Anteris Technologies Global Corp. (AVR) Risk Analysis

We currently have a number of products, including DurAVR THV system, in development. We conduct extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy in humans of our products in order to obtain regulatory clearance or approval for the sale of our products. Preclinical studies and clinical trials are expensive, complex, can take many years and have uncertain outcomes. None of, or only a small number of, our R&D programs may actually result in the commercialization of a product. We will not be able to commercialize our products if preclinical studies do not produce successful results or if clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and efficacy in humans. Success in preclinical studies or early-stage clinical trials does not ensure that later stage clinical trials will be successful, nor does it ensure that regulatory clearance or approval for the product will be obtained. In addition, the process for the completion of preclinical and clinical trials is lengthy and may be subject to a number of delays for various reasons, which would delay the commercialization of any successful product. If our development projects are not successful or are significantly delayed, we may not recover our substantial investments in the product and our failure to bring these products to market on a timely basis, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our Common Stock to decline. Obtaining regulatory clearances and approvals for new products and manufacturing processes can take a number of years and involve the expenditure of substantial resources. Despite the substantial time and expense invested, regulatory clearance or approval is never guaranteed. The number, size and design of clinical trials that will be required will vary depending on the product or condition for which the product is intended to be used and the regulations and guidance documents applicable to any particular product. Additionally, during the review process and prior to approval, the FDA or other regulatory bodies could require additional data, which could delay approval. The FDA or other regulators can delay, limit or deny clearance or approval of a product for many reasons, including governmental resources availability and allocation, or adopt new policies or regulations requiring new or different evidence of safety and efficacy for the intended use of a product. In addition, even if such clearance or approval is secured, the approved labeling may have significant labeling limitations, including limitations on the indications for which we can market a product, or require onerous risk management programs. Furthermore, from time to time, changes to the applicable legislation, regulations or policies may be introduced that change these review and approval processes for our products, which may make it more difficult and costly to obtain or maintain regulatory clearances and approvals. Successful results in clinical trials and in the subsequent application for marketing approval are not guaranteed. If we are unable to obtain regulatory clearances and approvals, we will not be able to commercialize and generate revenue from our products. Even if we receive regulatory clearance or approval for any of our products, our profitability will depend on our ability to commercialize and generate revenues from their sale or the licensing of our technology. The failure to commercialize our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our Common Stock to decline.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary or top-line data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the top-line or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Top-line data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, top-line data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. From time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available or as patients from our clinical trials continue other treatments for their disease. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects. Others, including regulatory authorities, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically a significant volume of data and other information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure. If the interim, top-line, or preliminary data that we report differ from final results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain clearance or approval for, and commercialize, our products may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition.

Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in current and future clinical trials of our products is critical to our success. The timing of our clinical trials depends on the speed at which we can recruit patients to participate in testing our products. Patients could be unavailable for various reasons, including competitive clinical trials for similar patient populations, eligibility criteria for the clinical trial, and the proximity of patients to clinical sites. In addition, the process of identifying, confirming eligibility and enrollment of patients may prove costly, and there is a risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before the administration of our products or trial completion. As such, the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting trials and obtaining regulatory clearance or approval of products may be delayed. If we have difficulty enrolling a sufficient number of patients to conduct any clinical trials as planned or maintaining such enrollment, we may need to delay, limit or discontinue those clinical trials. Clinical trial delays could result in increased costs, slower product development, setbacks in testing the safety and effectiveness of our technology or discontinuation of the clinical trials altogether. In addition, some of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the delay or denial of regulatory clearance or approval of our products.

Our continued growth and success depend on our ability to innovate and develop new and differentiated products in a timely manner and effectively market these products. Without the timely innovation and development of products, our products could be rendered obsolete or less competitive because of the introduction of a competitor's newer technologies. Innovating products requires the devotion of significant financial and other resources to R&D activities; however, there is no certainty that the products we are currently developing will complete the development process, or that we will obtain the regulatory or other clearances or approvals required to market such products in a timely manner or at all. Even if we timely innovate and develop products, our ability to successfully market them could be constrained by a number of different factors, including competitive products and pricing, barriers in patients' treatment pathway, the need for regulatory clearance or approval, restrictions imposed on cleared or approved indications, and uncertainty over third-party reimbursement. Failure in any of these areas could have a material effect on our prospects.

Our commercial success may depend upon our future ability and the ability of our potential collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our products without infringing valid intellectual property rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patents and other intellectual property rights in the medical technology industry, as well as administrative proceedings for challenging patents, including interference, derivation, inter partes review, post-grant review and reexamination proceedings before the USPTO or oppositions and other comparable proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. Furthermore, patent reform and changes to patent laws in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions add uncertainty to the possibility of challenge to our patents in the future, and could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products. We cannot assure you that our products and other proprietary technologies we may develop will not infringe existing or future patents owned by third parties. Litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims, with or without merit, is unpredictable and generally expensive and time consuming and, even if resolved in our favor, is likely to divert significant resources from our core business, including distracting our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. If a third-party intellectual property right exists it could require the pursuit of litigation or administrative proceedings to nullify or invalidate the third-party intellectual property right concerned, or entry into a license agreement with the intellectual property right holder, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Third-party intellectual property right holders, including our competitors, may bring infringement claims against us. If a third-party claims that we infringe its intellectual property rights, we may face a number of issues, including, but not limited to: - litigation, which may be expensive and time-consuming and may divert our management's attention from our core business;- substantial damages for infringement, which we may have to pay if a court decides that the product or technology at issue infringes on or violates the third party's rights, and, if the court finds that the infringement was willful, we could be ordered to pay treble damages and the patent owner's attorneys' fees;- a court prohibiting us from developing, manufacturing, marketing or selling our products, or from using our proprietary technologies, unless the third-party licenses its product rights to us, which it is not required to do;- if a license is available from a third party, we may have to pay substantial royalties, upfront fees and other amounts, and/or grant cross-licenses to intellectual property rights for our products; and - redesigning our products or processes so they do not infringe third-party intellectual property rights, which may not be possible or may require substantial monetary expenditures and time. Numerous United States and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications owned by third parties exist in the fields in which we are developing our products. We cannot provide any assurances that valid third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against our current or future products, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our sales, or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation to third parties. As the medical technology industry expands and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our products may give rise to claims of infringement of the patent rights of others. Third parties may assert that we infringe their patents or other intellectual property, or that we are otherwise employing their proprietary technology without authorization and may sue us. We believe that we have reasonable defenses against possible allegations of infringement, such as noninfringement or invalidity defenses; however, there can be no assurance that these defenses will succeed. It is also possible that patents owned by third parties of which we are aware or might become aware, but which we believe are not valid, or do not believe are relevant to our products and other proprietary technologies we may develop, could be found to be infringed by our products. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our products may infringe. In addition, our competitors or other third parties, many of which have substantially greater resources than we do and have made substantial investments in patent portfolios and competing technologies, may obtain patents in the future that may prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with our ability to make, use and sell our products, and may claim that use of our technologies or the manufacture, use or sale of our products infringes upon these patents. If any such third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover our technologies or products, or if we are found to otherwise infringe a third party's intellectual property rights, the holders of any such patents may be able to block, including by court order, our ability to develop, manufacture or commercialize the applicable product unless we obtain a license under the applicable patents or other intellectual property, or until such patents expire or are finally determined to be held invalid or unenforceable. Such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. If we are unable to obtain a necessary license to a third-party patent on commercially reasonable terms, our ability to commercialize our products may be impaired or delayed, which could in turn significantly harm our business. The medical technology industry has produced a considerable number of patents, and it may not always be clear to industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of products or methods of use. The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts, and the interpretation is not always uniform. If we were sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our products or methods either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent or that the patent claims are invalid or unenforceable, and we may not be able to do this. Proving invalidity may be difficult. For example, in the United States, proving invalidity in court requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents, and there is no assurance that a court of competent jurisdiction would invalidate the claims of any such United States patent. Even if we are successful in these proceedings, we may incur substantial costs and the time and attention of our management and scientific personnel could be diverted in pursuing these proceedings, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. In addition, we may not have sufficient resources to bring these actions to a successful conclusion. Third parties asserting their patent or other intellectual property rights against us may seek and obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize our products or force us to cease some of our business operations. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of management and other employee resources from our business, cause development delays and may impact our reputation. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys' fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing products, which may be impossible on a cost-effective basis or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize our products, which could harm our business significantly. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

Because we collaborate with various organizations and academic institutions on the advancement of our technology and products, we may, at times, share trade secrets with them. We seek to protect our proprietary technology in part by entering into confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, material transfer agreements, collaborative research agreements, consulting agreements or other similar agreements with our collaborators, advisors, employees and consultants prior to beginning research or disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third parties to use or disclose our confidential information, such as trade secrets. Despite these contractual provisions, the need to share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets will become known by potential competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Given that our proprietary position is based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, discovery by a third party of our trade secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure would impair our intellectual property rights and protections in our products. In addition, these agreements typically restrict the ability of our collaborators, advisors, employees and consultants to publish data potentially relating to our trade secrets. Our academic collaborators typically have rights to publish data, provided that we are notified in advance and may delay publication for a specified time in order to secure our intellectual property rights arising from the collaboration. In some cases, publication rights are controlled exclusively by us. In other cases, we may share these rights with other parties. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, our competitors could discover our trade secrets, either through breach of these agreements, independent development or publication of information including our trade secrets in cases where we do not have proprietary or otherwise protected rights at the time of publication.

Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and applications are required to be paid to the USPTO and other governmental patent agencies outside of the United States in several stages over the lifetime of the patents and applications. The USPTO and various corresponding governmental patent agencies outside of the United States require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process and after a patent has issued. There are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction.

We consider proprietary trade secrets and/or confidential know-how and unpatented know-how to be important to our business. We may rely on trade secrets and/or confidential know-how to protect our technology, especially where patent protection is believed by us to be of limited value. However, trade secrets and/or confidential know-how can be difficult to maintain as confidential. To protect this type of information against disclosure or appropriation by competitors, our policy is to require our employees, advisors and consultants to enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with us. However, current or former employees, advisors and consultants could unintentionally or willfully disclose our confidential information to competitors, and confidentiality and invention assignment agreements may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Enforcing a claim that a third party obtained illegally and is using trade secrets and/or confidential know-how is expensive, time consuming and unpredictable. The enforceability of confidentiality and invention assignment agreements may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Failure to obtain or maintain trade secrets and/or confidential know-how trade protection could adversely affect our competitive position. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and may even apply for patent protection in respect of the same. If successful in obtaining such patent protection, our competitors could limit our use of our trade secrets and/or confidential know-how.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business, or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. The following examples are illustrative: - Others may be able to make products that are similar to ours but that are not covered by our intellectual property rights. - Others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or otherwise circumvent any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights. - We or any of our collaboration partners might not have been the first to conceive and reduce to practice the inventions covered by the patents or patent applications that we own, license or will own or license. - We or any of our collaboration partners might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of the patents or patent applications that we or they own or have obtained a license. - It is possible that any pending patent applications that we have filed, or will file, will not lead to issued patents. - Issued patents that we own may not provide us with any competitive advantage, or may be held invalid or unenforceable, as a result of legal challenges by our competitors. - Our competitors might conduct R&D activities in countries where we do not have patent rights, or in countries where R&D safe harbor laws exist, and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets. - Ownership of our patents or patent applications may be challenged by third parties - Our patents may only be valid for a limited period of time. - The patents of third parties or pending or future applications of third parties, if issued, may have an adverse effect on our business.

The laws of some jurisdictions do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia. If we or our collaboration partners encounter difficulties in protecting, or are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting, the intellectual property rights important for our business in other jurisdictions, then the value of these rights could be diminished and we could face additional competition from others in such other jurisdictions. Some countries in Europe and China have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we are, or any of our licensors is, forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position or commercial advantage may be impaired and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Our products and technologies may be paid for by the CMS and other government or third-party payors or will be used by hospitals and health care providers who are reimbursed for procedures and services involving our products. Such payment determinations are subject to pre-approval qualifications and satisfaction of appropriate criteria. CMS, or other third-party payors, may seek to lower costs or limit use of our products as a means to achieve lower health care costs. The sale and demand for our products may be adversely impacted by such coverage and reimbursement determinations.

Following initial regulatory clearance or approval of any products, we will be subject to continuing regulatory review by various government authorities in those countries where our products are marketed or intended to be marketed, including the review of potential malfunctions and adverse events that are reported after products become commercially available. In addition, we will be subject to ongoing audits and inspections of our facilities and products by the FDA, as well as other regulatory agencies in and outside the United States. Previously unknown problems with the product could result in restrictions on the marketing of the product, including withdrawal of the product from the market. In addition, if we were to receive regulatory clearance or approval to sell our DurAVR THV system or another product, the relevant regulatory authorities could, nevertheless, impose significant restrictions on the indicated uses, manufacturing, labelling, packaging, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and record keeping or impose ongoing requirements for post-approval studies. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in those countries where our products are sold, we could lose our marketing clearances or approvals or be subject to fines or other sanctions. Also, as a condition to granting marketing clearance or approval of a product, the applicable regulatory agencies may require a company to conduct additional clinical trials or remediate cGMP issues, the results of which could result in the subsequent loss of marketing approval, changes in product labeling or new or increased concerns about side effects or efficacy of a product. In addition, incidents of medical device related adverse events or unintended side effects or misuse relating to our products could result in additional regulatory controls or restrictions or lead to a recall or withdrawal of the product from the market. A recall or market withdrawal, whether voluntary or required by a regulatory authority, may involve significant costs to us, potential disruptions in the supply of our products to our customers and reputational harm to our products and business, all of which could harm our ability to market our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our Common Stock to decline.

The clinical development, manufacturing, sales and marketing of our products are subject to extensive regulation as medical devices by regulatory authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia and elsewhere. Our ability to generate revenue from sales of any of our products depends heavily on the successful identification, development, regulatory clearance or approval for and eventual commercialization of any products. All of our products, including DurAVR THV, will require significant preclinical and clinical development, regulatory clearance or approval, establishment of sufficient manufacturing supply, including commercial manufacturing supply, and may require us to build a commercial organization and make substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenue from product sales. We are not permitted to market or promote any of our products before we receive regulatory clearance or approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Obtaining regulatory clearances and approvals for new products and manufacturing processes can take a number of years and involve expenditure of substantial resources, and, despite the substantial time and expense invested, we may never receive such regulatory clearance or approval for DurAVR THV system or other products. The development and commercialization of our products is subject to many risks, including: - additional clinical trials may be required beyond what we currently expect;- the risk that our financial and other resources are not sufficient to complete the necessary clinical trials;- regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from our clinical trials or may require that we conduct additional trials;- we may be unable to obtain and maintain regulatory clearance or approval of our products in any jurisdiction;- regulatory authorities may identify deficiencies in manufacturing processes;- regulatory authorities may lack sufficient resources to timely and completely address applications for regulatory clearance or approval of our products;- regulatory authorities may change their clearance or approval policies or adopt new regulations;- we, or our third-party manufacturers, may not be able to source or produce current Good Manufacturing Practice ("cGMP") materials for the production of our products or product candidates;- our products, if approved, may not be able to be manufactured at a cost or in quantities necessary to make commercially successful products;- we may experience delays in the commencement of, enrollment of patients in and timing of our clinical trials;- we may not be able to achieve and maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements applicable to our products or operations;- we may not be able to maintain a continued acceptable safety profile of our products following clearance or approval;- the market may not accept our products, if approved;- we may be unable to establish and maintain an effective sales and marketing infrastructure, either through the creation of a commercial infrastructure or through strategic collaborations, and the effectiveness of our own or any future strategic collaborators' marketing, sales and distribution strategy and operations will affect our profitability;- we may experience competition from existing products or new products that may emerge;- we may be unable to successfully obtain, maintain, defend and enforce intellectual property rights important to protect our products; and - we may not be able to obtain and maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors. If any of these risks materialize, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully develop and commercialize our products, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our medical devices are subject to rigorous regulation and scrutiny by the FDA and other governmental authorities. Government regulation applies to nearly all aspects of our products' lifecycles, including testing, clinical study, manufacturing, transporting, sourcing, safety, labeling, storing, packaging, recordkeeping, reporting, advertising, promoting, distributing, marketing, and importing or exporting of medical devices and products. In general, unless an exemption applies, a medical device or product must receive regulatory clearance or approval or clearance before it can be marketed or sold. Modifications to existing products or the marketing of new uses for existing products also may require regulatory clearance or approvals, or supplemental approvals. If we are unable to obtain these required marketing authorizations, our ability to commercialize new products will be delayed or adversely impacted. Regulatory agencies may refuse to grant approval or clearance or disagree with our interpretation of the data, or disagree with our interpretation of the regulatory requirements, such as products that are subject to enforcement discretion or consumer products that do not meet the definition of an FDA-regulated medical device. Furthermore, the FDA and other regulatory agencies could change their policies, adopt additional regulations, or revise existing regulations, or change regulatory and policy priorities, each of which could impact how our products are regulated, prevent or delay approval or clearance of devices, could impact our ability to market a previously cleared, approved, or unregulated device. Our failure to comply with regulatory requirements of the FDA or other applicable regulatory requirements in the United States or elsewhere could subject us to administratively or judicially imposed sanctions. These sanctions could include warning letters, fines, civil penalties, criminal penalties, injunctions, debarment, product seizure or detention, product recalls and total or partial suspension of production, sale and/or promotion. Any of the foregoing actions could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition to any such sanctions for noncompliance described above, commencement of an enforcement proceeding, inspection or investigation could divert substantial management attention from the operation of our business and, as a result, have an adverse effect on our business.

The marketing approvals, if any, from the FDA and other regulators of certain of our products are expected to be limited to specific indications. Such approvals would prohibit us from marketing or promoting any unapproved use of our products. Physicians, however, can use these products in ways or circumstances other than those strictly within the scope of the regulatory approval. Although we intend that the product training we will provide to physicians and other healthcare professionals will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws, and therefore, will be mainly limited to approved uses or for clinical trials, no assurance can be given that claims might not be asserted against us if our products are used in ways or for procedures that are not approved.

As a global company, we are or may become subject to laws and regulations in the United States and other countries concerning the handling of personal data, including but not limited to those related to the collection, storage, handling, use, disclosure, transfer, and security of personal data. These laws and regulations include, for example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act, and other similar United States state privacy laws. These laws and regulations are continuously evolving and developing, creating significant uncertainty as privacy and data protection laws may be interpreted and applied differently from country to country and may create inconsistent or conflicting requirements. Our compliance with privacy and data protection laws may result in significant costs and challenges that are likely to increase over time. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us or third-party service providers to comply with our privacy or security policies or privacy-related legal obligations may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation, or negative publicity, and could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition

We currently rely on a limited number of suppliers, including several single-source suppliers, to supply raw materials and other components and on contract manufacturers to design and manufacture certain products. The facilities used by our contract manufacturers must be approved for the manufacture of our products by the FDA, or any comparable foreign regulatory authority, pursuant to inspections that may be conducted by or for regulatory authorities. We do not control the manufacturing process of, and are completely dependent on, contract manufacturers for compliance with cGMP requirements for manufacture of those products. If these contract manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture such products in a manner that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority, they will not be able to secure and/or maintain regulatory approval for the use of their manufacturing facilities. We also purchase certain supplies and services from single sources for reasons of quality assurance, cost-effectiveness, availability, constraints resulting from regulatory requirements and other reasons. We experience from time to time, and may continue to experience, supply interruptions due to a variety of factors, including: - general economic conditions that could adversely affect the financial viability of our vendors;- vendors' election to no longer service or supply medical technology companies, including due to the burdens of applicable quality requirements and regulations or for no reason at all;- the limitation or ban of certain chemicals or other materials used in the manufacture of our products; and - delays or shortages due to trade or regulatory embargoes. Additionally, any significant increases in the cost of raw materials, whether due to inflationary pressure, supply constraints or regulatory changes could adversely impact our operating results. A change or addition to our vendors could require significant effort due to the rigorous regulations and requirements of the FDA and other regulatory authorities. It could be difficult to establish additional or replacement sources on a timely basis or at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. See the section entitled "Business – Single Source Suppliers" for a description of the agreements we are party to with our single-source suppliers.