, artificial intelligence presents risks and challenges that could impact our business. We may adopt and integrate generative artificial intelligence tools into our systems for specific use cases reviewed by legal and information security. Our vendors may incorporate generative artificial intelligence tools into their offerings without disclosing this use to us, and the providers of these generative artificial intelligence tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards with respect to privacy and data protection and may inhibit our or our vendors' ability to maintain an adequate level of service and experience. If we, our vendors, or our third-party partners experience an actual or perceived breach or privacy or security incident because of the use of generative artificial intelligence, we may lose valuable intellectual property and confidential information and our reputation and the public perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed. Further, bad actors around the world use increasingly sophisticated methods, including the use of artificial intelligence, to engage in illegal activities involving the theft and misuse of personal information, confidential information, and intellectual property. Any of these outcomes could damage our reputation, result in the loss of valuable property and information, and adversely impact our business.
Technology2 | 4.0%
Technology - Risk 1
Our business and operations would suffer in the event of third-party computer system failures, cyber-attacks on third-party systems or deficiency in our cyber security.
We rely on information technology ("IT") systems, including third-party "cloud based" service providers, to keep financial records, maintain laboratory data, clinical data, and corporate records, to communicate with staff and external parties and to operate other critical functions. This includes critical systems such as email, other communication tools, electronic document repositories and archives. If any of these third-party information technology providers are compromised due to computer viruses, unauthorized access, malware, natural disasters, fire, terrorism, war and telecommunication failures, electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the internet, then sensitive emails or documents could be exposed or deleted. Similarly, we could incur business disruption if our access to the internet is compromised, and we are unable to connect with third-party IT providers. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks 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. In addition, we rely on those third parties to safeguard important confidential personal data regarding our employees and subjects enrolled in our clinical trials. If a disruption event were to occur and cause interruptions in a third-party IT provider's operation, it could result in a disruption of our drug development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed, ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and development of our product candidates could be delayed or could fail.
Technology - Risk 2
Rapidly changing technology in life sciences could make the products we are developing obsolete.
The medical device and life-science industry in general is characterized by rapid and significant technological changes, frequent new product introductions and enhancements and evolving industry standards. Our future success will depend on our ability to continually develop and then improve the products that we design and to develop and introduce new products that address the evolving needs of our customers on a timely and cost-effective basis.
Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 8/50 (16%)Above Sector Average
Regulation7 | 14.0%
Regulation - Risk 1
U.S. legislative or FDA regulatory reforms may make it more difficult and costly for us to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates and to manufacture, market and distribute our products after approval is obtained.
From time to time, legislation is drafted and introduced in Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the regulatory approval, manufacture and marketing of regulated products or the reimbursement thereof. In addition, FDA regulations and guidance are often revised or reinterpreted by the FDA in ways that may significantly affect our business and our products. Any new regulations or revisions or reinterpretations of existing regulations may impose additional costs or lengthen review times of future products. In addition, FDA regulations and guidance are often revised or reinterpreted by the agency in ways that may significantly affect our business and our products. It is impossible to predict whether legislative changes will be enacted, or FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations changed, and what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Regulation - Risk 2
We may not be successful in securing and maintaining reimbursement codes necessary to facilitate accurate and timely billing for our products or physician services attendant to our products.
Third-party payers, healthcare systems, government agencies or other groups often issue reimbursement codes to facilitate billing for products and physician services used in the delivery of healthcare. Within the U.S., the billing codes most directly related to our products are contained in the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System ("HCPCS code set"). The HCPCS code set contains Level I codes that describe physician services, also known as Common Procedural Terminology codes ("CPT codes") and Level II codes that primarily describe products. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") is responsible for issuing the HCPCS Level II codes. The American Medical Association issues HCPCS Level I codes.
No HCPCS codes or CPT codes currently exist to describe physician services related to the delivery of therapy using our products. We may not be able to secure HCPCS codes and CPT codes for physician services related to our products. Our future revenues and results may be affected by the absence of CPT codes, as physicians may be less likely to prescribe the therapy when there is no certainty that adequate reimbursement will be available for the time, effort, skill, practice expense and malpractice costs required to provide the therapy to patients.
Outside the U.S., we have not secured codes to describe our products or to document physician services related to the delivery of therapy using our products. The failure to obtain and maintain these codes could affect the future growth of our business.
Regulation - Risk 3
Modifications to our future products may require new regulatory clearances or approvals or may require us to recall or cease marketing our products until clearances or approvals are obtained.
Modifications to our future products may require new regulatory approvals or clearances, including 510(k) clearances or premarket approvals, or require us to recall or cease marketing the modified devices until these clearances or approvals are obtained. The FDA requires device manufacturers to initially make and document a determination of whether or not a modification requires a new approval, supplement or clearance. A manufacturer may determine that a modification could not significantly affect safety or efficacy and does not represent a major change in its intended use, so that no new 510(k) clearance is necessary. However, the FDA can review a manufacturer's decision and may disagree. The FDA may also on its own initiative determine that a new clearance or approval is required. Once we have a commercialized product, we may make modifications in the future that we believe do not or will not require additional clearances or approvals. If the FDA disagrees and requires new clearances or approvals for these modifications, we may be required to recall and to stop marketing our products as modified, which could require us to redesign our products and harm our operating results. In these circumstances, we may be subject to significant enforcement actions.
Where we determine that modifications to our products require a new 510(k) clearance or premarket approval application, we may not be able to obtain those additional clearances or approvals for the modifications or additional indications in a timely manner, or at all. Obtaining clearances and approvals can be a time-consuming process, and delays in obtaining required future clearances or approvals would adversely affect our ability to introduce new or enhanced products in a timely manner, which in turn would harm our future growth.
Regulation - Risk 4
There is no guarantee that the FDA will grant 510(k) or de novo clearance or a premarket approval application ("PMA") of our future products and failure to obtain necessary clearances or approvals for our future products would adversely affect our ability to grow our business.
Our lead product candidate will require FDA clearance of a 510(k) or de novo application or may require FDA approval of a PMA. The FDA may not approve or clear these products for the indications that are necessary or desirable for successful commercialization. Indeed, the FDA may refuse our requests for premarket clearance or premarket approval of new products, new intended uses or modifications to existing products. Failure to receive clearance or approval for our products would have an adverse effect on our ability to continue or expand our business.
If we fail to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals and clearances, or are unable to obtain, or experience significant delays in obtaining, FDA clearances or approvals for our device, our future products or product enhancements, our ability to commercially distribute and market these products could suffer.
Our products will be subject to rigorous regulation by the FDA and numerous other federal, state and foreign governmental authorities. The process of obtaining regulatory clearances or approvals to market a medical device can be costly and time consuming, and we may not be able to obtain these clearances or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. In particular, the FDA permits commercial distribution of a new medical device only after the device has received clearance under Section 510(k) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or is the subject of an approved premarket approval application, or PMA, unless the device is specifically exempt from those requirements. The FDA will clear marketing of a lower risk medical device through the 510(k) process if the manufacturer demonstrates that the new product is substantially equivalent to other 510(k)-cleared products or through a de novo process if substantial equivalence is not available. High risk devices deemed to pose the greatest risk, such as life-sustaining, life-supporting, or implantable devices, or devices not deemed substantially equivalent to a previously cleared device, require the approval of a PMA. The PMA process is more costly, lengthy and uncertain than the 510(k) or de novo clearance processes. A PMA application must be supported by extensive data, including, but not limited to, technical, preclinical, clinical trial, manufacturing and labeling data, to demonstrate to the FDA's satisfaction the safety and efficacy of the device for its intended use. We believe our current product candidate will require clearance through the 510(k) or de novo process.
Regulation - Risk 5
We may fail to meet the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and may lack the financial controls and safeguards required of public companies.
Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. Our management has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting are ineffective and has identified material weaknesses in our internal controls in areas such as the lack of segregation of duties; general technology controls; and financial statement reporting. While management is working to remediate the material weaknesses, there is no assurance that such changes, when economically feasible and sustainable, will remediate the identified material weaknesses or that the controls will prevent or detect future material weaknesses. If we are not able to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, our financial statements, including related disclosures, may be inaccurate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. We may discover additional material weaknesses in our internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that need improvement from time to time.
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. Management does not expect that our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system's objectives will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company will have been detected.
We are required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in connection with our future annual and quarterly reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, commencing with the Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2025. We expect to expend significant resources in developing the necessary documentation and testing procedures required by Section 404. We cannot be certain that the actions we will be taking to improve our internal controls over financial reporting will be sufficient, or that we will be able to implement our planned processes and procedures in a timely manner. In addition, if we are unable to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline and make it more difficult for us to finance our operations and growth.
Regulation - Risk 6
If our products cause or contribute to a death or a serious injury, or malfunction in certain ways, we will be subject to medical device reporting regulations, which can result in voluntary corrective actions or agency enforcement actions.
Under the FDA medical device reporting regulations, medical device manufacturers are required to report to the FDA information that a device has or may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or has malfunctioned in a way that would likely cause or contribute to death or serious injury if the malfunction of the device or one of our similar devices were to recur. If we fail to report these events to the FDA within the required timeframes, or at all, FDA could take enforcement action against us. Any such adverse event involving our products also could result in future voluntary corrective actions, such as recalls or customer notifications, or agency action, such as inspection or enforcement action. Any corrective action, whether voluntary or involuntary, as well as defending ourselves in a lawsuit, will require the dedication of our time and capital, distract management from operating our business, and may harm our reputation and financial results.
Regulation - Risk 7
Even if our products are cleared or approved by the FDA, if we or our suppliers fail to comply with ongoing FDA requirements, or if we experience unanticipated problems with our products, these products could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market.
Any product for which we obtain clearance or approval, and the manufacturing processes, reporting requirements, post-approval clinical data and promotional activities for such product, will be subject to continued regulatory review, oversight and periodic inspections by the FDA and other domestic and foreign regulatory bodies. In particular, we, and our suppliers, will be required to comply with FDA's Quality System Regulations, or QSR, which covers the methods and documentation of the design, testing, production, control, quality assurance, labeling, packaging, storage and shipping of any product for which we obtain clearance or approval. FDA enforces the QSR and other regulations through periodic inspections. The failure by us or one of our suppliers to comply with applicable statutes and regulations administered by the FDA, or the failure to timely and adequately respond to any adverse inspectional observations or product safety issues, could result in, among other things, any of the following enforcement actions:
- untitled letters, warning letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties; - unanticipated expenditures to address or defend such actions; - customer notifications for repair, replacement, refunds; - recall, detention or seizure of our products; - operating restrictions or partial suspension or total shutdown of production; - refusing or delaying our requests for premarket clearance or premarket approval of new products or modified products; - operating restrictions; - withdrawing premarket clearances on PMA approvals that have already been granted; - refusal to grant export approval for our products; or - criminal prosecution.
If any of these actions were to occur, it would harm our reputation and cause our product sales and profitability to suffer and may prevent us from generating revenue. Furthermore, our key component suppliers may not be in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements which could result in our failure to produce our products on a timely basis and in the required quantities, if at all.
Even if regulatory clearance or approval of a product is granted, such clearance or approval may be subject to limitations on the intended uses for which the product may be marketed and reduce our potential to successfully commercialize the product and generate revenue from the product. If the FDA determines that our promotional materials, labeling, training or other marketing or educational activities constitute promotion of an unapproved use, it could request that we cease or modify our training or promotional materials or subject us to regulatory enforcement actions. It is also possible that other federal, state or foreign enforcement authorities might take action if they consider our training or other promotional materials to constitute promotion of an unapproved use, which could result in significant fines or penalties under other statutory authorities, such as laws prohibiting false claims for reimbursement.
In addition, we may be required to conduct costly post-market testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or effectiveness of our products, and we must comply with medical device reporting requirements, including the reporting of adverse events and malfunctions related to our products. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our products, including unanticipated adverse events or adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, manufacturing problems, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements such as QSR, may result in changes to labeling, restrictions on such products or manufacturing processes, withdrawal of the products from the market, voluntary or mandatory recalls, a requirement to repair, replace or refund the cost of any medical device we manufacture or distribute, fines, suspension of regulatory approvals, product seizures, injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties which would adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities1 | 2.0%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
We may be at an increased risk of securities class action litigation.
Historically, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because biotechnology companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we were to be sued, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management's attention and resources, which could harm our business.
Production
Total Risks: 6/50 (12%)Above Sector Average
Manufacturing2 | 4.0%
Manufacturing - Risk 1
We have no experience in assembling and testing our products and may encounter problems or delays in the assembly of our products or fail to meet certain regulatory requirements which could result in an adverse effect on our business and financial results.
We have no experience in assembling and testing our planned device and no experience in doing so on a commercial scale. To become profitable, we must assemble and test our planned device in commercial quantities in compliance with regulatory requirements and at an acceptable cost. Increasing our capacity to assemble and test our products on a commercial scale will require us to improve internal efficiencies. We may encounter a number of difficulties in increasing our assembly and testing capacity, including:
- managing production yields; - maintaining quality control and assurance; - providing component and service availability; - maintaining adequate control policies and procedures; - hiring and retaining qualified personnel; and - complying with state, federal and foreign regulations.
If we are unable to satisfy commercial demand for our planned device due to our inability to assemble and test our planned device, our ability to generate revenue would be impaired, market acceptance of our products could be adversely affected and customers may instead purchase or use, our competitors' products.
Manufacturing - Risk 2
Our products may in the future be subject to product recalls that could harm our reputation, business, and financial results.
The FDA and similar foreign governmental authorities have the authority to require the recall of commercialized products in the event of material deficiencies or defects in design or manufacture. In the case of the FDA, the authority to require a recall must be based on an FDA finding that there is a reasonable probability that the device would cause serious injury or death. Manufacturers may, under their own initiative, recall a product if any material deficiency in a device is found. A government-mandated or voluntary recall by us or one of our distributors could occur as a result of component failures, manufacturing errors, design or labeling defects or other deficiencies and issues. Recalls of any of our products would divert managerial and financial resources and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. The FDA requires that certain classifications of recalls be reported to FDA within 10 working days after the recall is initiated. Companies are required to maintain certain records of recalls, even if they are not reportable to the FDA. We may initiate voluntary recalls involving our products in the future that we determine do not require notification of the FDA. If the FDA disagrees with our determinations, they could require us to report those actions as recalls. A future recall announcement could harm our reputation with customers and negatively affect our sales. In addition, the FDA could take enforcement action for failing to report the recalls when they were conducted.
Employment / Personnel1 | 2.0%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
Because of the specialized nature of our business, the termination of relationships with our key employees, consultants and advisors may prevent us from successfully operating our business, including developing our products, conducting clinical studies, commercializing our products and obtaining any necessary financing.
We are highly dependent on the members of our executive team, the loss of whose services may adversely impact the achievement of our objectives. While we have entered into employment or consulting agreements with each of our key executives, any of them could leave our employment at any time. We do not have "key person" insurance on any of our employees. The loss of the services of one or more of our current employees might impede the achievement of our business objectives.
The competition for qualified personnel in the medical device fields is intense and we rely heavily on our ability to attract and retain qualified scientific, technical, and managerial personnel. Our future success depends upon our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled employees. In order to commercialize our products successfully, we will be required to expand our workforce, particularly in the areas of research and development and clinical studies, finance, accounting and reporting, sales and marketing and supply chain management. These activities will require the addition of new personnel and the development of additional expertise by existing management personnel. We face intense competition for qualified individuals from numerous pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as academic and other research institutions. We may not be able to attract and retain these individuals on acceptable terms or at all. Failure to do so could materially harm our business.
Supply Chain3 | 6.0%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
If we are unable to establish good relationships with physicians, our business could be negatively affected.
Our business model will require us to build and maintain good relationships with physicians who will have a significant source of patients that will generate treatment revenues for both the physician and the Company. If we are unable to establish good relationships with physicians and maintain them, it will jeopardize our ability to generate future revenues.
Supply Chain - Risk 2
Certain parts used in the manufacturing of our equipment may experience shortages in global supply which could impact our ability to manufacture our device for customers or maintain research and development timelines.
There are a number of component parts used in the manufacture of our device that are used by many manufacturers in a variety of products. We will compete with other manufacturers for the supply of these components. Additionally, certain parts that are currently in our design may be discontinued by our supplier requiring us to find alternative parts. This issue may require us to change the design of our device or purchase significant inventories of these parts in order to protect against manufacturing delays. We may not be able to procure alternative components or adequate raw material inventories which would result in an inability to produce our device.
Supply Chain - Risk 3
We intend to utilize a single manufacturer for the manufacture of our lead product candidate and expect to continue to do so for commercial products. Risks associated with the manufacturing of our products could reduce our gross margins and negatively affect our operating results.
We do not have any manufacturing facilities or direct manufacturing personnel. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on a single manufacturer for the manufacture of our lead product candidate for commercial manufacture. As such, we are subject to numerous risks relating to our reliance on a single manufacturer. If they encounter problems in manufacturing our product candidate, then our business could be significantly impacted. These problems include:
- inability to secure product components in a timely manner, insufficient quantities or on commercially reasonable terms; - failure to increase production to meet demand; - inability to modify production lines to enable us to efficiently produce future products or implement changes in current products in response to regulatory requirements; - difficulty identifying and qualifying alternative manufacturers in a timely manner; - inability to establish agreements with future third-party manufacturers or to do so on acceptable terms; or - potential damage to or destruction of our manufacturers' equipment or facilities.
If demand for our future products increases, our manufacturer will need to invest additional resources to purchase components, hire and train employees, and enhance their manufacturing processes. If they fail to increase production capacity efficiently, our sales may not increase in line with our expectations and our operating margins could fluctuate or decline. We do not have a long-term agreement with our manufacturer and there is no assurance that they will continue to provide us with manufacturing services in the future.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 3/50 (6%)Above Sector Average
Sales & Marketing3 | 6.0%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
We have no approved products, and we cannot assure you that we will generate revenue or become profitable in the future.
Our products may never be cleared by the United States Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") or become commercially viable or accepted for use. We have incurred significant losses since our inception and expect to continue to experience operating losses and negative cash flow for the foreseeable future. We expect to expend significant resources on hiring of personnel, continued scientific and product research and development, product testing and preclinical and clinical investigation, intellectual property development and prosecution, marketing and promotion, capital expenditures, working capital, general and administrative expenses, and fees and expenses associated with our capital raising efforts. We expect to incur costs and expenses related to consulting costs, hiring of scientists, engineers, science and other operational personnel, and the continued development of relationships with strategic partners.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
Failure to secure and maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payers could adversely affect acceptance of our products, if approved, and reduce our revenues.
Assuming we receive approval of our products, we expect that the vast majority of our revenues will come from third-party payers, either directly to us in markets where we plan to provide our device candidates to patients, or indirectly via payments made to hospitals or other entities, which may in the future provide our device candidates to patients.
In the U.S., private payers cover the largest segment of the population, with the remainder either uninsured or covered by governmental payers. The majority of the third-party payers outside the U.S. are government agencies, government sponsored entities or other payers operating under significant regulatory requirements from national or regional governments.
Third-party payers may decline to cover and reimburse certain procedures, supplies or services. Additionally, some third-party payers may decline to cover and reimburse our products for a particular patient even if the payer has a favorable coverage policy addressing our products or previously approved reimbursement for our products. Additionally, private and government payers may consider the cost of a treatment in approving coverage or in setting reimbursement for the treatment.
Private and government payers around the world are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services. Additionally, the containment of healthcare costs has become a priority of governments around the world. Adoption of additional price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit our revenues and operating results. If third-party payers do not consider our products or the combination of our products with additional treatments to be cost-justified under a required cost-testing model, they may not cover our products for their populations or, if they do, the level of reimbursement may not be sufficient to allow us to sell our products on a profitable basis.
Reimbursement for the treatment of patients with medical devices around the world is governed by complex mechanisms established on a national or sub-national level in each country. These mechanisms vary widely among countries, can be informal, somewhat unpredictable, and evolve constantly, reflecting the efforts of these countries to reduce public spending on healthcare. As a result, obtaining and maintaining reimbursement for the treatment of patients with medical devices has become more challenging globally. We cannot guarantee that the use of our products will receive reimbursement approvals and cannot guarantee that our existing reimbursement approvals will be maintained in any country.
Our failure to secure or maintain adequate coverage or reimbursement for our products by third-party payers in the U.S., or in the other jurisdictions in which we market our products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenues and results of operations.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
There is no assurance that Medicare or the Medicare Administrative Contractors will provide coverage or adequate payment rates for our products.
We anticipate that a significant portion of patients using our products will be beneficiaries under the Medicare fee-for-service program. Failure to secure or maintain coverage or maintain adequate reimbursement from Medicare would reduce our revenues and may also affect the coverage and reimbursement decisions of other third-party payers in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Medicare may classify our medical device as durable medical equipment ("DME"). Medicare has the authority to issue national coverage determinations or to defer coverage decisions to its regional Medicare Administrative Contractors ("MACs"). The fact that only two MACs administer the entire DME program may negatively affect our ability to petition individual medical policy decision-makers at the MACs for coverage. The absence of a positive coverage determination or a future restriction to existing coverage from Medicare or the DME MACs would materially affect our future revenues.
Additionally, Medicare has the authority to publish the reimbursement amounts for DME products. Medicare may in the future publish reimbursement amounts for our products that do not reflect then-current prices for our products. Medicare fee schedules are frequently referenced by private payers in the U.S. and around the world. Medicare's publication of reimbursement amounts for our products that are below our products' established prices could materially reduce our revenues and operating results with respect to non-Medicare payers in the U.S. and our other active markets.
Even if our products were authorized by Medicare, CMS requires prior authorization for certain DME items. Claims for such items that did not receive prior authorization before they were furnished to a beneficiary will be automatically denied. In the event Medicare adds one of our products to the list of items requiring prior authorization, our ability to bill and secure reimbursement for patients who would otherwise be covered to use our product under the Medicare fee-for-service program may be reduced.
We cannot provide any assurance that we can access transitional, expedited, or expanded Medicare coverage for our products. CMS is expected to issue rules regarding coverage of emerging technologies; however, no specific information is available about the content of the expected rules and we cannot provide any assurance that any new rules regarding emerging technologies would be applicable to our future products.
Macro & Political
Total Risks: 2/50 (4%)Below Sector Average
Economy & Political Environment1 | 2.0%
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1
Our business may be adversely affected by the state of the global economy, uncertainties in global financial markets, and possible trade tariffs and trade restrictions.
Our operations and performance will depend significantly on worldwide economic and geopolitical conditions. Uncertainty about global economic conditions could result in potential customers postponing purchases of our future products in response to tighter credit, unemployment, negative financial news and/or declines in income or asset values and other macroeconomic factors, which could have a material negative effect on demand for our future products and, accordingly, on our business, results of operations or financial condition. For example, current global financial markets continue to reflect uncertainty, which has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Israel. Given these uncertainties, there could be further disruptions to the global economy, financial markets and consumer confidence. If economic conditions deteriorate unexpectedly, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. For example, our future customers, including our distributors and their customers, may have trouble obtaining the working capital and other financing necessary to support historical or projected purchasing patterns, which could negatively affect our results of operations.
Recent global economic slowdowns could continue and potentially result in certain economies dipping into economic recessions, including in the United States. Additionally, increased inflation around the world, including in the United States, applies pressure to our costs. Continued economic slowdowns or recessions and inflationary pressures could have a negative impact on our business, including decreased demand, increased costs, and other challenges. Government actions to address economic slowdowns and increased inflation, including increased interest rates, also could result in negative impacts to our growth.
General trade tensions between the United States and China have been escalating, and any economic and political uncertainty caused by the United States tariffs imposed on goods from China, among other potential countries, and any corresponding tariffs or currency devaluations from China or such other countries in response, may negatively impact, demand and/or increase the cost for our future products. Additionally, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 triggered significant sanctions from U.S. and European countries. Resulting changes in U.S. trade policy could trigger retaliatory actions by Russia, its allies and other affected countries, including China, resulting in a potential trade war. Furthermore, if the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues for a prolonged period of time, or if other countries, including the U.S., become involved in the conflict, we could face significant adverse effects to our business and financial condition. For example, if our supply or customer arrangements are disrupted due to expanded sanctions or involvement of countries where we have operations or relationships in the future, our business could be materially disrupted. Further, the use of cyberattacks could expand as part of the conflict, which could adversely affect our ability to maintain or enhance our cyber-security and data protection measures.
The inability to obtain adequate financing from debt or capital sources in the future could force us to self-fund strategic initiatives or even forego certain opportunities, which in turn could potentially harm our performance.
Natural and Human Disruptions1 | 2.0%
Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1
Catastrophic events and disaster recovery may disrupt business continuity.
A disruption or failure of our systems or operations in the event of a natural disaster or severe weather event, including, but not limited to, earthquakes, wildfires, droughts, flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes or tsunamis, health pandemic, such as an influenza outbreak within our workforce, or man-made catastrophic event could cause delays in completing sales, continuing production or performing other critical functions of our business, particularly if a catastrophic event were to occur at our premises. Global climate change could result in certain natural disasters occurring more frequently or with greater intensity. Any of these events could severely affect our ability to conduct normal business operations and, as a result, our operating results could be adversely affected. There may also be secondary impacts that are unforeseeable as well, such as impacts on our customers, which could cause delays in new orders, delays in completing sales or even order cancellations.
See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.
FAQ
What are “Risk Factors”?
Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.
They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.
It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.
How do companies disclose their risk factors?
Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.
Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.
Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.
According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.
How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?
Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.
You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.
Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.
A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.
What are all the risk factor categories?
TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.
1. Financial & Corporate
Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.
2. Legal & Regulatory
Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.
3. Production
Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.
4. Technology & Innovation
Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.
5. Ability to Sell
Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.
6. Macro & Political
Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.