RISK FACTORS

      You should carefully consider the risks described below before making a decision to buy our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you might lose all or part of your investment in our common stock. You should also refer to the other information set forth in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMPANY

We are an early stage company with a history of losses, and we expect to incur net losses for the foreseeable future.

      We have incurred substantial net losses since our inception. For the years ended December 31, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and the six months ended June 30, 2005, we had a net loss of $11.1 million, $15.3 million, $25.0 million and $15.7 million, respectively. From our inception in August 2000 through June 30, 2005, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $80.5 million. To date, we have generated only minimal revenues, and we may never achieve revenues sufficient to offset expenses. We expect to devote substantially all of our resources to continue commercializing our existing product, Onco type DX, and to develop future products.

      We expect to incur additional losses this year and in future years, and we may never achieve profitability. In addition, we have only recently begun to commercialize Onco type DX and do not expect our losses to be substantially mitigated by revenues from Onco type DX or future products, if any, for a number of years.

We expect to continue to incur significant research and development expenses, which may make it difficult for us to achieve profitability.

      In recent years, we have incurred significant costs in connection with the development of Onco type DX. Our research and development expenses were $7.1 million, $9.1 million and $10.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively, and $4.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005. We expect our research and development expense levels to remain high for the foreseeable future as we seek to enhance our existing product and develop new products. As a result, we will need to generate significant revenues in order to achieve profitability. Our failure to achieve profitability in the future could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

If third-party payors, including managed care organizations and Medicare, do not provide reimbursement for Oncotype DX, its commercial success could be compromised.

      Onco type DX has a list price of $3,460. Physicians and patients may decide not to order Onco type DX unless third-party payors, such as managed care organizations, Medicare and Medicaid, pay a substantial portion of the test’s price. There is significant uncertainty concerning third-party reimbursement of any test incorporating new technology, including Onco type DX. From commercialization of Onco type DX in January 2004 through June 30, 2005, approximately 90% of our revenues derived from the sale of Onco type DX have been paid by third-party payors. Reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend on a number of factors, including a payor’s determination that tests using our technologies are:

Since each payor makes its own decision as to whether to establish a policy to reimburse for a test, seeking these approvals is a time-consuming and costly process. To date, we have secured policy-level reimbursement approval only from a limited number of third-party payors and have not secured any such approval from Medicare or any state Medicaid program. We cannot assure you that coverage for Onco type DX will be provided in the future by any third-party payors.

      In early 2005, the Medical Advisory Panel of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s Technology Evaluation Center, or BCBSA, a technology assessment group, concluded that the existing clinical data in support of Onco type DX did not meet the panel’s technology criteria for clinical effectiveness and appropriateness. This assessment is provided for informational purposes to members of BCBSA and can be used by third-party payors and health care providers such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which provide healthcare coverage for nearly one-third of all Americans, as grounds to deny coverage for Onco type DX.

      In addition, in December 2004, the Northern California Medicare contractor with responsibility for processing and paying claims submitted by us announced that it would not provide coverage for Onco type DX for Medicare beneficiaries. It also indicated that there could be some questions concerning whether the hospital must bill Medicare or we can bill Medicare directly. Finally, it questioned which Medicare contractor has jurisdiction to determine coverage for Medicare claims for our test. Any determination that our test constitutes a hospital service as opposed to an outpatient procedure could result in lower payment rates in the event reimbursement is provided.

      Insurers, including managed care organizations, as well as government payors, such as Medicare, have increased their efforts to control the cost, utilization and delivery of health care services. From time to time, Congress has considered and implemented changes in the Medicare fee schedules in conjunction with budgetary legislation. Further reductions of reimbursement for Medicare services may be implemented from time to time. Reductions in the reimbursement rates of other third-party payors have occurred and may occur in the future. These measures have resulted in reduced prices, added costs and decreased test utilization for the clinical laboratory industry. If we are unable to obtain reimbursement approval from private payors and Medicare and Medicaid programs for Onco type DX, or if the amount reimbursed is inadequate, our ability to generate revenues from Onco type DX could be limited.

If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, were to begin regulating our products, we could be forced to stop sales of Oncotype DX, we could experience significant delays in commercializing any future products, or we could incur substantial costs and time delays associated with meeting requirements for premarket approval.

      Clinical laboratory services like Onco type DX are regulated under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988, or CLIA, as administered through the Center for Medicare/ Medicaid Services, as well as by applicable state laws. Diagnostic kits that are sold and distributed as products through interstate commerce are regulated as medical devices by the FDA. Clinical laboratory tests that are developed and validated by a laboratory for its own use are called home brew tests. Most home brew tests currently are not subject to FDA regulation, although reagents or software provided by third parties and used to perform home brew tests may be subject to regulation. We believe that Onco type DX is not a diagnostic kit and also believe that it is a home brew test. As a result, we believe Onco type DX is not subject to regulation under current FDA policies. The container we provide for collection and transport of tumor samples from a pathology laboratory to our laboratory is a medical device subject to FDA regulation but is currently exempt from premarket review by the FDA.

      In December 2004, the FDA, through the Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Devices, or OIVD, initiated a dialogue with us regarding the regulatory status of Onco type DX. We subsequently engaged in informal communications with the FDA regarding the status of our test. In early 2005, OIVD indicated that the FDA is considering whether our test may be subject to premarket review. We have not heard from the FDA since this communication. We cannot provide any assurance that the FDA will agree with our view on whether Onco type DX is subject to regulation or that FDA regulation, including review by the FDA before marketing, will not be required in the future for Onco type DX.

      If review by the FDA before marketing is required, we might have to stop selling our test until a review is completed and approval or clearance to market is obtained. In this case, the regulatory approval process could involve, among other things, successfully completing additional clinical trials and submitting a premarket clearance notice or filing a premarket approval application with the FDA. There is no assurance that the FDA would clear or approve our test. Ongoing compliance with FDA regulations would increase the cost, time and complexity of conducting our business. In addition, should any of the clinical laboratory device reagents, software or the tumor sample container used in or for our home brew test be affected by future regulatory actions, we could experience increased costs of testing or delays and limitations or unavailability of the reagents or software necessary to perform testing. If we are unable to obtain the reagents necessary to perform our test at all or on commercially reasonable terms, we would need to revise Onco type DX so that it would not require those reagents. Even if we were able to revise Onco type DX so that it would not require those reagents, we would then be required to re-validate our test before using it, which would be time-consuming and expensive.

If we were required to conduct additional clinical trials prior to marketing our products, those trials could lead to delays or failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and harm our ability to become profitable.

      If the FDA decides to regulate our tests, it would require extensive premarket clinical testing prior to submitting a regulatory application for commercial sales. If we are required to conduct premarket clinical trials, whether using prospectively acquired samples or archival samples, delays in the commencement or completion of clinical testing could significantly increase our product development costs and delay product commercialization. Many of the factors that may cause or lead to a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to delay or denial of regulatory approval. The commencement of clinical trials may be delayed due to insufficient patient enrollment, which is a function of many factors, including the size of the patient population, the nature of the protocol, the proximity of patients to clinical sites and the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial. We may find it necessary to engage contract research organizations to perform data collection and analysis and other aspects of our clinical trials, which might increase the cost and complexity of our trials. We may also depend on clinical investigators, medical institutions and contract research organizations to perform the trials properly. If these parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, or if the quality, completeness or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or for other reasons, our clinical trials may have to be extended, delayed or terminated. Many of these factors would be beyond our control. We may not be able to enter into replacement arrangements without undue delays or considerable expenditures. If there are delays in testing or approvals as a result of the failure to perform by third parties, our research and development costs would increase, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for our products. In addition, we may not be able to establish or maintain relationships with these parties on favorable terms, if at all. Each of these outcomes would harm our ability to market our product, or to become profitable.

Complying with numerous regulations pertaining to our business is an expensive and time-consuming process, and any failure to comply could result in substantial penalties.

      We are subject to CLIA, a federal law that regulates clinical laboratories that perform testing on specimens derived from humans for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease. CLIA is intended to ensure the quality and reliability of clinical laboratories in the United States by mandating specific standards in the areas of personnel qualifications, administration, participation in proficiency testing, patient test management, quality control, quality assurance and inspections. We have a current certificate of accreditation under CLIA to perform testing. To renew this certificate, we are subject to survey and inspection every two years, and we expect that we will be inspected within the next nine months. Moreover, CLIA inspectors may make random inspections of our laboratory.

      We are also required to maintain a license to conduct testing in California. California laws establish standards for day-to-day operation of our clinical laboratory, including the training and skills required of personnel and

quality control. Moreover, several states require that we hold licenses to test specimens from patients residing in those states. Other states have similar requirements or may adopt similar requirements in the future. Finally, we may be subject to regulation in foreign jurisdictions as we seek to expand international distribution of our test.

      If we were to lose our CLIA accreditation or California license, whether as a result of a revocation, suspension or limitation, we would no longer be able to sell Onco type DX, which would limit our revenues and harm our business. If we were to lose our license in other states where we are required to hold licenses, we would not be able to test specimens from those states.

      We are subject to other regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business, including:

      The risk of our being found in violation of these laws and regulations is increased by the fact that many of them have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of interpretations. Any action brought against us for violation of these laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws and regulations, we may be subject to any applicable penalty associated with the violation, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, we could be required to refund payments received by us, and we could be required to curtail or cease our operations. Any of the foregoing consequences could seriously harm our business and our financial results.

Our financial results depend on sales of one product, Oncotype DX, and we will need to generate sufficient revenues from this and other products to run our business.

      For the foreseeable future, we expect to derive substantially all of our revenues from sales of one product, Onco type DX. We have only been selling this test since January 2004. We are in the early stages of research and development for other products that we may offer as well as for enhancements to our existing product. We are not currently able to estimate when we may be able to commercialize products for other cancers or whether we will be successful in doing so. If we are unable to increase sales of Onco type DX or to successfully develop and commercialize other products or product enhancements, our revenues and our ability to achieve profitability would be impaired, and the market price of our common stock could decline.

We may experience limits on our revenues if only a small number of physicians decide to adopt our test.

      If medical practitioners do not order Onco type DX or any future tests developed by us, we will likely not be able to create demand for our products in sufficient volume for us to become profitable. To generate demand, we will need to continue to make oncologists, surgeons and pathologists aware of the benefits of Onco type DX, and any products we may develop in the future, through published papers, presentations at scientific conferences and one-on-one education by our sales force. In addition, we will need to demonstrate our ability to obtain adequate reimbursement coverage from third-party payors.

      Existing guidelines and practices regarding the treatment of breast cancer recommend that chemotherapy be considered in most cases, including many cases in which our test may indicate, based on our clinical trial results, that chemotherapy is of little or no benefit. Accordingly, physicians may be reluctant to order a test that may suggest recommending against chemotherapy in treating breast cancer where current guidelines

recommend consideration of such treatment. Moreover, our test provides quantitative information not currently provided by pathologists and it is performed at our facility rather than by the pathologist in a local laboratory, so pathologists may be reluctant to order or support our test. These facts may make it difficult for us to convince medical practitioners to order Onco type DX for their patients, which could limit our ability to generate revenues and our ability to achieve profitability.

We may experience limits on our revenues if only a small number of patients decide to use our test.

      Some patients may decide not to order our test due to its list price of $3,460, part or all of which may be payable directly by the patient if the applicable payor denies reimbursement in full or in part. Even if medical practitioners recommend that their patients use our test, patients may still decide not to use Onco type DX, either because they do not want to be made aware of the likelihood of recurrence or they wish to pursue a particular course of therapy regardless of test results. If only a small portion of the patient population decides to use our test, we will experience limits on our revenues and our ability to achieve profitability.

If we are unable to develop products to keep pace with rapid medical and scientific change, our operating results and competitive position would be harmed.

      In recent years, there have been numerous advances in technologies relating to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. For example, new hormonal therapies such as aromatase inhibitors are viewed by physicians as promising therapies for breast cancer with more tolerable side effects than those associated with tamoxifen, the hormonal therapy commonly used today in treatment. For advanced cancer, new chemotherapeutic strategies are being developed that may increase survival time and reduce toxic side effects. These advances require us continuously to develop new products and enhance existing products to keep pace with evolving standards of care. Our test could become obsolete unless we continually innovate and expand our product to demonstrate recurrence and treatment benefit in patients treated with new therapies. New treatment therapies typically have only a few years of clinical data associated with them, which limits our ability to perform clinical studies and correlate sets of genes to a new treatment’s effectiveness. If we are unable to demonstrate the applicability of our tests to new treatments, then sales of our tests could decline, which would harm our revenues.

Our rights to use technologies licensed from third parties are not within our control, and we may not be able to sell our products if we lose our existing rights or cannot obtain new rights on reasonable terms.

      We license from third parties technology necessary to develop our products. For example, we license technology from Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. that we use to analyze genes for possible inclusion in our tests and that we use in our laboratory to conduct our tests. In return for the use of a third party’s technology, we may agree to pay the licensor royalties based on sales of our products. Royalties are a component of cost of product revenues and impact the margin on our tests. We may need to license other technology to commercialize future products. Our business may suffer if these licenses terminate, if the licensors fail to abide by the terms of the license or fail to prevent infringement by third parties, if the licensed patents or other rights are found to be invalid or if we are unable to enter into necessary licenses on acceptable terms.

Our competitive position depends on maintaining intellectual property protection.

      Our ability to compete and to achieve and maintain profitability depends on our ability to protect our proprietary discoveries and technologies. We currently rely on a combination of patent applications, copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws and confidentiality agreements, material data transfer agreements, license agreements and invention assignment agreements to protect our intellectual property rights. We also rely upon unpatented know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position.

      We do not have any issued patents. Our pending patent applications may not result in issued patents, and we cannot assure you that any patents that might ultimately be issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will protect our technology. Any patents that may be issued to us might be challenged by third parties as being invalid or unenforceable, or third parties may independently develop similar or competing technology

that avoids our patents. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent the misappropriation and use of our intellectual property, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States.

We may face intellectual property infringement claims that could be time-consuming and costly to defend and could result in our loss of significant rights and the assessment of treble damages.

      From time to time, we may receive notices of claims of infringement, misappropriation or misuse of other parties’ proprietary rights. Some of these claims may lead to litigation. We cannot assure you that we will prevail in these actions, or that other actions alleging misappropriation or misuse by us of third-party trade secrets, infringement by us of third-party patents and trademarks or the validity of our patents, will not be asserted or prosecuted against us. We may also initiate claims to defend our intellectual property. Intellectual property litigation, regardless of outcome, is expensive and time-consuming, could divert management’s attention from our business and have a material negative effect on our business, operating results or financial condition. If there is a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be required to pay substantial damages (including treble damages if we were to be found to have willfully infringed a third party’s patent) to the party claiming infringement, develop non-infringing technology, stop selling our test or using technology that contains the allegedly infringing intellectual property or enter into royalty or license agreements that may not be available on acceptable or commercially practical terms, if at all. Our failure to develop non-infringing technologies or license the proprietary rights on a timely basis could harm our business. In addition, revising our test to include the non-infringing technologies would require us to re-validate our test, which would be costly and time consuming. Also, we may be unaware of pending patent applications that relate to our test. Parties making infringement claims on future issued patents may be able to obtain an injunction that would prevent us from selling our test or using technology that contains the allegedly infringing intellectual property, which could harm our business.

      One of the genes in the Onco type DX 21-gene panel may be the subject of a patent, the rights of which are exclusively licensed by a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. We have initiated discussions with Pfizer regarding a license of the patent but have not reached an agreement. If we are not able to negotiate a license on acceptable terms, and if our test is determined to infringe this patent, then we may be forced to develop an alternate method for performing our test. Revising our test may take more than a year and may require that we spend considerable amounts of money to develop a non-infringing gene panel and to validate our findings through a clinical study or studies. We may be forced to pay Pfizer royalties, damages and costs, or we may be prevented from selling our test altogether, which would greatly damage our business and operating results. Also, we are aware of other patents owned by Pfizer that relate to another gene in the Onco type DX 21-gene panel and are currently investigating whether any of the claims warrant a license. In addition, there are a number of patents and patent applications that may constitute prior art in the field of genomic-based diagnostics. We may be required to pay royalties, damages and costs to firms who own the rights to these patents, or we might be restricted from using any of the inventions claimed in those patents.

If we are unable to compete successfully, we may be unable to increase or sustain our revenues or achieve profitability.

      Our principal competition comes from existing diagnostic methods used by pathologists and oncologists. These methods have been used for many years and are therefore difficult to change or supplement. In addition, companies offering capital equipment and kits or reagents to local pathology laboratories represent another source of potential competition. These kits are used directly by the pathologist, which facilitates adoption more readily than tests like Onco type DX that are performed outside the pathology laboratory. In addition, few diagnostic methods are as expensive as Onco type DX.

      We also face competition from companies, such as Agendia B.V., that offer products or have conducted research to profile gene expression in breast cancer using fresh or frozen tissue. Commercial laboratories with strong distribution networks for diagnostic tests, such as Genzyme Corporation, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, may become competitors. Other potential competitors include companies that develop diagnostic tests such as Bayer Healthcare LLC, Celera Genomics, a business

segment of Applera Corporation, Roche Diagnostics, a division of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, and Veridex LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, as well as academic and research institutions.

      Many of our present and potential competitors have widespread brand recognition and substantially greater financial and technical resources and development, production and marketing capabilities than we do. Others may develop lower-priced, less complex tests that could be viewed by physicians and payors as functionally equivalent to our test, which could force us to lower the list price of our test and impact our operating margins and our ability to achieve profitability. If we are unable to compete successfully against current or future competitors, we may be unable to increase market acceptance for and sales of our test, which could prevent us from increasing or sustaining our revenues or achieving or sustaining profitability and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Our research and development efforts will be hindered if we are not able to contract with third parties for access to archival tissue samples.

      Under standard clinical practice in the United States, tumor biopsies removed from patients are chemically preserved and embedded in paraffin wax and stored. Our clinical development relies on our ability to secure access to these archived tumor biopsy samples, as well as information pertaining to their associated clinical outcomes. Others have demonstrated their ability to study archival samples and often compete with us for access. Additionally, the process of negotiating access to archived samples is lengthy since it typically involves numerous parties and approval levels to resolve complex issues such as usage rights, institutional review board approval, privacy rights, publication rights, intellectual property ownership and research parameters. If we are not able to negotiate access to archival tumor tissue samples with hospitals and collaborators, or if other laboratories or our competitors secure access to these samples before us, our ability to research, develop and commercialize future products will be limited or delayed.

If we cannot maintain our current clinical collaborations and enter into new collaborations, our product development could be delayed.

      We rely on and expect to continue to rely on clinical collaborators to perform a substantial portion of our clinical trial functions. If any of our collaborators were to breach or terminate its agreement with us or otherwise fail to conduct its collaborative activities successfully and in a timely manner, the research, development or commercialization of the products contemplated by the collaboration could be delayed or terminated. If any of our collaboration agreements is terminated, or if we are unable to renew those collaborations on acceptable terms, we would be required to seek alternative collaborations. We may not be able to negotiate additional collaborations on acceptable terms, if at all, and these collaborations may not be successful.

      In the past, we have entered into clinical trial collaborations with highly regarded organizations in the cancer field, including the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, or NSABP, and Northern California Kaiser Permanente. Our success in the future depends in part on our ability to enter into agreements with other leading cancer organizations. This can be difficult due to internal and external constraints placed on these organizations. Some organizations may limit the number of collaborations they have with any one company so as to not be perceived as biased or conflicted. Organizations may also have insufficient administrative and related infrastructure to enable collaborations with many companies at once, which can extend the time it takes to develop, negotiate and implement a collaboration. Additionally, organizations often insist on retaining the rights to publish the clinical data resulting from the collaboration. The publication of clinical data in peer-reviewed journals is a crucial step in commercializing and obtaining reimbursement for a test such as ours, and our inability to control when, if ever, results are published may delay or limit our ability to derive sufficient revenues from any product that may result from a collaboration.

      From time to time we expect to engage in discussions with potential clinical collaborators which may or may not lead to collaborations. For example we have held discussions with the National Cancer Institute regarding conducting a large clinical study utilizing Onco type DX. However, we cannot guarantee that any discussions will result in clinical collaborations or that any clinical studies which may result will be enrolled or completed in a reasonable time frame or with successful outcomes. Once news of discussions regarding

possible collaborations are known in the medical community, regardless of whether the news is accurate, failure to announce a collaborative agreement or the entity’s announcement of a collaboration with an entity other than us may result in adverse speculation about us, our product or our technology, resulting in harm to our reputation and our business.

New product development involves a lengthy and complex process, and we may be unable to commercialize any of the products we are currently developing.

      We have multiple products under development and devote considerable resources to research and development. For example, we are currently conducting research on the application of our technology to predict recurrence and the therapeutic benefit of chemotherapy in colon, prostate, renal cell and lung cancers and melanoma. There can be no assurance that our technologies will be capable of reliably predicting the recurrence of cancers, beyond breast cancer, with the sensitivity and specificity necessary to be clinically and commercially useful for the treatment of other cancers, or that we can develop those technologies at all. In addition, before we can develop diagnostic tests for new cancers and commercialize any new products, we will need to:

      This process involves a high degree of risk and takes several years. Our product development efforts may fail for many reasons, including:

      Few research and development projects result in commercial products, and success in early clinical trials often is not replicated in later studies. At any point, we may abandon development of a product candidate or we may be required to expend considerable resources repeating clinical trials, which would adversely impact the timing for generating potential revenues from those product candidates. In addition, as we develop products, we will have to make significant investments in product development, marketing and selling resources. If a clinical validation study fails to demonstrate the prospectively defined endpoints of the study, we would likely abandon the development of the product or product feature that was the subject of the clinical trial, which could harm our business.

The loss of key members of our senior management team or our inability to retain highly skilled scientists, clinicians and salespeople could adversely affect our business.

      Our success depends largely on the skills, experience and performance of key members of our executive management team. The efforts of each of these persons will be critical to us as we continue to develop our technologies and testing processes and as we attempt to transition to a company with more than one commercialized product. If we were to lose one or more of these key employees, we may experience difficulties in competing effectively, developing our technologies and implementing our business strategies.

      Our research and development programs and commercial laboratory operations depend on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled scientists and technicians, including geneticists, licensed laboratory technicians, chemists and engineers. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified scientists and technicians in the future due to the intense competition for qualified personnel among life science businesses, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. We also face competition from universities and public and private research institutions in recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientific personnel. In addition, our success depends on our ability to attract and retain salespeople with extensive experience in oncology and close relationships with medical oncologists, surgeons, pathologists and other hospital personnel. We may have

difficulties locating, recruiting or retaining qualified salespeople, which could cause a delay or decline in the rate of adoption of our products. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience constraints that will adversely affect our ability to support our discovery, development and sales programs.

      All of our employees are at-will employees, which means that either we or the employee may terminate their employment at any time. We maintain key-person life insurance only on Randal Scott, our Chief Executive Officer, Joffre Baker, our Chief Scientific Officer, and Steven Shak, our Chief Medical Officer. We may discontinue this insurance in the future, it may not continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or, if continued, it may prove inadequate to compensate us for the loss of these individuals’ services.

If our sole laboratory facility becomes inoperable, we will be unable to perform our tests and our business will be harmed.

      We do not have redundant laboratory facilities. We perform all of our diagnostic services in our laboratory located in Redwood City, California. Redwood City is situated on or near earthquake fault lines. Our facility and the equipment we use to perform our tests would be costly to replace and could require substantial lead time to repair or replace. The facility may be harmed or rendered inoperable by natural or man-made disasters, including earthquakes, flooding and power outages, which may render it difficult or impossible for us to perform our tests for some period of time. The inability to perform our tests may result in the loss of customers or harm our reputation, and we may be unable to regain those customers in the future. Although we possess insurance for damage to our property and the disruption of our business, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our potential losses and may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.

      In order to rely on a third party to perform our tests, we could only use another facility with established state licensure and CLIA accreditation under the scope of which Onco type DX could be performed following validation and other required procedures. We cannot assure you that we would be able to find another CLIA-certified facility willing to adopt Onco type DX and comply with the required procedures, or that this laboratory would be willing to perform the tests for us on commercially reasonable terms. In order to establish a redundant laboratory facility, we would have to spend considerable time and money securing adequate space, constructing the facility, recruiting and training employees, and establishing the additional operational and administrative infrastructure necessary to support a second facility. Additionally, any new clinical laboratory facility opened by us would be subject to certification under CLIA and licensed by several states, including California and New York, which can take a significant amount of time and result in delays in our ability to begin operations.

Changes in healthcare policy could subject us to additional regulatory requirements that may interrupt commercialization of Oncotype DX and increase our costs.

      Healthcare policy has been a subject of extensive discussion in the executive and legislative branches of the federal and many state governments. We developed our commercialization strategy for Onco type DX based on existing healthcare policies. Changes in healthcare policy, such as the creation of broad limits for diagnostic products in general or requirements that Medicare patients pay for portions of tests or services received, could substantially interrupt the sales of Onco type DX, increase costs and divert management’s attention. For example, in 1993, the U.S. Congress passed federal self-referral prohibitions commonly known as the Stark Law, significantly restricting, regulating and changing healthcare companies’ relationships with physicians. We cannot predict what changes, if any, will be proposed or adopted or the effect that such proposals or adoption may have on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on a sole supplier for some of our laboratory instruments and may not be able to find replacements in the event our sole supplier no longer supplies that equipment.

      We rely solely on Applied Biosystems, a division of Applera Corporation, to supply some of the laboratory equipment on which we perform our tests. We periodically forecast our needs for laboratory

equipment and enter into standard purchase orders with Applied Biosystems based on these forecasts. We believe that there are relatively few equipment manufacturers other than Applied Biosystems that are currently capable of supplying the equipment necessary for Onco type DX. Even if we were to identify other suppliers, there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into agreements with such suppliers on a timely basis on acceptable terms, if at all. If we should encounter delays or difficulties in securing from Applied Biosystems the quality and quantity of equipment we require for Onco type DX, we may need to reconfigure our test process, which would result in delays in commercialization or an interruption in sales. If any of these events occur, our business and operating results could be harmed. Additionally, if Applied Biosystems deems us to have become uncreditworthy, it has the right to require alternative payment terms from us, including payment in advance. We are also required to indemnify Applied Biosystems against any damages caused by any legal action or proceeding brought by a third party against Applied Biosystems for damages caused by our failure to obtain required approval with any regulatory agency.

If we are unable to support demand for our products, our business may suffer.

      Since we only began the commercialization of Onco type DX in January 2004, we have limited experience in processing our test and even more limited experience in processing large volumes of tests. If demand for Onco type DX increases, we will be required to implement increases in scale and related processing, customer service, billing and systems process improvements, and to expand our internal quality assurance program to support testing on a larger scale. We will also need additional certified laboratory scientists and other scientific and technical personnel to process our tests. We cannot assure you that any increases in scale, related improvements and quality assurance will be successfully implemented or that appropriate personnel will be available. Failure to implement necessary procedures or to hire the necessary personnel could result in higher cost of processing or an inability to meet market demand. Since we have limited experience handling large volumes of Onco type DX tests, there can be no assurance that we will be able to perform tests on a timely basis at a level consistent with demand. If we encounter difficulty meeting market demand for Onco type DX, our reputation could be harmed and our future prospects and our business could suffer.

We may be unable to manage our future growth effectively, which would make it difficult to execute our business strategy.

      Future growth will impose significant added responsibilities on management, including the need to identify, recruit, train and integrate additional employees. In addition, rapid and significant growth will place strain on our administrative and operational infrastructure, including customer service and our clinical laboratory. Our ability to manage our operations and growth will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, it may be difficult for us to execute our business strategy.

If we were sued for product liability, we could face substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.

      The marketing, sale and use of our test could lead to the filing of product liability claims if someone were to allege that our product failed to perform as it was designed. We may also be subject to liability for errors in the information we provide to customers or for a misunderstanding of, or inappropriate reliance upon, the information we provide. A product liability claim could result in substantial damages and be costly and time consuming for us to defend. Although we believe that our existing product liability insurance is adequate, we cannot assure you that our insurance would fully protect us from the financial impact of defending against product liability claims. Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could increase our insurance rates or prevent us from securing insurance coverage in the future. Additionally, any product liability lawsuit could cause injury to our reputation, result in the recall of our products, or cause current collaborators to terminate existing agreements and potential collaborators to seek other partners, any of which could impact our results of operations.

If we use biological and hazardous materials in a manner that causes injury, we could be liable for damages.

      Our activities currently require the controlled use of potentially harmful biological materials, hazardous materials and chemicals and may in the future require the use of radioactive compounds. We cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury to employees or third parties from the use, storage, handling or disposal of these materials. In the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources or any applicable insurance coverage we may have. Additionally, we are subject on an ongoing basis to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. The cost of compliance with these laws and regulations might be significant and could negatively affect our operating results.

Our dependence on distributors for foreign sales of Oncotype DX could limit or prevent us from selling our products in foreign markets and from realizing long-term international revenue growth.

      International sales as a percentage of net revenues are expected to remain minimal in the near term as we focus our efforts on the sale of Onco type DX in the United States. We currently depend on one third-party distributor to sell Onco type DX in Israel. Over the long term, we intend to grow our business internationally, and to do so we will need to attract additional distributors to expand the territories in which we sell Onco type DX. Distributors may not commit the necessary resources to market and sell Onco type DX to the level of our expectations. If current or future distributors do not perform adequately, or we are unable to locate distributors in particular geographic areas, we may not realize long-term international revenue growth.

We may acquire other businesses or form joint ventures that could harm our operating results, dilute your ownership of us, increase our debt or cause us to incur significant expense.

      As part of our business strategy, we may pursue acquisitions of complementary businesses and assets, as well as technology licensing arrangements. We also may pursue strategic alliances that leverage our core technology and industry experience to expand our product offerings or distribution. We have no experience with respect to acquiring other companies and limited experience with respect to the formation of collaborations, strategic alliances and joint ventures. If we make any acquisitions, we may not be able to integrate these acquisitions successfully into our existing business, and we could assume unknown or contingent liabilities. Any future acquisitions by us also could result in significant write-offs or the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, any of which could harm our operating results. Integration of an acquired company also may require management resources that otherwise would be available for ongoing development of our existing business. We may not identify or complete these transactions in a timely manner, on a cost-effective basis, or at all, and we may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, technology license, strategic alliance or joint venture.

      To finance any acquisitions, we may choose to issue shares of our common stock as consideration, which would dilute your interest in us. If the price of our common stock is low or volatile, we may not be able to acquire other companies for stock. Alternatively, it may be necessary for us to raise additional funds for acquisitions through public or private financings. Additional funds may not be available on terms that are favorable to us, or at all.

Our inability to raise additional capital on acceptable terms in the future may limit our ability to develop and commercialize new products and technologies.

      We expect capital outlays and operating expenditures to increase over the next several years as we expand our infrastructure, commercial operations and research and development activities. Specifically, we may need to raise additional capital to, among other things:

      Our present and future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:

      If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, dilution to our stockholders could result. Any equity securities issued also may provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. If we raise additional funds by issuing debt securities, these debt securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock, and the terms of the debt securities issued could impose significant restrictions on our operations. If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we might be required to relinquish significant rights to our technologies or products, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If adequate funds are not available, we may have to scale back our operations or limit our research and development activities.

We must implement additional and expensive finance and accounting systems, procedures and controls as we grow our business and organization and to satisfy new reporting requirements, which will increase our costs and require additional management resources.

      As a public reporting company, we will be required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including expanded disclosures and accelerated reporting requirements and more complex accounting rules. Compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other requirements will increase our costs and require additional management resources. We recently have been upgrading our finance and accounting systems, procedures and controls and will need to continue to implement additional finance and accounting systems, procedures and controls as we grow our business and organization and to satisfy new reporting requirements. If we are unable to complete the required Section 404 assessment as to the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, if we

fail to maintain or implement adequate controls, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the date of our first Form 10-K for which compliance is required, our ability to obtain additional financing could be impaired. In addition, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our internal control over financial reporting and in the accuracy of our periodic reports filed under the Exchange Act. A lack of investor confidence in the reliability and accuracy of our public reporting could cause our stock price to decline.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK

Our operating results may fluctuate, which could cause our stock price to decrease.

      Fluctuations in our operating results may lead to fluctuations, including declines, in our share price. Our operating results and our share price may fluctuate from period to period due to a variety of factors, including:

      Variations in the timing of our future revenues and expenses could also cause significant fluctuations in our operating results from period to period and may result in unanticipated earning shortfalls or losses. In addition, the Nasdaq National Market in general, and the market for life science companies in particular, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies.

If an active, liquid trading market for our common stock does not develop, you may not be able to sell your shares quickly or at or above the initial offering price.

      Prior to this offering, there has not been a public market for our common stock. An active and liquid trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained following this offering. You may not be able to sell your shares quickly or at or above the initial offering price if trading in our stock is not active. The initial public offering price may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the trading market. See

“Underwriting” for more information regarding the factors that will be considered in determining the initial public offering price.

Purchasers in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of their investment.

      The initial public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering. In other words, you are paying a price per share that substantially exceeds the value of our assets after subtracting our liabilities. Based on an assumed initial public offering price of $13.00 per share and the pro forma net tangible book value of our common stock at June 30, 2005, your shares will be worth $9.38 less per share than you will pay in the offering. Further, investors participating in this offering will contribute approximately 37.4% of the total amount invested by stockholders since our inception but will only own approximately 20.7% of the total shares outstanding immediately after this offering. The exercise of outstanding options will result in further dilution of your investment. In addition, if we raise funds by issuing additional shares, the newly issued shares will further dilute your ownership interest.

We may allocate net proceeds from this offering in ways with which you may not agree.

      Our management will have broad discretion in using the proceeds from this offering and may use the proceeds in ways with which you may disagree. Because we are not required to allocate the net proceeds from this offering to any specific investment or transaction, you cannot determine at this time the value or propriety of our application of the proceeds. Moreover, you will not have the opportunity to evaluate the economic, financial or other information on which we base our decisions on how to use our proceeds. We may use the proceeds for corporate purposes that do not immediately enhance our prospects for the future or increase the value of your investment. As a result, you and other stockholders may not agree with our decisions.

Future sales of shares by our stockholders could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

      After this offering, we will have outstanding 24,316,189 shares of common stock based on the number of shares outstanding at August 31, 2005. This includes the 5,016,722 shares we are selling in this offering, which may be resold in the public market immediately, other than any shares sold to participants in our directed share program, which are subject to a 180-day lockup. The remaining 19,299,467 shares will become available for resale in the public market as shown in the chart below.

      At any time and without public notice, the underwriters may in their sole discretion release all or some of the securities subject to the lock-up agreements. As restrictions on resale end, the market price of our stock could drop significantly if the holders of those shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. In addition, six months after this offering, the holders of 17,560,458 shares of common stock issued upon the conversion of our preferred stock may require us to file a registration statement covering those shares, which may also cause our stock price to decline. These declines in our stock price could occur even if our business is otherwise doing well.

If our principal stockholders, executive officers and directors choose to act together, they may be able to control our management and operations, which may prevent us from taking actions that may be favorable to you.

      Our executive officers, directors and principal stockholders, and entities affiliated with them, will beneficially own in the aggregate approximately 46.2% of our common stock following this offering. To the extent our existing stockholders purchase additional shares, in this offering or otherwise, this ownership concentration would increase. This significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock because investors often perceive disadvantages in owning stock in companies with controlling stockholders. These stockholders, acting together, will have the ability to exert substantial influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election and removal of directors and any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, they could dictate the management of our business and affairs. This concentration of ownership could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us or impeding a merger or consolidation, takeover or other business combination that could be favorable to you.

We do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. As a result, you must rely on stock appreciation for any return on your investment.

      We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends will also depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors and will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, you will have to rely on capital appreciation, if any, to earn a return on your investment in our common stock. Furthermore, we may in the future become subject to contractual restrictions on, or prohibitions against, the payment of dividends.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter, bylaws and Delaware law may make it difficult for you to change our management and may also make a takeover difficult.

      Our corporate documents and Delaware law contain provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to change our management and may also enable our management to resist a takeover. These provisions include limitations on persons authorized to call a special meeting of stockholders and advance notice procedures required for stockholders to make nominations of candidates for election as directors or to bring matters before an annual meeting of stockholders. These provisions might discourage, delay or prevent a change of control or in our management. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors and cause us to take other corporate actions. In addition, the existence of these provisions, together with Delaware law, might hinder or delay an attempted takeover other than through negotiations with our board of directors.