Halozyme (HALO) Risk Factors

Our effective tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates in the various places that we operate. In preparing our financial statements, we estimate the amount of tax that will become payable in each of such places. Nevertheless, our effective tax rate may be different than experienced in the past due to numerous factors, including changes in the mix of our profitability between different tax jurisdictions, the results of examinations and audits of our tax filings, our inability to secure or sustain acceptable agreements with tax authorities, changes in accounting for income taxes and changes in tax laws. Any of these factors could cause us to experience an effective tax rate significantly different from previous periods or our current expectations and may result in tax obligations in excess of amounts accrued in our financial statements. In addition, on September 30, 2021, we determined, based on our facts and circumstances, that it was more likely than not that a substantial portion of our deferred tax assets would be realized and, as a result, substantially all of our valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets was released. This resulted in substantially and disproportionately increasing our reported net income and our earnings per share compared to our operating results for 2021. Historical and future comparisons to these amounts are not, and will not be, indicative of actual profitability trends for our business. Starting in 2022, we recorded income tax expense at an estimated tax rate that approximate statutory tax rates, resulting a reduction in our net income and net income per share.

As with most pharmaceutical and medical device products, our partnered or proprietary products and product candidates could be associated with adverse events which can vary in severity (from minor reactions to death) and frequency (infrequent to very common) or product recalls. Adverse events associated with the use of our partnered or proprietary products or product candidates may be observed at any time, including in clinical trials or when a product is commercialized, and any such adverse events may negatively affect our or our partners' ability to obtain or maintain regulatory approval or market such products and product candidates. Adverse events such as toxicity or other safety issues associated with the use of our partnered or proprietary products and product candidates could require us or our partners to perform additional studies or halt development or commercialization of these products and product candidates or expose us to product liability lawsuits which will harm our business. For example, we experienced a clinical hold on patient enrollment and dosing in our phase 2 study of PEGPH20 in patients with PDA (a discontinued program), which was not resolved until we implemented steps to address an observed possible difference in TE event rates between the arms of the study. We or our partners may be required by regulatory agencies to conduct additional animal or human studies regarding the safety and efficacy of our pharmaceutical products or product candidates which we have not planned or anticipated. There can be no assurance that we or our partners will resolve any issues related to any product or product candidate adverse events to the satisfaction of the FDA or any regulatory agency in a timely manner or ever, which could harm our business, prospects and financial condition. To the extent that a product fails to conform to its specifications or comply with the applicable laws or regulations, we or our partners may be required to or may decide to voluntarily recall the product or regulatory authorities may request or require that we recall a product even if there is no immediate potential harm to a patient. Any recall of our products or their components that we supply to our partners could materially adversely affect our business by rendering us unable to sell those products or components for some time and by adversely affecting our reputation. Recalls are costly and take time and effort to administer. Even if a recall only initially relates to a single product, product batch, or a portion of a batch, recalls may later be expanded to additional products or batches or we or our partners may incur additional costs and need to dedicate additional efforts to investigate and rule out the potential for additional impacted products or batches. Moreover, if any of our partners recall a product due to an issue with a product or component that we supplied, they may claim that we are responsible for such issue and may seek to recover the costs related to such recall or be entitled to certain contractual remedies from us. Recalls may further result in decreased demand for our partnered or proprietary products, could cause our partners or distributors to return products to us for which we may be required to provide refunds or replacement products, or could result in product shortages. Recalls may also require regulatory reporting and prompt regulators to conduct additional inspections of our or our partners' or contractors' facilities, which could result in findings of noncompliance and regulatory enforcement actions. A recall could also result in product liability claims by individuals and third-party payers. In addition, product liability claims or other safety issues could result in an investigation of the safety or efficacy of our products, our manufacturing processes and facilities, or our marketing programs conducted by the FDA or the authorities of the EU member states and other jurisdictions. Such investigations could also potentially lead to a recall of our products or more serious enforcement actions, limitations on the indications for which they may be used, or suspension, variation, or withdrawal of approval. Any such regulatory action by the FDA, the EMA or the competent authorities of the EU member states could lead to product liability lawsuits as well.

Our success depends on the performance of key employees with relevant experience. We depend substantially on our ability to hire, train, motivate and retain high quality personnel. If we are unable to identify, hire and retain qualified personnel, our ability to support current and future alliances with strategic partners could be adversely impacted. Our use of domestic and international third-party contractors, consultants and staffing agencies also subjects us to potential co-employment liability claims. Furthermore, if we were to lose key personnel, we may lose some portion of our institutional knowledge and technical know-how, potentially causing a disruption or delay in one or more of our partnered development programs until adequate replacement personnel could be hired and trained. In addition, we do not have key person life insurance policies on the lives of any of our employees which would help cover the cost associated with the loss of key employees.

Any of our proprietary or partnered products that have been, or in the future are, approved by the FDA may be purchased or reimbursed by state and federal government authorities, private health insurers and other organizations, such as health maintenance organizations and managed care organizations. Such third-party payers increasingly challenge pharmaceutical product pricing. The trend toward managed healthcare in the U.S., the growth of such organizations, and various legislative proposals and enactments to reform healthcare and government insurance programs, including the Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act of 2003 and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), could significantly influence the manner in which pharmaceutical products are prescribed and purchased, resulting in lower prices and/or a reduction in demand. Such cost containment measures and healthcare reforms could adversely affect our ability to sell our product and our partners' ability to sell their products. In the U.S., our business may be impacted by changes in federal reimbursement policy resulting from executive actions, federal regulations, or federal demonstration projects. The federal administration and/or agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, have announced a number of demonstration projects, recommendations and proposals to implement various elements described in the drug pricing blueprint. CMS, the federal agency responsible for administering Medicare and overseeing state Medicaid programs and Health Insurance Marketplaces, has substantial power to implement policy changes or demonstration projects that can quickly and significantly affect how drugs, including our products, are covered and reimbursed. For example, in November 2020, former President Trump announced the interim final rule to implement the Most Favored Nations drug pricing model seeking to tie Medicare payment rates to an international index price. This final rule was subsequently rescinded by CMS. Additionally, a number of Congressional committees have also held hearings and evaluated proposed legislation on drug pricing and payment policy which may affect our business. For example, in July 2019, the Senate Finance Committee advanced a bill that in part would penalize pharmaceutical manufacturers for increasing drug list prices covered by Medicare Part B and Part D, faster than the rate of inflation, and cap out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Several other proposals have been introduced that, if enacted and implemented, could affect access to and sales of our and our partners' products, allow the federal government to engage in price negotiations on certain drugs, and allow importation of prescription medication from Canada or other countries. For example, in August 2022, "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" was enacted which will, among other things, allow and require the federal government to negotiate prices for some drugs covered under Medicare Part B and Part D, require drug companies to pay rebates to Medicare if prices rise faster than inflation for drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries and cap out-of-pocket spending for individuals enrolled in Medicare Part D. In this dynamic environment, we are unable to predict which or how many federal policy, legislative or regulatory changes may ultimately be enacted. To the extent federal government initiatives decrease or modify the coverage or reimbursement available for our or our partners' products, limit or impact our decisions regarding the pricing of biopharmaceutical products or otherwise reduce the use of our or our partners' U.S. products, such actions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Furthermore, individual states are considering proposed legislation and have become increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access, importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. Legally mandated price controls on payment amounts by third-party payers or other restrictions could negatively and materially impact our revenues and financial condition. We anticipate that we may encounter similar regulatory and legislative issues in most other countries outside the U.S. In addition, private payers in the U.S., including insurers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), integrated healthcare delivery systems, and group purchasing organizations, are continuously seeking ways to reduce drug costs. Many payers have developed and continue to develop ways to shift a greater portion of drug costs to patients through, for example, limited benefit plan designs, high deductible plans and higher co-pay or coinsurance obligations. Consolidation in the payer space has also resulted in a few large PBMs and insurers which place greater pressure on pricing and utilization negotiations for our and our partners' products in the U.S., increasing the need for higher discounts and rebates and limiting patient access and utilization. Ultimately, additional discounts, rebates and other price reductions, fees, coverage and plan changes, or exclusions imposed by these private payers on our and our partners' products could have an adverse event on product sales, our business and results of operations. To help patients afford certain of our products, we offer discount, rebate, and co-pay coupon programs. CMS recently has issued a regulation imposing additional obligations on manufacturers in order to continue excluding such programs from government pricing calculations to avoid payment of increased Medicaid rebates. In recent years, other pharmaceutical manufacturers have been named in class action lawsuits challenging the legality of their co-pay programs under a variety of federal and state laws. Our co-pay coupon programs could become the target of similar lawsuits or insurer actions. It is possible that the outcome of litigation against other manufacturers, changes in insurer policies regarding co-pay coupons, and/or the introduction and enactment of new legislation or regulatory action could restrict or otherwise negatively affect these programs. We also face risks relating to the reporting of pricing data that affects the reimbursement of and discounts provided for our products. Government price reporting regulations are complex and may require a manufacturer to update certain previously submitted data. If our submitted pricing data is incorrect, we may become subject to substantial fines and penalties or other government enforcement actions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, as a result of restating previously reported price data, we also may be required to pay additional rebates and provide additional discounts.

We and our partners are subject to increasingly sophisticated attempts to gain unauthorized access to our information technology storage and access systems and are devoting resources to protect against such intrusion. Cyberattacks could render us or our partners unable to utilize key systems or access important data needed to operate our business. The wrongful use, theft, deliberate sabotage or any other type of security breach with respect to any of our or any of our vendors and partners' information technology storage and access systems could result in the breakdown or other service interruption, or the disruption of our ability to use such systems or disclosure or dissemination of proprietary and confidential information that is electronically stored, including intellectual property, trade secrets, financial information, regulatory information, strategic plans, sales trends and forecasts, litigation materials or personal information belonging to us, our staff, our patients, customers and/or other business partners which could result in a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. We continue to invest in monitoring, and other security and data recovery measures to protect our critical and sensitive data and systems. However, these may not be adequate to prevent or fully recover systems or data from all breakdowns, service interruptions, attacks or breaches of our systems. In addition, our cybersecurity insurance may not be sufficient to cover us against liability related to any such breaches. Furthermore, any physical break-in or trespass of our facilities could result in the misappropriation, theft, sabotage or any other type of security breach with respect to our proprietary and confidential information, including research or clinical data or damage to our research and development equipment and assets. Such adverse effects could be material and irrevocable to our business, operating results, financial condition and reputation.

Our proprietary and partnered products have numerous competitors in the U.S. and abroad including, among others, major pharmaceutical and specialized biotechnology firms, universities and other research institutions that have developed competing products. Many of these competitors have substantially more resources and product development, manufacturing and marketing experience and capabilities than we do. The competitors for Hylenex recombinant include, but are not limited to, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s product, Amphadase, a bovine (bull) hyaluronidase. For our ENHANZE technology, such competitors may include major pharmaceutical and specialized biotechnology firms. These competitors may develop technologies and products that are more effective, safer, or less costly than our current or future proprietary and partnered products and product candidates or that could render our and our partners' products, technologies and product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive.

Our and our partners' ability to earn sufficient returns on proprietary and partnered products will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement for these products and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers, managed care organizations and other healthcare providers. Third-party payers are increasingly attempting to limit both the coverage and the level of reimbursement of new drug products to contain costs. Consequently, significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved healthcare products. Third-party payers may not establish adequate levels of reimbursement for the products that we and our partners commercialize, which could limit their market acceptance and result in a material adverse effect on our revenues and financial condition. Customer contracts, such as with group purchasing organizations and hospital formularies, will often not offer contract or formulary status without either the lowest price or substantial proven clinical differentiation. If, for example, Hylenex is compared to animal-derived hyaluronidases by these entities, it is possible that neither of these conditions will be met, which could limit market acceptance and result in a material adverse effect on our revenues and financial condition.