Fate Therapeutics (FATE) Risk Factors

The stock market in general, and the Nasdaq Global Market and biotechnology companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of a company's securities. For example, in January 2023, a purported stockholder filed a lawsuit against us and certain of our officers captioned Hadian v. Fate Therapeutics, Inc. et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and two derivative actions were filed in the same court in June 2023 and June 2024, respectively (see "Item 1. Legal Proceedings" for a more detailed description of this matter). We could also be subject to other types of litigation, which may involve claims of breach of fiduciary duties by our directors or officers for misuse/mismanagement of company assets/resources or conflicts of interest. Any such litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management's attention and resources, which would harm our business, operating results, or financial condition. Additionally, the dramatic increase in the cost of directors' and officers' liability insurance may cause us to opt for lower overall policy limits or to forgo insurance that we may otherwise rely on to cover significant defense costs, settlements, and damages awarded to plaintiffs.

As a public company, we are required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), and the related rules and regulations of the SEC, expanded disclosure requirements, accelerated reporting requirements and more complex accounting rules. Company responsibilities required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act include establishing and maintaining corporate oversight and adequate internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to help prevent financial fraud. We cannot assure that we will not have material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to successfully remediate any material weakness or significant deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, or identify any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies that may exist, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, and our stock price may decline materially as a result.

Our ability to commercialize any of our product candidates successfully will depend in part on the availability of coverage and reimbursement for these products from third-party payors, including government health administration authorities, private health insurers, and other managed care organizations. The availability and extent of reimbursement by governmental and private payors is essential for most patients who generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs of their care, including treatments such as cellular immunotherapy. Because our product candidates represent new approaches to the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, there is significant uncertainty as to the insurance coverage and reimbursement status of any product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval. In the United States, the principal decisions about reimbursement for new medicines are typically made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CMS decides whether and to what extent a new medicine will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare, and private payors tend to follow CMS determinations to a substantial degree. If reimbursement or insurance coverage is not available for our product candidates, or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be sufficient to allow us to establish or maintain pricing to generate income. Factors payors consider in determining reimbursement are based on whether the product is: (i) a covered benefit under its health plan; (ii) safe, effective and medically necessary; (iii) appropriate for the specific patient; (iv) cost-effective; and (v) neither experimental nor investigational. For more information, please see "Business-Government Regulation-Coverage and Reimbursement" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. In addition, reimbursement agencies in foreign jurisdictions may be more conservative than those in the United States. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our products may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenues and profits. Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors, in the United States and abroad, to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and level of reimbursement for new products approved and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our product candidates. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate reimbursement for any products for which we receive marketing approval will adversely affect our ability to achieve commercial success, and could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products, and our overall financial condition.

Our strategy for fully developing and commercializing our product candidates is dependent upon maintaining our current arrangements and establishing new arrangements with research collaborators, corporate collaborators and other third parties. We currently have a corporate collaboration agreement with Ono; our collaboration with Janssen terminated effective April 2023. Our collaboration agreement with Ono provides for, among other things, research funding and significant future payments should certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones be achieved. Under our arrangement with Ono and any future corporate arrangements that we may form, our corporate collaborators may be responsible for: - electing to advance product candidates through preclinical and into clinical development;- conducting clinical development and obtaining required regulatory approvals for product candidates; and - commercializing any resulting products. As a result, we may not be able to conduct such corporate collaborations in the manner or on the time schedule we currently contemplate, which may negatively impact our business operations. Our lack of control over the research funding for, and the development and commercialization of, certain of our product candidates being developed under the collaboration and option agreement we entered into with Ono on September 14, 2018 (as amended to date, the Ono Agreement) and any other product candidates that we may develop under a future arrangement could cause delays or other difficulties in the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates, which may prevent completion of research and development activities and intended regulatory filings in a timely fashion, if at all. Because we expect to continue to rely on our current collaborator and to enter into new collaborations in the future, the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates could be substantially delayed, and our ability to receive future funding could be substantially impaired, if one or more of our current or future collaborators: - shifts its priorities and resources away from our collaborations due to a change in business strategies, or a merger, acquisition, sale or downsizing of its company or business unit;- ceases development in therapeutic areas which are the subject of our collaboration;- fails to select a product candidate for advancement into preclinical development, clinical development, or subsequent clinical development into a marketed product;- changes the success criteria for a particular product candidate, thereby delaying or ceasing development of such product candidate;- significantly delays the initiation or conduct of certain activities which could delay our receipt of milestone payments tied to such activities, thereby impacting our ability to fund our own activities;- develops a product candidate that competes, either directly or indirectly, with our product candidates;- does not obtain the requisite regulatory approval of a product candidate;- does not successfully commercialize a product candidate;- encounters regulatory, resource or quality issues and is unable to meet demand requirements;- exercises its rights under the agreement to terminate the collaboration, as Janssen did in January 2023, or otherwise withdraws support for, or otherwise impairs or delays development under the collaboration;- disagrees on the research, development or commercialization of a product candidate resulting in a delay in milestones, royalty payments or termination of such product candidate; and - uses our proprietary information or intellectual property in such a way as to jeopardize our rights in such property. In addition, the termination of the Ono Agreement or any future strategic partnership or collaboration arrangement that we enter into may prevent us from receiving any milestone, royalty payment, sharing of profits, and other benefits under such agreement. Furthermore, disagreements with these parties could require or result in litigation or arbitration, which would be time-consuming and expensive. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to develop and commercialize any of our product candidates and may adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.

In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and continue to be, several legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Payors, whether domestic or foreign, or governmental or private, are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs. In both the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the health care system that could impact our ability to sell our products profitably. Additional changes that may affect our business include those governing enrollment in federal healthcare programs, reimbursement changes, rules regarding prescription drug benefits under the health insurance exchanges and fraud and abuse and enforcement. Continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the passage of additional laws and regulations may result in the expansion of new programs such as Medicare payment for performance initiatives, and may impact existing government healthcare programs, such as by improving the physician quality reporting system and feedback program. For more information regarding the risks related to recently enacted and future legislation please see "Business – Government Regulation – Healthcare Reform and Other Regulatory Changes" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. There has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to drug pricing practices.? Specifically, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, and review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payers of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of healthcare may adversely affect: - the demand for any of our product candidates, if approved;- the ability to set a price that we believe is fair for any of our product candidates, if approved;- our ability to generate revenues and achieve or maintain profitability;- the level of taxes that we are required to pay; and - the availability of capital. We expect that additional U.S. federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that the U.S. federal government will pay for healthcare drugs and services, which could result in reduced demand for our drug candidates or additional pricing pressures. Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain drug access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. Legally mandated price controls on payment amounts by third-party payors or other restrictions could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. This could reduce the ultimate demand for our drugs or put pressure on our drug pricing, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overruled the Chevron doctrine, which for 40 years required federal courts to defer to permissible agency interpretations of statutes that are silent or ambiguous on a particular topic. In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court held that the U.S. Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to exercise their independent judgment when deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, and that courts may not defer to an agency interpretation solely because a statute is ambiguous. This landmark Supreme Court decision may invite more companies and other stakeholders to bring lawsuits against the FDA to challenge longstanding decisions and policies of the FDA, which could undermine the FDA's authority, lead to uncertainties in the industry, and disrupt the FDA's normal operations, any of which could delay the FDA's review of our regulatory submissions. We cannot predict the full impact of this decision, future judicial challenges brought against the FDA, or the nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action. Any such challenges, if successful, could have an impact on our business, and any such impact could be material. In addition to potential changes to regulations and agency guidance as a result of legal challenges, these decisions may result in increased regulatory uncertainty and delays in and other impacts to the agency rulemaking process, any of which could adversely impact our business and operations.

From time to time, we may become involved in disputes, claims and lawsuits relating to our business operations. For example, we have in the past and we may, from time to time, face or initiate claims related to intellectual property matters, employment matters, or commercial disputes. Any dispute, claim or lawsuit may divert management's attention away from our business, we may incur significant expenses in addressing or defending any dispute, claim or lawsuit, and we may be required to pay damage awards or settlements or become subject to equitable remedies that could adversely affect our operations and financial results. Litigation related to these disputes may be costly and time-consuming and could materially and adversely impact our financial position and results of operations if resolved against us. In addition, the uncertainty associated with litigation could lead to increased volatility in our stock price.

The rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could adversely affect us or holders of our common stock. In recent years, many such changes have been made and changes are likely to continue to occur in the future. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted in 2017 and made significant changes to corporate taxation, including the reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, the limitation of the tax deduction for net interest expense to 30% of adjusted taxable income (except for certain small businesses), the limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and the elimination of net operating loss carrybacks (though any such net operating losses may be carried forward indefinitely), and the modification or repeal of many business deductions and credits. In addition, under Section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2021, expenses that are incurred for research and development in the U.S. will be capitalized and amortized, which may have an adverse effect on our cash flow. It cannot be predicted whether, when, in what form, or with what effective dates, tax laws, regulations and rulings may be enacted, promulgated or issued, which could result in an increase in our or our stockholders' tax liability or require changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize or mitigate any adverse effects of changes in tax law.

We and our partners and vendors may be subject to various federal, state, and foreign data protection laws and regulations (i.e., laws and regulations that address privacy and data security). In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including federal health information privacy laws, state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), that govern the collection, use, disclosure and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our collaborators, including the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and privacy and security requirements under HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH). Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to civil, criminal, and administrative penalties if we knowingly obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA. There is no certainty that all of our employees, agents, suppliers, manufacturers, contractors, or collaborators, or those of our affiliates, will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, particularly given the high level of complexity of these laws. Even when HIPAA does not apply, failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers' personal information secure may constitute a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. In addition, certain of the materials we use as starting material in our iPSC-derived product candidates are derived from human sources, which potentially contain sensitive identifiable personal information regarding the donor. In addition, in conducting our clinical trials, we may maintain sensitive identifiable personal information, including health information, that we receive throughout the clinical trial process, in the course of our research collaborations, and directly from individuals (or their healthcare providers) who enroll in our clinical trials. As such, we may become subject to further obligations under HIPAA. Our collection of personal information generally (e.g., of employees currently and/or of patients in the future) may subject us to state data privacy laws governing the processing of personal information and requiring notification of affected individuals and state regulators in the event of a breach of such personal information. These state laws include the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (the CCPA), which establish data privacy rights for residents of the State of California, with corresponding obligations on businesses related to transparency, deletion rights, and opt-out of the selling or sharing of personal information, and grants a private right of action for individuals in the event of certain security breaches. Similar laws relating to data privacy and security have passed in several other states, which may have potentially conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging, require us to expend significant resources to come into compliance, and restrict our ability to process certain personal information. Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope than the CCPA, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to confidential, sensitive and personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, which may complicate compliance efforts. An increasing number of foreign data protection laws, regulations and industry standards may also apply to personal information we obtain from individuals outside of the United States. For example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the United Kingdom's General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) impose strict requirements for processing the personal data of individuals within the EEA and UK, including health-related data, and on the transfer of personal data out of the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom (UK) to non-adequate territories such as the United States; any inability to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with data protection laws may impede our ability to conduct trials and may adversely affect our business and financial position. Failure to comply with the requirements of the EU GDPR may result in potential fines for companies of up to the greater of €20 million (£17.5 million for the UK GDPR) or 4% of annual global revenue and other administrative penalties. In addition, under the EU GDPR and UK GDPR, companies may face private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to protect their interests. Although the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR currently impose substantially similar obligations, it is possible that over time the UK GDPR could become less aligned with the EU GDPR, particularly with the introduction of the new Data Reform Bill into the UK legislative process. In addition, EEA Member States have adopted national laws to supplement the EU GDPR, which may partially deviate from the EU GDPR, and the competent authorities in the EEA Member States may interpret EU GDPR obligations slightly differently from country to country, such that we do not expect to operate in a uniform legal landscape in the EEA and UK with respect to data protection regulations. The potential of the respective provisions and enforcement of the EU GDPR and UK GDPR further diverging in the future creates additional regulatory challenges and uncertainties for us. The lack of clarity on future UK laws and regulations and their interaction with EU laws and regulations could add legal risk, uncertainty, complexity and compliance cost to the handling of European personal data and our privacy and data security compliance, and could require us to amend our processes and procedures to implement different compliance measures for the UK and the EEA. We are likely to be required to expend significant capital and other resources to ensure ongoing compliance with applicable data privacy and security laws. Claims that we have violated individuals' privacy rights or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend, and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business. Moreover, even if we take all necessary action to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, we could be subject to a data breach or other unauthorized access of personal information, which could subject us to fines and penalties, as well as litigation and reputational damage. If we fail to keep apprised of and comply with applicable international, federal, state, or local regulatory requirements, we could be subject to a range of regulatory actions that could affect our or any collaborators' ability to seek to commercialize our clinical candidates. Any threatened or actual government enforcement action or litigation could also generate adverse publicity, damage our reputation, result in liabilities, fines and loss of business, and require that we devote substantial resources that could otherwise be used in other aspects of our business. We make public statements about our use and disclosure of personal information through our privacy policy information provided on our internet platform and press statements. Although we endeavor to comply with our public statements and documentation, we may at times fail to do so or be alleged to have failed to do so. Moreover, despite our efforts, we may not be successful in achieving compliance if our employees or contractual partners fail to comply with our published policies, certifications and documentation. The publication of our privacy policy and other statements that provide promises and assurances about data privacy and security can subject us to potential government or legal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair or misrepresentative of our actual practices. Any failure, real or perceived, by us to comply with our posted privacy policies or with any legal or regulatory requirements, standards, certifications or orders or other privacy or consumer protection-related laws and regulations applicable to us could cause our prospective customers to reduce their use of our products and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In many jurisdictions, enforcement actions and consequences for non-compliance can be significant and are rising. In addition, from time to time, concerns may be expressed about whether our products or processes compromise the privacy of customers and others. Concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use, retention, security, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information or other privacy-related matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Many statutory requirements, both in the United States and abroad, include obligations for companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving certain personal information, which could result from breaches experienced by us or our third-party service providers. For example, laws in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia require businesses to provide notice to consumers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. These laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach is difficult and may be costly. We also may be contractually required to notify customers or other counterparties of a security breach. Although we may have contractual protections with our third-party service providers, contractors and consultants, any actual or perceived security breach could harm our reputation and brand, expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on data security and in responding to any such actual or perceived breach or security incident. Any contractual protections we may have from our third-party service providers, contractors or consultants may not be sufficient to adequately protect us from any such liabilities and losses, and we may be unable to enforce any such contractual protections. In addition to the possibility of fines, lawsuits, regulatory investigations, public censure, other claims and penalties, and significant costs for remediation and damage to our reputation, we could be materially and adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded in a manner that requires changes in our data processing practices and policies or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively impact our business. Complying with these various laws could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices and compliance procedures in a manner adverse to our business. Any inability to adequately address data privacy or security-related concerns, even if unfounded, or to comply with applicable laws, regulations, standards and other obligations relating to data privacy and security, could result in additional cost and liability to us, harm our reputation and brand, damage our relationships with contract partners and the physician and patient community and have a material and adverse impact on our business.

Developing manufacturing processes to support clinical studies and commercialization requirements is a difficult and uncertain task, and there are risks associated with scaling to the level required for clinical trials or commercialization, including, among others, cost overruns, potential problems with process scale-out, process reproducibility, stability and purity issues, lot consistency, and timely availability of acceptable reagents and raw materials. If we are unable to scale to the level required for the conduct of clinical trials or commercialization, we may not be able to produce our product candidates in a sufficient quantity to conduct our ongoing and planned clinical trials, or to meet demand if any product candidates are approved for commercialization. We have not yet caused any of our product candidates to be manufactured or processed on a commercial scale and may not be able to do so for any of our product candidates. We are substantially dependent on our own internal manufacturing facilities in San Diego, California for the production of our product candidates, and we rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of certain components to manufacture our product candidates for use in conducting clinical trials. The facilities used to manufacture our product candidates, including our own facilities, must be evaluated by the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies pursuant to inspections that will be conducted after we submit an application to the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies. If the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority finds deficiencies with or does not approve these facilities for the manufacture of our product candidates or if it later finds deficiencies or withdraws any such approval in the future, we may not be able to locate additional or replacement facilities to produce such product candidates or materials in a timely manner and on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. This would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market our product candidates, if approved. Because we rely on our own manufacturing facilities to produce our product candidates and on third parties for the manufacture of certain components, we are required to transfer certain manufacturing process know-how and certain intermediates to third parties, including larger-scale facilities operated by a CMO or by us, to facilitate manufacture of our product candidates for clinical trials and commercialization. Transferring manufacturing testing and processes and know-how is complex and involves review and incorporation of both documented and undocumented processes that may have evolved over time. In addition, transferring production to different facilities may require utilization of new or different processes to meet the specific requirements of a given facility. We and any CMOs or third parties that we engage to manufacture our product candidates will need to conduct significant development work to transfer these processes and manufacture each of our product candidates for clinical trials and commercialization. In addition, we may be required to demonstrate the comparability of material generated by any CMO or third parties that we engage for manufacturing our product candidates with material previously produced and used in testing. Any inability to manufacture comparable drug product by us or any CMOs or third parties that we engage to manufacture our product candidates could delay the continued development of our product candidates. In addition to relying on third parties for the manufacture of certain components for the manufacture of our product candidates, we manufacture our product candidates ourselves, and intend to manufacture some or all of the clinical supply of our iPSC-derived NK-cell and T-cell product candidates for our ongoing and planned clinical trials. To do so, we will need to scale up our own manufacturing operations, as we do not currently have the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture sufficient quantities of each of our product candidates to support the conduct of each of our clinical trials or commercialization of each of our product candidates, if approved. Accordingly, we will be required to make significant investments to maintain and expand our existing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacturing capabilities and facilities, establish additional GMP manufacturing facilities, conduct GMP production, and process and scale up development and technology transfer activities for the manufacture of our product candidates, and our efforts to scale our own manufacturing operations may not succeed. Even if we are successful in developing manufacturing capabilities sufficient for clinical and commercial supply, problems with our manufacturing operations or those of the third-party manufacturers upon which we rely, including difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, stability of the product, quality assurance testing, operator error, shortages of qualified personnel, shortages of materials and supplies, facility shutdowns, global pandemics or other public health concerns, global geopolitical tensions, including wars and other armed conflicts, natural disasters (including due to the effects of climate change) or other reasons, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and foreign regulations, could result in product defects or manufacturing failures that result in lot failures, product recalls, product liability claims or insufficient supplies of our product candidates for our ongoing and planned clinical trials or eventual commercialization. Further, delays in regulatory inspections, commissioning and receiving regulatory approvals for our manufacturing capabilities or facilities, including any new facilities could delay our development plans,including the initiation and conduct of our ongoing and planned clinical trials. In addition, we and our third-party manufacturers may have limited manufacturing capacity for certain product candidates or components used in manufacturing our product candidates, and we may fail to locate suitable additional or replacement manufacturing capacity, including for the manufacture of our product candidates in compliance with current GMP (cGMP) or current Good Tissue Practice (cGTP), on a reasonable basis or at all. Any such failure could be the basis for the FDA or other regulatory authorities to issue a warning letter, withdraw approvals for product candidates previously granted to us, or take other regulatory or legal action, including recall or seizure of outside supplies of the product candidate, total or partial suspension of production, suspension of ongoing clinical trials, refusal to approve pending applications or supplemental applications, detention of product, refusal to permit the import or export of products, injunction or imposing civil and criminal penalties. Furthermore, certain of the components currently used in manufacturing our product candidates are research-grade only, and we may encounter problems obtaining or achieving adequate quantities and quality of clinical grade materials that meet FDA, European Medicines Agency, or other standards or specifications applicable in the United States or in other countries with consistent and acceptable production yields and costs. In addition, if contaminants are discovered in our supply of product candidates or in our manufacturing facilities or those of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers, such manufacturing facilities may be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. Any such events could delay or prevent our ability to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We are exposed to the risk of employee or third party service provider fraud or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees or third party service providers could include intentional failures to comply with the regulations of the FDA or foreign regulators, to provide accurate information to the FDA or foreign regulators, to comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations in the United States and abroad, to report financial information or data accurately or to 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, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. Employee or third party service provider misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. If any actions alleging such conduct are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant effect on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

While we currently manufacture clinical supplies of our iPSC-derived cell product candidates at our cGMP facilities located in San Diego, California, we also rely on third parties to manufacture certain components required for the manufacture of our product candidates, and we may rely on third parties to conduct some or all aspects of manufacturing of our product candidates for use in conducting later stage clinical trials and for commercial sale upon approval of any of our product candidates. Reliance on third parties for manufacture of our product candidates and components utilized in manufacturing our product candidates entails certain risks, including reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance, the possibility that the third-party manufacturer does not maintain the financial, personnel or other resources to meet its obligations, the possibility that the third party fails to manufacture such components, or our product candidates or any products we may eventually commercialize, in accordance with our specifications, misappropriation of our proprietary information, including our trade secrets and know-how, and the possibility of termination of our manufacturing relationship by the third party, based on its own business priorities, at a time that is costly or damaging to us. In addition, the FDA and other regulatory authorities require that our product candidates and any products that we may eventually commercialize be manufactured according to cGMP, cGTP and similar jurisdictional standards. These requirements include, among other things, quality control, quality assurance and the maintenance of records and documentation. The FDA or similar foreign regulatory agencies may also implement new standards at any time, or change their interpretations and enforcement of existing standards for manufacture, packaging or testing of products. We have little control over our manufacturers' compliance with these regulations and standards. In some cases, the technical skills required to manufacture our product candidates may be unique or proprietary to a particular CMO, and we may have difficulty, or there may be contractual restrictions prohibiting us from, transferring such skills to a back-up or alternate supplier if needed, or we may be unable to transfer such skills at all. In addition, if we are required to change contract manufacturers for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new CMO maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations. We will also need to verify, such as through a manufacturing comparability study, that any new manufacturing process will produce our product candidate according to the specifications previously submitted to the FDA or another regulatory authority. The delays associated with the verification of a new CMO could negatively affect our ability to develop product candidates or commercialize our products in a timely manner or within budget. In addition, changes in manufacturers often involve changes in manufacturing procedures and processes, which could require that we conduct bridging studies between our prior clinical supply used in our clinical trials and that of any new manufacturer. We may be unsuccessful in demonstrating the comparability of clinical supplies produced by different manufacturers, which could require the conduct of additional clinical trials. Further, we depend in some instances on third party suppliers, including sole source suppliers, for the provision of reagents, materials, devices and equipment that are used by us and our third-party contract manufacturers in the production of our product candidates, including certain of our iPSC-derived cell therapy product candidates. Any disruption to or loss of supply from any of these suppliers could delay our clinical development and commercialization efforts, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

Some of our competitors may have, and new competitors or alliances may emerge that have, greater name and brand recognition, greater market share, a larger customer base, more widely adopted proprietary technologies, greater marketing expertise, larger sales forces, and/or significantly greater resources than we do and may be able to offer solutions competitive with ours at a more attractive price. Further, our current or potential competitors may be acquired by third parties with greater available resources. As a result, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards or customer requirements and may have the ability to initiate or withstand substantial price competition. In addition, our competitors may in the future establish cooperative relationships with vendors of complementary products, technologies or services to increase the availability of their solutions in the marketplace. Our competitors could also be better positioned to serve certain segments of our market, which could create additional price pressure. In light of these factors, even if any products that we may develop are more effective than those of our competitors, current or potential customers may accept competitive products in lieu of purchasing our products. If we are unable to successfully compete, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Due to the novel nature of our cellular immunotherapy product candidates, we face significant uncertainty as to the pricing of any such products for which we may receive marketing approval. While we anticipate that pricing for any cellular immunotherapy product candidates that we develop will be relatively high due to their anticipated use in the prevention or treatment of life-threatening diseases where therapeutic options are limited, the biopharmaceutical industry has recently experienced significant pricing pressures. In particular, drug pricing and other healthcare costs continue to be subject to intense political and societal pressures, which we anticipate will continue and escalate on a global basis. These pressures may result in harm to our business and reputation, cause our stock price to decline or experience periods of volatility and adversely affect results of operations and our ability to raise funds.

There are ongoing and emerging geopolitical tensions, including wars and other armed conflicts, and although the conflicts have had little direct impact on our business to date, the uncertainty and ripple effects created by these conflicts may have unknown indirect impacts. For instance, the ongoing conflicts have resulted in significant volatility in certain equity, debt and currency markets, material increases in certain commodity prices, and economic uncertainty. It is not possible to predict the broader or longer-term consequences of these conflicts, although a prolonged conflict may result in adverse effects on microeconomic conditions including inflation; disruptions to our global technology infrastructure, including through cyberattack, ransom attack, or cybersecurity-intrusion; adverse changes in international trade policies and relations; disruptions in global supply chains; our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations; and constraints, volatility, or disruption in the capital markets, any of which could negatively impact our business, financial performance and financial condition. Sanctions imposed by the United States, Canada, EU, and other countries in response to the ongoing conflicts and the potential response to such sanctions may also have an adverse impact our business, including our clinical trials, the financial markets and the global economy. We continue to monitor any adverse impact that the outbreak of war and the subsequent institution of sanctions by the United States and other countries may have on the global economy in general, on our business and operations and on the businesses and operations of our suppliers and third parties with whom we conduct business.