CytomX Therapeutics (CTMX) Risk Factors

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and provide a management report on the internal control over financial reporting. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. If we are unable to establish or maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations on a timely basis, result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements, and harm our operating results. In addition, we are required, pursuant to Section 404, to furnish a report by our management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally acceptable accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). This assessment includes disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by management in its internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for management to assess its internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing, and possible remediation. Testing and maintaining internal controls may divert management's attention from other matters that are important to our business. A failure in any of these obligations or requirements could subject us to a loss of stockholder confidence and sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities or litigation. In connection with the implementation of the necessary practices and procedures related to internal control over financial reporting, we may identify deficiencies that we may not be able to remediate before our management is required to furnish the annual report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our testing, or the testing (if required) by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity's financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Any material weaknesses could result in a material misstatement of our annual or quarterly financial statements or disclosures that may not be prevented or detected. The existence of any material weakness would require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weakness, and management may not be able to remediate any such material weakness in a timely manner. If we fail to implement the requirements of Section 404 in the required timeframe, we may be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and The Nasdaq Global Select Market. Furthermore, if we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our securities could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities or litigation. Failure to implement or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures required of public companies could also restrict our future access to the capital markets. In connection with preparing our financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2022, we determined that a material weakness existed in our internal control over financial reporting due to ineffective controls for evaluation and review of the accounting for revenue recognition. We initiated plans to remediate the material weakness and determined that as of June 30, 2023, the material weakness had been remediated. There can be no assurance that we will not identify additional material weaknesses in the future. In future periods, if our management is unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, or to certify the effectiveness of such controls, or if additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting are identified, our ability to record, process, and report financial information accurately, and to prepare financial statements within the time periods specified by the rules and forms of the SEC, could be adversely affected which, in turn, may adversely affect our business and the market price of our securities.

We expect our operating results to be subject to quarterly fluctuations. Our net loss and other operating results will be affected by numerous factors, including: - variations in the level of expense related to the ongoing development of our PROBODY platform, our product candidates or future development programs;- results of clinical trials, or the addition or termination of clinical trials or funding support by us, or existing or future collaborators or licensing partners;- our execution of any additional collaboration, licensing or similar arrangements, and the timing of payments we may make or receive under existing or future arrangements or the termination or modification of any such existing or future arrangements;- developments or disputes concerning patents or other proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our products;- any intellectual property infringement lawsuit or opposition, interference or cancellation proceeding in which we may become involved, including the ongoing patent infringement lawsuit brought by Vytacera against us;- additions and departures of key personnel;- strategic decisions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, joint ventures, strategic investments or changes in business strategy;- if any of our product candidates receives regulatory approval, the terms of such approval and market acceptance and demand for such product candidates;- regulatory developments affecting our product candidates or those of our competitors; and - changes in general market and economic conditions. If our quarterly operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Furthermore, any quarterly fluctuations in our operating results may, in turn, cause the price of our stock to fluctuate substantially. We believe that quarterly comparisons of our financial results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.

The development of biopharmaceutical product candidates is capital-intensive. To date, we have used substantial funds to develop our technology and product candidates and will require significant funds to conduct our ongoing clinical trials as well as to further our research and development, preclinical testing and future clinical trials of additional product candidates, to seek regulatory approvals for our product candidates and to manufacture and market any products that are approved for commercial sale. In addition, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. However, financial market conditions, including the public equity markets, and government regulation, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, have made it difficult for biotechnology companies to raise additional funds and may continue to do so. We cannot predict when or if market conditions will change. As of September 30, 2024, we had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $117.6 million. We believe that our existing capital resources will be sufficient to fund our planned operations to the end of 2025. Our future capital requirements and the period for which we expect our existing resources to support our operations may vary significantly from what we expect and we may not achieve the expected cash flow savings that we anticipate as a result of our recent restructuring. Our monthly spending levels vary based on our ongoing clinical trials, new and ongoing research and development and other corporate activities. Because the length of time and activities associated with conducting our clinical trials and successfully researching and developing our product candidates is highly uncertain, we are unable to estimate the actual funds we will require for development and, once any product candidate is approved, any subsequent marketing and commercialization activities. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures will depend largely on: - the scope, timing and progress of our ongoing clinical trials as well as any other preclinical and clinical development activities;- the number, size and type of clinical trials and preclinical studies that we may be required to complete for our product candidates, as well as the cost and time of such studies and trials;- the number, scope and prioritization of preclinical and clinical programs we decide to pursue;- the time and cost necessary to produce clinical supplies of our product candidates;- the time and cost necessary to scale our manufacturing capabilities prior to or following regulatory approval and commercial launch of any product candidates;- the progress of the development efforts of parties with whom we have entered or may in the future enter into collaborations and research and development agreements;- the timing and amount of payments we may receive or are obligated to pay under our collaboration agreements and license agreements;- our ability to maintain our current licenses and research and development programs and to establish new collaboration arrangements;- the costs involved in prosecuting and enforcing patent and other intellectual property claims, including the ongoing patent infringement lawsuit brought by Vytacera against us;- the cost of any existing or future litigation to which we are or may become a party;- the cost and timing of regulatory approvals; and - our efforts to enhance operational systems and hire additional personnel, including personnel to support development and commercialization of our product candidates and satisfy our obligations as a public company. If we are unable to obtain funding on a timely basis or on acceptable terms, we may have to delay, reduce or terminate our research and development programs and preclinical studies or clinical trials, limit strategic opportunities or undergo reductions in our workforce or other corporate restructuring activities. For example, in November 2023, we announced that we would not direct significant further investment in the development of CX-2029 in the near-term. We also could be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborators or others that may require us to relinquish rights to some of our technologies or product candidates that we would otherwise pursue on our own. We do not expect to realize revenue from sales of products or royalties from licensed products in the foreseeable future, if at all, and unless and until our product candidates are clinically tested, approved for commercialization and successfully marketed. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our common stock, sale of our convertible preferred securities prior to our IPO, payments received under our collaboration agreements, including the collaboration and license agreements that we entered into with each of Regeneron and Moderna in November and December 2022, respectively, and funding we received in a private placement of our common stock, warrants and pre-funded warrants in July 2023. We will be required to seek additional funding in the future and currently intend to do so through additional collaborations, public or private equity offerings or debt financings, credit or loan facilities or a combination of one or more of these funding sources. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend on financial, economic and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Additionally, our stock price has declined and our ability to raise adequate funding through equity offerings, if at all, may be limited. Additional funds may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders will suffer dilution and the terms of any financing may adversely affect the rights of our stockholders. For example, when we issue shares of common stock upon exercise of the pre-funded warrants, Tranche 1 warrants and Tranche 2 warrants (collectively, the Tranche 1 warrants and Tranche 2 warrants, the "Tranche Warrants") issued in our July 2023 private placement, our existing stockholders will suffer dilution and such dilutive impact may be difficult to compute. In addition, as a condition to providing additional funds to us, future investors may demand, and may be granted, rights superior to those of existing stockholders. Debt financing, if available, is likely to involve restrictive covenants limiting our flexibility in conducting future business activities, and, in the event of insolvency, debt holders would be repaid before holders of our equity securities received any distribution of our corporate assets.

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Global Select Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, which in turn could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors. However, these rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

The regulations that govern regulatory approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drugs and therapeutic biologics vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug or therapeutic biologic before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription biopharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain regulatory approval for a product in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product,possibly for lengthy time periods and negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if our product candidates obtain regulatory approval. Our ability to commercialize any products successfully also will depend in part on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement for these products and related treatments will be available from government authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Even if we succeed in bringing one or more products to the market, these products may not be considered cost-effective, and the amount reimbursed for any products may be insufficient to allow us to sell our products on a competitive basis. Because our programs are in the early stages of development, we are unable at this time to determine their cost effectiveness or the likely level or method of reimbursement. Increasingly, the third-party payors who reimburse patients or healthcare providers, such as government and private insurance plans, are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices, and are seeking to reduce the prices charged or the amounts reimbursed for biopharmaceutical products. If the price we are able to charge for any products we develop, or the reimbursement provided for such products, is inadequate in light of our development and other costs, our return on investment could be adversely affected. There may be significant delays in obtaining reimbursement for newly-approved drugs or therapeutic biologics, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug or therapeutic biologic is approved by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any drug or therapeutic biologic will be reimbursed in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs or therapeutic biologics, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may be based on payments allowed for lower-cost drugs or therapeutic biologics that are already reimbursed, may be incorporated into existing payments for other services and may reflect budgetary constraints or imperfections in Medicare data. Net prices for drugs or therapeutic biologics may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs or therapeutic biologics from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the U.S. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement rates from both government-funded and private payors for new drugs or therapeutic biologics that we develop and for which we obtain regulatory approval could have a material and adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our financial condition.

We are exposed to significant product liability risks inherent in the development, testing, manufacturing and marketing of therapeutic treatments, including as a result of the clinical testing of our prior clinical candidates, our current clinical candidates, including CX-904, CX-2051 and CX-801, and any other product candidates we may have or those of our collaborators. Product liability claims could delay or prevent completion of our development programs. If we succeed in marketing product candidates, such claims could result in an FDA investigation of the safety and effectiveness of our product candidates, our manufacturing processes and facilities (or the manufacturing processes and facilities of our third-party manufacturers) or our marketing programs and potentially a recall of our products or more serious enforcement action, limitations on the approved indications for which they may be used or suspension or withdrawal of approvals. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may also result in decreased demand for our products, injury to our reputation, costs to defend the related litigation, a diversion of management's time and our resources, substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients and a decline in our stock price. We currently have insurance that we believe is appropriate for our stage of development and may need to obtain higher levels of insurance prior to marketing any of our product candidates. Any insurance we have or may obtain may not provide sufficient coverage against potential liabilities. Furthermore, clinical trial and product liability insurance is becoming increasingly expensive. As a result, we may be unable to obtain sufficient insurance at a reasonable cost to protect us against losses caused by product liability claims that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. For example, legislation enacted in 2017, informally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act"), enacted many significant changes to the U.S. tax laws. Future guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities with respect to the Tax Act may affect us, and certain aspects of the Tax Act could be repealed or modified in future legislation. Changes in applicable tax rules, including changes to corporate tax rates, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses under future reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges, and could increase our future tax expense.

The regulatory environment surrounding data privacy and security is increasingly demanding. We are or may in the future be subject to numerous U.S. federal and state laws and non-U.S. regulations governing the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and security of personal and confidential information of our clinical subjects, clinical investigators, employees and vendors/business contacts. Implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and we cannot yet determine the impact future laws, regulations, standards, or perception of their requirements may have on our business. This evolution may create uncertainty in our business, affect our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions or to collect, store, transfer use and share personal information, necessitate the acceptance of more onerous obligations in our contracts, result in liability or impose additional costs on us. The cost of compliance with these laws, regulations and standards is high and is likely to increase in the future. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal, state or foreign laws or regulations, our internal policies and procedures or our contracts governing our processing of personal information could result in negative publicity, government investigations and enforcement actions, claims by third parties and damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation, and financial condition. In the United States, HIPAA imposes, among other things, certain standards relating to the privacy, security, transmission and breach reporting of individually identifiable health information. We may obtain health information from third parties (including research institutions from which we obtain clinical trial data) that are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to significant penalties if we violate HIPAA. Certain states have also adopted comparable privacy and security laws and regulations, some of which may be more stringent than HIPAA. Such laws and regulations will be subject to interpretation by various courts and other governmental authorities, thus creating potentially complex compliance issues for us and our future customers and strategic partners. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") went into effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA creates individual privacy rights for California consumers, including the expanded right to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches, that has increased the likelihood of, and risks associated with data breach litigation. Further, the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA") generally went into effect on January 1, 2023, and significantly amends the CCPA. The CPRA imposes additional data protection obligations on covered businesses, including additional consumer rights processes, limitations on data uses, new audit requirements for higher risk data, and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It also creates a new California data protection agency authorized to issue substantive regulations and could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. Additional compliance investment and potential business process changes may also be required. Similar laws have passed in other states and are continuing to be proposed at the state and federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. The enactment of such laws could have potentially conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging. In the event that we are subject to or affected by HIPAA, the CCPA, the CPRA or other domestic privacy and data protection laws, any liability from failure to comply with the requirements of these laws could adversely affect our financial condition. Our operations abroad may also be subject to increased scrutiny or attention from data protection authorities. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") went into effect in May 2018, and imposes stringent requirements for processing the personal data of individuals within the EEA. Companies that must comply with the GDPR face increased compliance obligations and risk, including more robust regulatory enforcement of data protection requirements and potential fines for noncompliance of up to 4% total worldwide annual turnover or €20 million, whichever is higher. Among other requirements, the GDPR regulates transfers of personal data subject to the GDPR to third countries that have not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal data, including the United States, and the efficacy and longevity of current transfer mechanisms between the EEA, and the United States remains uncertain. Case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") states that reliance on the standard contractual clauses - a standard form of contract approved by the European Commission as an adequate personal data transfer mechanism - alone may not necessarily be sufficient in all circumstances and that transfers must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its Adequacy Decision in relation to the new EU-US Data Privacy Framework ("DPF"), rendering the DPF effective as a GDPR transfer mechanism to U.S. entities self-certified under the DPF. We expect the existing legal complexity and uncertainty regarding international personal data transfers to continue. In particular, we expect the DPF Adequacy Decision to be challenged and international transfers to the United States and to other jurisdictions more generally to continue to be subject to enhanced scrutiny by regulators. As a result, we may have to make certain operational changes and we will have to implement revised standard contractual clauses and other relevant documentation for existing data transfers within required time frames. As supervisory authorities issue further guidance on personal data export mechanisms, including circumstances where the standard contractual clauses cannot be used, or start taking enforcement action, we could suffer additional costs, complaints and/or regulatory investigations or fines, and/or if we are otherwise unable to transfer personal data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the manner in which we provide our products and services, the geographical location or segregation of our relevant systems and operations, and could adversely affect our financial results. Further, from January 1, 2021, we have had to comply with the GDPR and also the UK GDPR, which, together with the amended UK Data Protection Act 2018, retains the GDPR in UK national law. The UK GDPR mirrors the fines under the GDPR, i.e., fines up to the greater of €20 million (£17.5 million) or 4% of global turnover. On October 12, 2023, the UK Extension to the DPF came into effect (as approved by the UK Government), as a data transfer mechanism from the UK to U.S. entities self-certified under the DPF. As we continue to expand into other foreign countries and jurisdictions, we may be subject to additional laws and regulations that may affect how we conduct business. Although we work to comply with applicable laws, regulations and standards, our contractual obligations and other legal obligations, these requirements are evolving and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another or other legal obligations with which we must comply. Any failure or perceived failure by us or our employees, representatives, contractors, consultants, collaborators, or other third parties to comply with such requirements or adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, could result in significant fines, penalties and damage to our reputation, and we may be forced to change the way we operate. This could result in additional cost and liability to us, which could negatively affect our business, results of operation, and financial condition.

We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees or independent contractors. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional failures to comply with FDA regulations, provide accurate information to the FDA, comply with manufacturing standards we may establish, comply with federal and state data privacy, security, fraud and abuse, and other healthcare laws and regulations, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws could also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

We do not have the ability to independently conduct clinical trials. As such, we currently rely and intend to continue to rely on third-party clinical investigators, CROs, clinical data management organizations and consultants to help us design, conduct, supervise and monitor clinical trials of our product candidates. As a result, we will have less control over the timing, quality and other aspects of our clinical trials than we would have had we conducted them on our own. These investigators, CROs and consultants are not our employees and we have limited control over the amount of time and resources that they dedicate to our programs. These third parties may have contractual relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors, which may draw time and resources from our programs. The third parties with which we contract might not be diligent, careful or timely in conducting our preclinical studies or clinical trials, resulting in the preclinical studies or clinical trials being delayed or unsuccessful. If we cannot contract with acceptable third parties on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or if these third parties do not carry out their contractual duties, satisfy legal and regulatory requirements for the conduct of preclinical studies or clinical trials or meet expected deadlines, our clinical development programs could be delayed and otherwise adversely affected. In all events, we will be responsible for ensuring that each of our preclinical studies and clinical trials are conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial, as well as applicable laws and regulations. The FDA requires preclinical studies to be conducted in accordance with good laboratory practices ("GLPs") and clinical trials to be conducted in accordance with GCPs and other applicable regulations, including for designing, conducting, recording and reporting the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of clinical trial participants are protected. Regulatory authorities enforce GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. Our reliance on third parties that we do not control will not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. If we or any of our CROs or trial sites fail to comply with applicable GLP, GCP or other requirements, the data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications, if ever. In addition, principal investigators for our clinical trials may be asked to serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and may receive compensation in connection with such services. If these relationships and any related compensation result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, or the FDA concludes that the financial relationship may have affected the interpretation of the study, the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site may be questioned and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized, which could result in the delay or rejection by the FDA of any BLA we submit. Any such delay or rejection could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates. Though we work to carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, investigators and other third parties, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.

Our current operations are located in our facilities in South San Francisco, California. Any unplanned event, such as flood, fire, explosion, earthquake, extreme weather condition, medical epidemics, power shortage, telecommunication failure or other natural or manmade accidents or incidents that result in us being unable to fully utilize our facilities, or the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, may have a material and adverse effect on our ability to operate our business, particularly on a daily basis, and have significant negative consequences on our financial and operating conditions. Loss of access to these facilities may result in increased costs, delays in the development of our product candidates or interruption of our business operations. Earthquakes or other natural disasters could further disrupt our operations and have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters, that damaged critical infrastructure, such as our research facilities or the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible, for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. For example, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to restrict access to our facility and initiate a work-from-home program limiting onsite activity to a substantially reduced level of laboratory research activities. Although we gradually increased our laboratory research activities to normal levels, and adopted a hybrid work from home model, there can be no assurance that a future pandemic or other event will not impact our ability to conduct business. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place may prove inadequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business. As part of our risk management policy, we maintain insurance coverage at levels that we believe are appropriate for our business. However, in the event of an accident or incident at these facilities, we cannot assure you that the amounts of insurance will be sufficient to satisfy any damages and losses. If our facilities, or the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, are unable to operate because of an accident or incident or for any other reason, even for a short period of time, any or all of our research and development programs may be harmed. Any business interruption may have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

In some countries, particularly member states of the European Union, the pricing of prescription drugs is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after receipt of marketing approval for a product. In addition, there can be considerable pressure by governments and other stakeholders on prices and reimbursement levels, including as part of cost containment measures. Political, economic and regulatory developments may further complicate pricing negotiations, and pricing negotiations may continue after reimbursement has been obtained. Reference pricing used by various European Union member states and parallel distribution, or arbitrage between low-priced and high-priced member states, can further reduce prices. In some countries, we or future collaborators may be required to conduct a clinical trial or other studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of our PROBODY therapeutic candidates to other available therapies in order to obtain or maintain reimbursement or pricing approval. Publication of discounts by third-party payors or authorities may lead to further pressure on the prices or reimbursement levels within the country of publication and other countries. If reimbursement of any product candidate approved for marketing is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could be materially and adversely affected. We currently do not know how the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union will affect the pricing of prescription drugs, either in the United Kingdom or in the remaining European Union member states.

The development and commercialization of drugs and therapeutic biologics is highly competitive. We compete with a variety of multinational biopharmaceutical companies and specialized biotechnology companies, as well as technology being developed at universities and other research institutions. Our competitors have developed, are developing or will develop product candidates and processes competitive with our product candidates. Competitive therapeutic treatments include those that have already been approved and accepted by the medical community and any new treatments that enter the market. We believe that a significant number of products are currently under development, and may become commercially available in the future, for the treatment of conditions for which we may try to develop product candidates. Additionally, there is intense and rapidly evolving competition in the biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and antibody and immunoregulatory therapeutics fields, and our competitors include larger and better funded biopharmaceutical, biotechnological and therapeutics companies. In addition, these companies compete with us in recruiting scientific and managerial talent. We believe that while our PROBODY platform, its associated intellectual property and our scientific and technical know-how, give us a competitive advantage in this space, competition from many sources remains. The clinical development pipeline for cancer includes small molecules, antibodies and therapies from a variety of groups. In addition, numerous compounds are in clinical development for cancer treatment. As a result, our success will partially depend on our ability to develop and protect therapeutics that are safer and more effective than competing products. Our commercial opportunity and success will be reduced or eliminated if competing products that are safer, more effective, or less expensive than the therapeutics we develop or if we are unable to utilize our PROBODY therapeutic technology to differentiate our PROBODY therapeutics from the products of our competitors. For instance, if any of our product candidates are approved, they will compete with a range of therapeutic treatments that are either in development or currently marketed. A variety of oncology drugs and therapeutic biologics are currently on the market or in clinical development. Given the amount of time required to successfully develop and obtain regulatory approval for each of our product candidates, it is therefore possible that by the time we obtain any such approval, if ever, and commence sales, we may no longer be able to differentiate such product candidate from those of our competitors. We face substantial competition from pharmaceutical companies developing products in oncology, including companies such as Amgen, AstraZeneca PLC, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co., Inc. Novartis AG, Pfizer, Roche Holding Ltd. and Sanofi SA. Many large and mid-sized biotech companies, including BeiGene, Incyte, Nektar, and Alkermes have ongoing efforts in cancer immunotherapy. Several companies, including Adagene, Amgen, Sanofi, BioAtla, Halozyme, Janux Therapeutics, Roche, Takeda, Werewolf Therapeutics, and Xilio are exploring antibody masking and/or conditional activation strategies, which could compete with our PROBODY platform. We are also aware of several companies that are developing ADCs, such as AbbVie, ADC Therapeutics, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead, Merck & Co., Mersana Therapeutics, Pfizer, Roche Holding Ltd., and Takeda. Furthermore, several large pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Novartis AG and Roche Holding Ltd., are developing T-cell engaging immunotherapies, and we are aware of several mid-sized biotech companies, such as MacroGenics and Xencor, and small companies with ongoing efforts to develop T-cell engaging immunotherapies. Any of these companies may be well capitalized and may have significant clinical experience. In addition, these companies include our collaborators. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, sales and supply resources or experience than we do. If we successfully obtain approval for any product candidate, we will face competition based on many different factors, including the safety and effectiveness of our products, the ease with which our products can be administered and the extent to which patients accept relatively new routes of administration, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals for these products, the availability and cost of manufacturing, marketing and sales capabilities, price, reimbursement coverage and patent position. Competing products could present superior treatment alternatives, including by being more effective, safer, less expensive or marketed and sold more effectively than any products we may develop. Competitive products may make any products we develop less differentiated or noncompetitive before we recover the expense of developing and commercializing our product candidates. Such competitors could also recruit our employees, which could negatively impact our level of expertise and our ability to execute our business plan.