Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO) Risk Factors

Some of our products (primarily our Clinical Diagnostic products), production processes and marketing are subject to U.S. federal, state and local, and foreign regulation, including by the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") in the United States and its foreign counterparts. The FDA regulates our Clinical Diagnostic products as medical devices, and we are subject to significant regulatory clearances or approvals to market our Clinical Diagnostic products and other requirements including, for example, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, such as the FDA's medical device reporting regulations and reporting of corrections and removals. The FDA has broad regulatory and enforcement powers. If the FDA determines that we have failed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, it can impose a variety of enforcement actions ranging from public warning letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties to suspension or delayed issuance of approvals, seizure or recall of our products, total or partial shutdown of production, withdrawal of approvals or clearances already granted, and criminal prosecution. The FDA can also require us to repair, replace or refund the cost of devices that we manufactured or distributed. In addition, the FDA may change its clearance and approval policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay approval or clearance of our products or impact our ability to modify our currently approved or cleared products on a timely basis. Any delay in, or failure to receive or maintain, clearance or approval for our products or changes in regulation could prevent us from generating revenue from these products and adversely affect our business operations and financial results. Additionally, the FDA and other regulatory authorities have broad enforcement powers. Regulatory enforcement or inquiries, or other increased scrutiny on us, could affect the perceived safety and efficacy of our products and dissuade our customers from using our products. The FDA has issued a final rule applicable to certain clinical diagnostic products referred to as laboratory developed tests. This change in the FDA approach could negatively impact our customers who use our Life Science products for laboratory developed tests. Many foreign governments have similar rules and regulations regarding the importation, registration, labeling, sale and use of our products. Such agencies may also impose new requirements that may require us to modify or re-register products already on the market or otherwise impact our ability to market our products in those countries. The EU in-vitro Diagnostics Regulation (the "EU IVDR") includes broad changes regarding in vitro diagnostic devices and medical devices. The EU IVDR required us to modify or re-register some products, and we expect will continue to result in additional costs for ongoing compliance. In addition, Russia has enacted more stringent medical product registration and labeling regulations, China has enacted stricter labeling requirements, and we expect other countries, such as Brazil and India, to impose more regulations that impact our product registrations. The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU is resulting in additional regulatory requirements associated with goods manufactured and sold in the United Kingdom and additional complexities and delays with respect to goods, raw materials and personnel moving between the United Kingdom and the EU. In addition, new government administrations may interpret existing regulations or practices differently. Due to these evolving and diverse requirements, we face uncertain product approval timelines, additional time and effort to comply, as well as the potential for reduced sales and/or fines for noncompliance. Increasing protectionism in such countries also impedes our ability to compete with local companies. We may not be able to participate in certain public tenders in China, India and Russia because of increasing measures to restrict access to such tenders for companies without local manufacturing capabilities. Such regulations could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. See also our risk factors regarding our international operations and regarding global economic and geopolitical conditions above. We are also subject to government regulation of the use and handling of a number of materials and controlled substances. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration establishes registration, security, recordkeeping, reporting, storage, distribution and other requirements for controlled substances pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Failure to comply with present or future laws and regulations could result in substantial liability to us, suspension or cessation of our operations, restrictions on our ability to expand at our present locations or require us to make significant capital expenditures or incur other significant expenses.

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. enacted comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") which made a number of substantial changes to how the United States imposes income tax on multinational corporations. The U.S Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and other standard setting bodies continue to issue guidance and interpretation relating to the Tax Act. As future guidance is issued, we may make adjustments to amounts previously reported that could materially impact our financial statements. On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which included an Alternative Minimum Tax based on the Adjusted Financial Statement Income of Applicable Corporations. We do not believe the Inflation Reduction Act will have a material impact on our income tax provision and cash taxes, but we continue to monitor U.S. Department of the Treasury guidance and regulations. The tax effect of our position in Sartorius AG and the jurisdictional mix of our earnings could continue to materially affect our financial results and cash flow. In addition, the adoption of some or all of the recommendations set forth in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD")'s project on "Base Erosion and Profit Shifting" ("BEPS") by tax authorities in the countries in which we operate, could negatively impact our effective tax rate. These recommendations focus on payments from affiliates in high tax jurisdictions to affiliates in lower tax jurisdictions and the activities that give rise to a taxable presence in a particular country. On October 8, 2021, the OECD announced that 136 countries have agreed on a two-pillar framework that would dramatically alter the taxation of multinational enterprises and require that all profit be subject to a global minimum tax rate of 15%. On December 15, 2022, the European Union formally adopted the Pillar Two Directive and EU member states enacted the Pillar Two Directive as of January 1, 2024. Other countries have taken similar actions. We currently believe Pillar 2 legislation will not have a material impact on our income tax provision and cash taxes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and similar outbreaks could again have, an adverse effect on the United States and global economies, as well as on aspects of our business, operations and financial condition and those of third parties on whom we rely. If a new pandemic were to occur, we expect that parts of our business could again suffer negative impacts, and that our customers, suppliers, logistics providers, and the global economy could also be negatively impacted.