Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the following risk factors, as well as the other information in this report, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital

We have incurred net losses every year since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future, and as a result, our management has identified and our auditors agreed that there is a substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Investment in pharmaceutical product development is highly speculative because it entails substantial upfront costs and expenses and significant risk that a drug candidate will fail to gain regulatory approval or become commercially viable. Since our formation, we have relied on a combination of public and private securities offerings, public-private partnerships, the issuance of convertible notes and public grants to fund our operations. We have devoted most of our financial resources to research and development, including our non-clinical development activities and clinical trials, and only one of the product candidates we developed has been commercialized to date. We have not generated substantial revenue from product sales to date, and we continue to incur significant development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations. As a result, we incurred losses in the last two fiscal years. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we reported net losses of $104.4 million and $202.0 million, respectively, and had an accumulated deficit of $1,016.8 million as of December 31, 2022. Substantially all of our operating losses have resulted from costs incurred in connection with our research and development programs and from selling, general and administrative expenses associated with our operations.

We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect these losses to increase as we pivot to focus on the cell therapy platform and continue our development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates. Because none of the potential product candidates in the cell therapy platform were as advanced in the review process as Oral Paclitaxel in the Orascovery platform before we received the CRL, we expect to continue to incur losses for longer than initially anticipated. Typically, it takes many years to develop a new drug before it is available for treating patients. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses, our ability to generate revenue and the timing and amount of milestones, payments due pursuant to our financing arrangements, and other required payments to third parties in connection with our potential future arrangements with third parties. If any of our drug candidates fail in clinical trials or do not gain regulatory approval, or if approved, fail to achieve market acceptance, we may never become profitable. Even if we achieve profitability in the future, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent periods. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had, and will continue to have, an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital.

We expect our research and development expenses to continue to be significant in connection with our continued investment in our drug candidates and our ongoing and planned clinical trials for our drug candidates. In addition, as a public company, we incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. As a result, we expect to continue to incur significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations for the foreseeable future. These losses have had and will continue to have a material adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity, financial position, cash flows and working capital.

The report of our independent registered public accounting firm that accompanies our audited consolidated financial statements contains an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result if we are unable to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, holders of our securities might lose their entire investment. These factors, among others, may make it difficult to raise any additional capital and may cause us to be unable to continue to operate our business or force us to seek bankruptcy protection.

Our strategic pivot to focus on our cell therapy platform and our disposal of non-core assets may not result in anticipated savings, could result in total costs and expenses that are greater than expected, could make it more difficult to retain qualified personnel and may significantly disrupt our operations, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In 2022, we began a strategic pivot to become a cell therapy company and monetized non-core assets to raise capital to support the development of our cell therapy platform. We sold (i) certain of our rights to payments under the Almirall License Agreement for Klisyri, (ii) our rights to the Dunkirk Facility, and (iii) our interest in our API manufacturing business in China. We also exited the APS 503B sterile compounding business. The process of monetizing these assets has been disruptive to our daily operating activities

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and resulted in a shift in focus of our business. To the extent we are able to monetize other non-core assets, the attention of our management team may be diverted and our operating activities may be further disrupted.

There can be no assurance that our divestiture of these assets will be successful, or that the sale of any additional non-core assets will raise sufficient funds for us to continue our business. We may not realize in full the anticipated benefits, savings and improvements in our strategic pivot efforts due to unforeseen difficulties, delays, disruptions or unexpected costs. The costs of disposing of the assets may exceed the cost savings we generate. Any cost-saving measures we implement, including further workforce reductions, may distract remaining employees from our business, cause unplanned employee attrition, reduce employee morale and productivity, disrupt our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, yield other unanticipated consequences and damage our reputation.

There can be no assurance that our focus on our cell therapy platform will be successful, result in the advancement of a proprietary drug product, or yield any revenue in the future. The drug development process is expensive, can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. We may suffer significant additional setbacks in focusing on our cell therapy platform and may never become profitable. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our financial results are subject to volatility related to our revenue and expenses, and we have not yet been and may never become profitable.

Our financial results are subject to volatility based on a number of factors, including the timing of milestone licensing fees that we receive or are required to pay, the amount and timing of our debt repayment obligations, the change in product types sold by APD and whether those products are in high demand, our ability to predict the products in high demand in the market, competition in the market for generic drugs. Our ability to generate revenue and become profitable depends upon our ability to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for, our proprietary drug candidates, which may not occur for many years. Our revenue and gross margins are also subject to fluctuation due to changes in APD product mix and the expenses we incur to continue our research and development and commercialization efforts.

We expect to continue to incur substantial losses through the projected development of our drug candidates. None of our current proprietary drug candidates have been approved for marketing in the U.S. or any other jurisdiction, and they may never receive such approval. Our ability to achieve revenue and profitability is dependent on our ability to complete the development of our proprietary drug candidates, obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and have our proprietary drugs manufactured and successfully marketed.

Even if we receive regulatory approval of our proprietary drug candidates for commercial sale, we do not know when they will generate revenue, if at all. Our ability to generate revenue from product sales of our drug candidates depends on a number of factors, including our ability to:

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In addition, because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with drug development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses, or if we will be able to achieve profitability. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA or regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions to perform studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. For example, we will incur additional expenses to re-engage with the FDA by discussing the data from the I-SPY2 TRIAL with respect to our mBC NDA, but we cannot assure you that those discussions will be more successful than the NDA for which we received the CRL.

If we fail to become profitable, we may be unable to continue our operations at planned levels and be forced to further reduce our operations or cease operations. Failure to become profitable may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to raise capital and continue operations. A decline in the value of our company could cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

We will need to obtain additional financing to fund our operations, and if we are unable to obtain such financing, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of our drug candidates or continue to operate our business.

To date, we have financed our operations with the proceeds from debt financings, public and private securities offerings, public-private partnerships, the issuance of convertible notes and public grants, If we are unable to monetize assets or raise additional capital, we believe that the existing cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments will fund operations into the second quarter of 2023 and will not be sufficient to fund our operations through the next twelve months beyond the date of the issuance of our consolidated financial statements. Our drug candidates require substantial investment for clinical studies and regulatory review before they can provide us with any product sales revenue, if any. Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. The net cash used for our operating activities from continuing operations was $64.3 million, and $129.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts on advancing the clinical development of our proprietary drug candidates. Moreover, our research and development expenses and other contractual commitments are substantial and may increase in the future.

If we are unable to raise additional capital, we would not have sufficient cash on hand or available liquidity that can be utilized to repay our outstanding debt if Oaktree Fund Administration, LLC as an administrative agent, and the lenders party thereto (collectively, "Oaktree") declares the amounts due under the senior secured loan agreement and related security agreements, as amended, (the “Senior Credit Agreement”) immediately due and payable. We do not have access to additional capital under the Senior Credit Agreement. We could spend our available financial resources much faster than expected and may need to raise additional funds sooner than anticipated. If we are unable to monetize assets or raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we will be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and development programs or future commercialization efforts. Our inability to obtain additional funding when needed could seriously harm our business or make it impossible for us to continue to operate our business, and may cause us to seek bankruptcy protection.

We may not be able to repay, refinance, or restructure our substantial indebtedness owed to our senior secured lender, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and may cause us to seek bankruptcy protection.

We anticipate that we will need to raise a significant amount of debt or equity capital in the future in order to repay our outstanding debt obligations owed under the Senior Credit Agreement and to continue to fund our operations. We are required to make quarterly amortizing payments until the maturity date of June 19, 2026, when then the remaining balance of the principal plus accrued and unpaid interest will be due. If we are unable to raise sufficient capital to repay these obligations and we are otherwise unable to extend the maturity dates or refinance these obligations, we would be in default. On March 7 and March 13, 2023, we received notices of certain alleged defaults and reservations of rights from Oaktree related to the Senior Credit Agreement. The alleged defaults relate to (i) the Company exceeding the $10.0 million threshold for incurring additional indebtedness by having accounts payable owed to counterparties overdue by more than 90 days, (ii) the Company’s obligation to provide notice to Oaktree related to the foregoing, and (iii) the Company’s obligation to provide notice to Oaktree regarding the recent reverse stock split. Upon the occurrence of an Event of Default, Oaktree has the right to accelerate all amounts outstanding under the Senior Credit Agreement, in addition to other remedies available to it as a secured creditor of ours. If Oaktree accelerates the maturity of the indebtedness under the Senior Credit Agreement, we do not have sufficient capital available to pay the amounts due on a timely basis, if at all, and there is no guarantee that we would be able to repay, refinance or restructure the payments due under the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, an Event of Default under the Senior Credit Agreement may trigger cross-default under our other agreements, , which could increase our obligations or reduce our rights under those agreements of the Company. The Company responded to Oaktree, including grounds upon which the Company disputes each of the alleged defaults. The Company has not reached a mutual agreement with Oaktree on this matter.

We cannot provide any assurances that we will be able to raise the necessary amount of capital to repay these obligations or that we will be able to extend the maturity dates or otherwise refinance these obligations. If we are unable to monetize assets or raise additional capital, we may breach additional financial covenants under the Senior Credit Agreement. The outstanding principal balance under the Senior Credit Agreement was $44.7 million as of December 31, 2022. If we are unable to monetize assets or raise additional capital, we would not have sufficient cash on hand or available liquidity that can be utilized to repay the outstanding debt if

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Oaktree accelerated the maturity of all amounts outstanding under the Senior Credit Agreement. Oaktree has the right to exercise its rights and remedies to collect, which includes foreclosing on our assets if we are unable to pay the amounts due. Accordingly, a default leading to Oaktree accelerating the maturity of the indebtedness under the Senior Credit Agreement would have a material adverse effect on our business and, if Oaktree exercises its rights and remedies, we would likely be forced to seek bankruptcy protection.

Covenants in the agreements governing our existing debt agreements restrict the manner in which we conduct our business.

The Senior Credit Agreement contains various covenants that limit, subject to certain exemptions, our ability and/or our certain of our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness or liens; make investments; consummate business combinations such as mergers and dispositions; prepay other indebtedness; apply the funds raised by monetizing non-core assets to our operations without restrictions; and to declare dividends and other distributions, subject to certain exceptions, including specific exceptions with respect to product commercialization and development activities. For example, when we have been able to monetize our non-core assets, we have been required to make mandatory prepayments of principal, accrued and unpaid interest, and certain fees to Oaktree in addition to the quarterly amortization payments due under the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement. In addition, we received a notice of default and reservation of rights from Oaktree related to incurring additional indebtedness by having accounts payable owed to counterparties and overdue by more than 90 days in excess of the threshold in the Senior Credit Agreement. Oaktree has the right to accelerate all amounts outstanding under the Senior Credit Agreement, in addition to other remedies available to it as a secured creditor of ours.

The Senior Credit Agreement contains certain financial covenants, including, among other things, maintenance of minimum liquidity and a minimum revenue test, measured quarterly until the last day of the second consecutive fiscal quarter where the consolidated leverage ratio does not exceed 4.5 to 1, provided that thereafter we cannot allow our consolidated leverage ratio to exceed 4.5 to 1, measured quarterly. The Senior Credit Agreement requires that we maintain a minimum liquidity amount in cash or permitted cash equivalent investments of $10.0 million. Our obligations under the Senior Credit Agreement are guaranteed by certain of our existing domestic subsidiaries and subsequently acquired or organized subsidiaries subject to certain exceptions. Our obligations under the Senior Credit Agreement and the related guarantees thereunder are secured, subject to customary permitted liens and other agreed upon exceptions, by (i) a pledge of all of the equity interests of our direct subsidiaries, and (ii) a perfected security interest in all of our tangible and intangible assets.

The restrictions contained in our Senior Credit Agreement governing our debt could adversely affect our ability to:

A breach of any of these covenants, subject to certain cure rights of the Company, could result in an additional default under the agreements governing our debt. Further, additional indebtedness that we incur in the future may subject us to further covenants. If a default under any such debt agreement is not cured or waived, the default could result in the acceleration of debt, which could require us to repay debt prior to the date it is otherwise due and that could adversely affect our financial condition. If Oaktree accelerates the maturity of indebtedness under the Senior Credit Agreement, the lenders may seek repayment through our subsidiary guarantors or by executing on the security interest granted pursuant to the Senior Credit Agreement and related security agreements. If we are unable to monetize assets or raise additional capital, we may breach additional financial covenants under the Senior Credit Agreement. The outstanding principal balance under the Senior Credit Agreement was $44.7 million as of December 31, 2022. If we are unable to monetize assets or raise additional capital, we would not have sufficient cash on hand or available liquidity that can be utilized to repay the outstanding debt in the event Oaktree accelerates its maturity. Accordingly, if Oaktree exercises its rights and remedies by accelerating the maturity of the indebtedness under the Senior Credit Agreement, it would have a material adverse effect on our business and we would likely be forced to seek bankruptcy protection.

Our ability to comply with the covenants, restrictions and specified financial ratios contained in the Senior Credit Agreement may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial, and industry conditions. Even if we are able to comply with all of the applicable covenants, the restrictions on our ability to manage our business in our sole discretion could adversely affect our business by, among other things, limiting our ability to take advantage of financings, mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate opportunities that we believe would be beneficial to us.

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An impairment of long-lived assets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We review the recoverability of our long-lived assets at least annually or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances occur that indicate that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. Changes in market conditions, including further increases in interest rates, exchange rate fluctuations, or other changes in the future outlook of value may lead to an impairment of our long-lived assets in the future. The sale of assets, exit of a business, or change in our business strategy may lead to additional impairment charges. Any significant impairment could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We cannot accurately predict the amount and timing of any future impairment of assets, and we may be required to take additional charges relating to certain of our reporting units. Any such charges would have an adverse effect on our financial results.

We are a party to ongoing legal proceedings and, while we cannot predict the outcome of those proceedings and other contingencies with certainty, if we settle these claims or the proceedings are not decided in our favor, our business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We have been, and may in the future be, subject to various legal and regulatory proceedings, including class action litigation. It is inherently difficult to assess the outcome of these matters, and there can be no assurance that we will prevail in any proceeding or litigation. Legal and regulatory matters of any degree of significance could result in substantial cost and diversion of our efforts, which by itself could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

As disclosed in Part I, Item 3, “Legal Proceedings,” following our receipt of the CRL in February 2021 and the subsequent decline of the market price of our common stock, two purported class action lawsuits were filed against the Company and certain members of its management team, along with a related shareholder derivative lawsuit. In addition, we are subject to a breach of contract claim brought by Exyte U.S., Inc. against us and ImmunityBio, Inc., in connection with the design and build of the Dunkirk Facility by Exyte for the Company. If we settle these claims or the litigation is not resolved in our favor, we may suffer reputational damage and incur legal costs, settlements or judgments that exceed the amounts covered by our existing insurance policies. We can provide no assurances that our insurer will insure the legal costs, settlements or judgements we incur in excess of our deductible. If we are not successful in defending ourselves from these claims, or if our insurer does not insure us against legal costs we incur in excess of our deductible, the result may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Defending against these and any future lawsuits and legal proceedings, regardless of their merit, may involve significant expense, be disruptive to our business operations and divert our management's attention and resources. Negative publicity surrounding these legal proceedings may also harm our reputation, our stock price, and adversely impact our business and financial condition.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or drug candidates.

We may seek additional funding through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, licensing arrangements, and selling our non-core assets. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of our common stock. The incurrence of additional indebtedness or the issuance of certain equity securities could result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in certain additional restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt or issue additional equity, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. In addition, issuance of additional equity securities, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. In the event that we enter into collaborations or licensing arrangements or sell non-core assets in order to raise capital, we may be required to accept unfavorable terms, including relinquishing or licensing to a third party on unfavorable terms our rights to technologies or proprietary drug candidates that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves or potentially reserve for future potential arrangements when we might be able to achieve more favorable terms.

Risks Related to Clinical Development of Our Proprietary Drug Candidates

Our clinical candidates are still in the development stage and have not yet received regulatory approval, which may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and predict our future performance.

Our operations to date have focused on organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, establishing our intellectual property portfolio and conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials of our drug candidates. Other than Klisyri, which is being commercialized primarily by out-license partners, we have not obtained regulatory approval for our drug candidates. We do not have and, in the near term, do not expect to develop sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization of the drug candidates we intend to commercialize. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be accurate. Because we are changing our focus from our Orascovery platform to our cell therapy platform, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown challenges.

We are focused on the discovery and development of innovative drugs for the treatment of cancers. The fact that we have not yet, among other things, demonstrated our ability to initiate or complete large-scale clinical trials, particularly in light of the rapidly

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evolving cancer treatment field, may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and predict our future performance. These constraints make any assessment of our future success or viability subject to significant uncertainty. We will encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by early-stage companies in rapidly evolving fields as we seek to transition to a cell therapy company. If we do not address these risks and difficulties successfully, our business will suffer. We depend substantially on the success of our proprietary drug candidates, which are in pre-clinical and clinical development.

Our business and the ability to generate revenue related to product sales from our proprietary drug candidates will depend on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization for the treatment of patients with our drug candidates, which are still in development, and other drugs we may develop. Clinical development is a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome. We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of our existing drug candidates and drug candidates for which we have suspended development. Our investment in our drug candidates may not be successful. The success of our proprietary drug candidates will depend on several factors, including:

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. Drug candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and/or efficacy results between different trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations, including genetic differences, patient adherence to the dosing regimen and other trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. In the case of any trials we conduct, results may differ from early trials due to the larger number of patients, clinical trial sites and additional countries and populations involved in such trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials. Our future clinical trial results may not be favorable as previous trials with the same compound, even with the same indication.

Because most of our clinical candidates are in the development stage and have not yet received regulatory approval, we may never be able to generate sufficient revenues and cash flows to continue our operations.

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional drug candidates. Due to our limited resources and access to capital, we must and have in the past decided to prioritize development of certain product candidates; these decisions may prove to have been wrong and may adversely affect our business.

Historically, we have focused our drug discovery efforts on developing our cancer platform, particularly our Orascovery product candidates. Following our receipt of the CRL for Oral Paclitaxel, we paused pursuing regulatory approval for Oral Paclitaxel monotherapy for the treatment of mBC in the U.S. and paused development on our other Orascovery product candidates. While we now plan to discuss the I-SPY 2 TRIAL data with the FDA with respect to our mBC NDA for Oral Paclitaxel, we have redeployed our resources to developing our cell therapy platform. If our platform fails to identify potential drug candidates, our business could be materially harmed. Additionally, our management, at the direction of our board of directors, has discretion in prioritizing which product candidates to develop.

Research programs to pursue the development of our drug candidates for additional indications and to identify new drug candidates and disease targets require substantial technical, financial and human resources whether or not we ultimately are successful. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential indications and/or drug candidates, yet fail to yield results for clinical development for a number of reasons, including:

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Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on research programs and drug candidates for specific indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other drug candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential or a greater likelihood of success. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities.

Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will be able to identify therapeutic opportunities for our drug candidates or to develop suitable potential drug candidates through internal research programs, which could materially adversely affect our future growth and prospects. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential drug candidates or other potential programs that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.

The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion. We and our research partners have from time to time and may in the future experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons, including:

In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for drug candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our drug candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Because the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we may conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which would reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials at such clinical trial sites.

Even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of patients in our clinical trials, delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our drug candidates.

Our drug candidates represent a novel approach to cancer treatment, which could result in delays in clinical development, heightened regulatory scrutiny, and delays in our ability to achieve regulatory approval or commercialization, or market acceptance by physicians and patients of our drug candidates.

Our drug candidates, particularly those developed through our cell therapy platform, represent a departure from more commonly used methods for cancer treatment, and therefore represent a novel approach that carries inherent development risks. Although there is some previous clinical experience with nonengineered NKT cells, given that this is a novel approach, it is possible that we may encounter unexpected clinical trial results, which may delay our development programs. For example, the FDA imposed a clinical hold on the KUR-501 IND after a heavily pretreated young male patient died during the trial. While we intend to work with BCM to help address the FDA's questions and target to reopen the clinical trial during the year, BCM may not resume GINAKIT2 study patient enrollment unless and until the FDA lifts their clinical hold of the KUR-501 IND. If the FDA lifts the clinical hold, the clinical trial may only resume under the terms authorized by the FDA. There can be no assurance that BCM will be able to resume the Phase 1 clinical trial of KUR-501. In addition, our Orascovery platform intends to facilitate the delivery of chemotherapy agents orally, as opposed to IV. Because of this, unexpected safety and tolerability concerns may arise during the development process. The need to

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further develop or modify in any way the protocols related to our drug candidates to demonstrate safety or efficacy may delay the clinical program, regulatory approval or commercialization, if approved.

In addition, potential patients and their doctors may be inclined to use conventional standard-of-care treatments rather than enroll patients in a clinical trial or to use our product candidates commercially, if approved. This may have a material impact on our ability to generate revenues from our drug candidates. Further, given the novelty of the administration of our drug candidates, hospitals and physicians may prefer traditional treatment methods, may be reluctant to adopt the use of our products or may require a substantial amount of education and training, any of which could delay or prevent acceptance of our products by physicians and patients and materially hinder successful commercialization of our drug candidates.

Our products and product candidates may cause undesirable, or an increase in the frequency of, side effects that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.

Undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, as indicated by the FDA in its CRL with respect to our NDA for Oral Paclitaxel, that indicated a need for an additional study to examine safety and dosing. In addition, the FDA imposed a clinical hold on the Phase 1 clinical trial of KUR-501 after a heavily pretreated young male patient died during the trial. Unless and until the FDA authorizes resumption of the clinical trial, BCM cannot continue the trial. If the FDA authorizes the trial to reopen, the clinical trial may only continue under the terms authorized by the FDA. While we intend to work with BCM to help address the FDA's questions and target to reopen the clinical trial during the year, BCM may not resume GINAKIT2 study patient enrollment unless and until the FDA lifts their clinical hold on the KUR-501 IND. There can be no assurance that BCM will be able to resume the Phase 1 clinical trial of KUR-501.

Further, once a product candidate receives marketing approval and we or others identify undesirable side effects caused by the product after the approval, or if drug abuse is determined to be a significant problem with an approved product, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product candidate and could substantially increase the costs of commercializing an affected product or product candidate and significantly impact our ability to successfully commercialize or maintain sales of our product or product candidates and generate revenues.

If clinical trials of our drug candidates fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA or other regulatory authorities, as the FDA indicated in its CRL with respect to our NDA for Oral Paclitaxel, or do not otherwise produce positive results, we will incur costs and experience delays in completing, and may ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our drug candidates.

We may experience various unexpected events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our drug candidates, including:

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If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our drug candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of our drug candidates or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if they raise safety concerns, we may:

Delays in testing or approvals may result in increases in our drug development costs. We do not know whether any clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all.

Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we have the exclusive right to commercialize our drug candidates or allow our competitors to bring drugs to market before we do and impair our ability to commercialize our drug candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.

Risks Related to Development, Regulatory Approval and Commercialization

The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and other regulatory authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.

The time required to obtain approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in jurisdictions where we seek such approval is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of preclinical studies and clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. We cannot provide any assurances with respect to the timing for any regulatory approval or if our studies will be considered to be sufficient by regulators, as we experienced with our NDA for Oral Paclitaxel. In addition, approval policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a drug candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. It is possible that none of our other existing drug candidates or any drug candidates we may discover, in-license or acquire and seek to develop in the future will ever obtain regulatory approval.

Our drug candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval from the FDA or another regulatory authority for many reasons, including:

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The FDA or a regulatory authority in another jurisdiction may require more information, including additional preclinical or clinical data, to support approval, which may delay or prevent approval in those territories and our commercialization plans, or we may decide to abandon the development program. If we were to obtain approval, regulatory authorities may approve any of our drug candidates for fewer or more limited indications than we request, may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials, or may approve a drug candidate with a label that is not desirable for the successful commercialization of that drug candidate. In addition, if our drug candidate produces undesirable side effects or safety issues, the FDA may require additional clinical or preclinical studies or the establishment of REMS, or a regulatory authority may require the establishment of a similar strategy, that may, for instance, significantly restrict distribution of our drug candidates and impose burdensome implementation requirements on us. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial prospects of our drug candidates.

The approval process for pharmaceutical products outside the U.S. varies among countries and may limit our ability to develop, manufacture and sell our products internationally. Failure to obtain marketing approval in international jurisdictions would prevent our product candidates from being marketed abroad.

In order to market and sell our products internationally, we must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and may involve additional testing. We may conduct clinical trials for, and seek regulatory approval to market, our product candidates in countries other than the U.S. Depending on the results of clinical trials and the process for obtaining regulatory approvals in other countries, we may decide to first seek regulatory approvals of a product candidate in the U.S. or in countries other than the U.S., or we may simultaneously seek regulatory approvals in the U.S. and other countries. If we seek marketing approval for a product candidate outside the U.S., we will be subject to the regulatory requirements of health authorities in each country in which we seek approval. With respect to marketing authorizations in China, we will be required to seek regulatory approval from the NMPA. For marketing approval in Europe, we will seek to obtain marketing approval from the European Medicines Agency (the "EMA"). The approval procedure varies among regions and countries and may involve additional testing, and the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval.

Obtaining regulatory approvals from health authorities in countries outside the U.S. is likely to subject us to all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval described above. In addition, marketing approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by the health authorities of any other country, and marketing approvals by foreign health authorities do not ensure a similar approval by the FDA.

We are conducting, and may in the future conduct, clinical trials for our product candidates in sites outside the U.S. and the FDA may not accept data from trials conducted in such locations.

We have conducted, and may in the future conduct, certain of our clinical trials outside of the U.S., including in the U.K., China, Taiwan and Latin America. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the U.S., acceptance of this data is subject to certain conditions imposed by the FDA. There can be no assurance the FDA will accept data from any clinical trials we conduct outside of the U.S. For example, in the CRL we received regarding the NDA for Oral Paclitaxel, the FDA indicated that the participants in a new clinical trial they are recommending should be reflective of the U.S. population. If the FDA does not accept the data from any of our other clinical trials conducted outside the U.S., it would likely result in the need for additional clinical trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and could delay or prevent the commercialization of any of our product candidates.

Regulatory approval may be substantially delayed or may not be obtained for one or all of our drug candidates for a variety of reasons.

We may be unable to complete development of our drug candidates on schedule, if at all. The completion of the studies for our drug candidates will require funding beyond our current resources. In addition, if regulatory authorities require additional time or studies to assess the safety or efficacy of our drug candidates, we may not have or be able to obtain adequate funding to complete the necessary steps for approval for any or all of our drug candidates. Preclinical studies and clinical trials required to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates are time consuming and expensive and together take several years or more to complete. For example, one of our product candidates, Oral Paclitaxel, for which we received a CRL in February 2021, has been in development since 2011. Delays in clinical trials, regulatory approvals or rejections of applications for regulatory approval in the U.S., United Kingdom, Taiwan, New Zealand, China, Latin America, or other jurisdictions may result from many factors, including:

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Changes in regulatory requirements and guidance may also occur, and we may need to amend clinical trial protocols submitted to applicable regulatory authorities to reflect these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit clinical trial protocols to IRBs or ethics committees for re-examination, which may impact the costs, timing or successful completion of a clinical trial. For example, the Oncology Center of Excellence within the FDA has recently advanced Project Optimus, which is an initiative to reform the dose optimization and dose selection paradigm in oncology drug development to emphasize selection of an optimal dose, which is a dose or doses that maximizes not only the efficacy of a drug but the safety and tolerability as well. This shift from the prior approach, which generally determined the maximum tolerated dose, may require sponsors to spend additional time and resources to further explore a

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product candidate’s dose-response relationship to facilitate optimum dose selection in a target population. Other recent Oncology Center of Excellence initiatives have included Project FrontRunner, a new initiative with a goal of developing a framework for identifying candidate drugs for initial clinical development in the earlier advanced setting rather than for treatment of patients who have received numerous prior lines of therapies or have exhausted available treatment options, and Project Equity, which is an initiative to ensure that the data submitted to the FDA for approval of oncology medical products adequately reflects the demographic representation of patients for whom the medical products are intended. We are considering these and other policy changes as they relate to our programs.

If we experience delays in the completion of, or the termination of, a clinical trial, of any of our drug candidates, the commercial prospects of our drug candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues from the sale of any of those drug candidates will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our drug candidate development and approval process, and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our drug candidates.

Our approved drug and drug candidates have caused and may cause undesirable adverse events or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following any regulatory approval.

Undesirable adverse events related to our approved drugs or drug candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials that would preclude approval of our drug candidates by the FDA or another regulatory authority or, if approved, could result in a more restrictive label. Results of our trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity or prevalence of adverse events. In such an event, our trials could be suspended or terminated and the FDA or other regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or deny approval of, our drug candidates for any or all targeted indications. For example, in the CRL we received from the FDA, the FDA indicated that it had determined that our Oral Paclitaxel Phase III study demonstrated an unacceptable increase in neutropenia-related sequelae and has determined that additional risk mitigation strategies to improve toxicity, which may involve dose optimization and / or exclusion of the patients deemed to be at a higher risk of toxicity, are required to support potential approval of the NDA. Drug-related adverse events could affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the trial, and could result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our reputation, business, financial condition and prospects.

For Klisyri® (tirbanibulin), adverse events reported during clinical trials and identified in the approved prescribing information included erythema, flaking/ scaling, crusting, swelling, vesiculation/pustulation, erosion/ ulceration, application site pruritus, and application site pain, which included pain, tenderness, stinging, and burning sensation at the application site.

In our clinical studies to date, we have observed the following SAEs that were deemed at least possibly related to Oral Paclitaxel: neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, pneumonia, septic shock, sepsis and other infections, dehydration gastroenteritis, anemia, pneumonitis, diarrhea, mucositis, gastrointestinal bleeding, vomiting and nausea, rectal bleeding, altered state of consciousness, hypokalemia, cardiac arrest, tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, cardiogenic shock, hypotension, pancytopenia, multiorgan failure, renal failure, atrial fibrillation, pleural effusion, supraventricular tachycardia, respiratory failure, malnutrition, dyspnea, cardiac failure, pulmonary tuberculosis, fatigue, upper abdominal pain, decreased appetite, and peripheral sensory neuropathy.

For the CAR-NKT cell therapy program, we have observed the following adverse events judged by investigators to be at least possibly related to investigational product or its preconditioning lymphodepletion chemotherapy: cytokine release syndrome, cytopenia (anemia, white blood cell count decreased, lymphocyte count decreased, neutrophil count decreased, platelet count decreased), fever, chills, febrile neutropenia, vaginal infection, epistaxis, headache, cough, dyspnea, fatigue, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, hypotension, sinus tachycardia, hyponatremia, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hypophosphatemia, hypocalcemia, hyperglycemia, hypoalbuminemia, abdominal pain, abdominal distention, aspartate aminotransferase increased, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase increased, international normalized ratio increased, activated partial thromboplastin time increased, creatinine increased, hematuria, and proteinuria.

Following the death of a heavily pretreated young male patient in the Phase 1 clinical trial of KUR-501, the FDA imposed a clinical hold on the KUR-501 IND. Unless and until the FDA authorizes resumption of the clinical trial, BCM cannot recruit new patients to the study and administer the investigational product. If the FDA authorizes the trial to reopen, the clinical trial may only continue under the terms authorized by the FDA. While we intend to work with BCM to help address the FDA's questions and target to reopen the clinical trial during the year, BCM may not resume GINAKIT2 study patient enrollment unless and until the FDA lifts their clinical hold on the KUR-501 IND. There can be no assurance that BCM will be able to resume the Phase 1 clinical trial of KUR-501.

Additionally, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by Klisyri® or one or more of our drug candidates, if approved, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

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Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular drug or drug candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

The commercialization of Klisyri® and of any of our drug candidates, if approved, subjects us to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expenses and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our drug candidates.

Klisyri® and our drug candidates, if any are approved, are subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing studies, and submission of safety, efficacy and other post-marketing information, including both federal and state requirements in the U.S. and requirements of foreign regulatory authorities.

Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive requirements of the FDA and regulatory authorities, including, in the U.S., ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to current cGMP regulations. As such, our contract manufacturers will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMP and adherence to commitments made in any NDA, BLA or other marketing application, and previous responses to inspection observations. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control.

Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our drug candidates may be subject to conditions of approval or limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the drug may be marketed, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the drug candidate. The FDA may also require a REMS program as a condition of approval of one or more of our drug candidates, which could entail requirements for long-term patient follow-up, a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA or a regulatory authority approves our drug candidates, we will have to comply with requirements including, for example, submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, and continued compliance with cGMP and GCP for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.

The FDA may impose consent decrees or withdraw approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the drug reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our drugs, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-marketing studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:

The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Drugs may be promoted only for their approved indications and in a manner consistent with the provisions of the approved prescribing information. The FDA and other regulatory authorities actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability. The policies of

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the FDA and of other regulatory authorities may change. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the U.S. or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any regulatory approval that we may have obtained, and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.

Risks Related to Commercialization of Our Drug Candidates

We are dependent on the efforts of Almirall and our other out-license partners for the commercialization of Klisyri and expected future revenue from Klisyri’s commercialization.

We have entered into collaborations with Almirall and other out-license partners described in “Business—Recent Strategic Actions and Transactions—Monetization of Klisyri (tirbanibulin)” and are dependent on the efforts of these third parties for the commercialization of Klisyri. The success of these arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our license partners. In some situations, we may not be able to influence their decisions regarding the commercialization of Klisyri or their level of effort in marketing and selling Klisyri. Our ability to realize revenue from royalties or milestone payments depends significantly upon Almirall’s and our other out-license partners’ ability to commercialize, market and sell Klisyri, particularly because under the RIPA we are only entitled to these milestones and royalties if net sales of Klisyri exceed a certain dollar amount. If these partners are unsuccessful, we may not receive royalties or milestone payments from sales of Klisyri.

If we are not able to obtain, or experience delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals for our drug candidates, we will not be able to commercialize these drug candidates, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

Our business is substantially dependent on our ability to complete the development of, obtain regulatory approval for and successfully commercialize drug candidates in a timely manner. We cannot commercialize drug candidates without first obtaining regulatory approval to market each drug from the FDA or regulatory authorities in the relevant jurisdictions. Some of our proprietary drug candidates are currently undergoing various phases of FDA clinical trials. We cannot predict whether these trials and future trials will be successful or whether regulators will agree with our conclusions regarding the preclinical studies and clinical trials we have conducted to date. We have experienced this uncertainty with the receipt of a CRL for our NDA for Oral Paclitaxel, and the FDA recommended an additional clinical trial be completed and additional risk mitigation strategies to improve toxicity, which may involve dose optimization and/or exclusion of the patients deemed to be at a higher risk of toxicity, to support potential approval of the NDA. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any drug candidate for a target indication, we must demonstrate in preclinical studies and well-controlled clinical trials, and, with respect to approval in the U.S., to the satisfaction of the FDA, that the drug candidate is safe and effective for use for that target indication and that the manufacturing facilities, processes and controls are adequate. An NDA must include extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to establish the drug candidate’s safety and effectiveness. The NDA must also include significant information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing and controls for the drug. Obtaining approval of an NDA is a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process, and approval may not be obtained. If we submit an NDA to the FDA, the FDA decides whether to accept or reject the submission for filing. We cannot be certain that any submissions will be accepted for filing and review by the FDA.

Regulatory authorities outside of the U.S. also have requirements for approval of drugs for commercial sale with which we must comply prior to marketing in those areas. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our drug candidates. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries and obtaining regulatory approval in one country does not mean that regulatory approval will be obtained in any other country. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking non-U.S. regulatory approval could require additional non-clinical studies or clinical trials, which could be costly and time-consuming. The non-U.S. regulatory approval process may include all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval and other risks specific to the relevant jurisdiction. For all of these reasons, we may not obtain non-U.S. regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all.

If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates in one or more jurisdictions, or any approval contains significant limitations, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our drug candidates will be harmed. Furthermore, if we are not able to obtain, or experience delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals, we will not be able to commercialize our drug candidates, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

If the FDA does not approve our planned amendment to the NDA for Oral Paclitaxel, our business, financial performance, and prospects could suffer.

In February 2021, we received a CRL from the FDA regarding our NDA for Oral Paclitaxel. In the CRL, the FDA indicated its concern of safety risk to patients in terms of an increase in neutropenia-related sequelae on the Oral Paclitaxel arm compared with the IV paclitaxel arm in the Phase III study. The FDA also expressed concerns regarding the uncertainty over the results of the primary endpoint of ORR at week 19 conducted by blinded independent central review (“BICR”). The agency stated that the BICR reconciliation and re-read process may have introduced unmeasured bias and influence on the BICR. Additionally, the FDA

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recommended that we conduct a new adequate and well-conducted clinical trial in a patient population with mBC representative of the population in the U.S. The agency determined that additional risk mitigation strategies to improve toxicity, which may involve dose optimization and/or exclusion of patients deemed to be at higher risk of toxicity, are required to support potential approval of the NDA. We held two Type A meetings with the FDA to discuss the deficiencies raised in the CRL, review a proposed design for a new clinical trial intended to address the deficiencies raised in the CRL, and discuss the potential regulatory path forward for Oral Paclitaxel in mBC in the U.S. After those meetings, we paused pursuing regulatory approval for Oral Paclitaxel monotherapy for the treatment of mBC in the U.S. We plan to discuss the I-SPY 2 TRIAL data with the FDA and we may amend our mBC NDA to include the I-SPY2 data. The FDA may not be receptive to further discussions of the NDA or approve our planned amendment to the NDA for Oral Paclitaxel. If we fail to obtain approval or experience additional delays in obtaining approval, any such decision or delays would have a material impact on our ability to generate revenue from the potential sales of Oral Paclitaxel, which would have a material negative effect on our business, financial performance and prospects.

Any fast track designation or grant of priority review status by the FDA may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, nor will it assure FDA approval of our product candidates.

We previously received priority review for Oral Paclitaxel in the U.S. and may seek fast track designation or priority review of applications for approval of our product candidate for future indications. If a drug is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and the drug demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for this condition, the drug sponsor may apply for FDA fast track designation. If a product candidate offers major advances in treatment, the FDA may designate it eligible for priority review. A priority review designation means that the FDA’s goal to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review period of ten months. The FDA has broad discretion whether or not to grant these designations, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for these designations, we cannot assure you that the FDA would decide to grant them. Even if we do receive fast track designation or priority review, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. Receiving priority review from the FDA does not guarantee approval within the six-month review cycle or thereafter.

Even if our drug candidates receive regulatory approval, they may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

Even if our drug candidates receive regulatory approval, they may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. For example, current cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy are well established in the medical community, and doctors may continue to rely on these treatments to the exclusion of our drug candidates. In addition, physicians, patients and third-party payors may prefer other novel products to ours, and we may experience difficulties gaining acceptance for our cell therapy products or orally administered drug candidates. We are also subject to regulatory restrictions on how we market our drug candidates. If our drug candidates do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product sales revenues, and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our drug candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

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If our drug candidates are approved but fail to achieve market acceptance among physicians, patients, hospitals, cancer treatment centers or others in the medical community, we will not be able to generate significant revenue. Even if our drugs achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to maintain that market acceptance over time if new products or technologies are introduced that are more favorably received than our drugs, are more cost effective or render our drugs obsolete.

We may seek Orphan Drug Designation for some of our drug candidates, and we may be unsuccessful.

Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and Europe, may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States. Similarly, the European Commission may designate a product as an orphan drug under certain circumstances.

Generally, if a product with an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA or the EMA from approving another marketing application for the same drug for the same disease for that time period. The applicable period is seven years in the United States and ten years in the European Union. The European exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a drug no longer meets the criteria for orphan drug designation or if the drug is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified. Orphan drug exclusivity may be lost if the FDA or EMA determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the drug to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. In the United States, a second drug may be approved for the orphan indication despite a product’s orphan drug exclusivity if the FDA determines that the later drug is safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. In addition, a designated orphan drug may not receive orphan drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than the indication for which it received orphan designation.

If we obtained orphan drug exclusivity for a product, we would likely need to capture significant market share to achieve meaningful returns while establishing relatively higher prices, as is typical of drugs for rare conditions, in order to generate a return on investment and achieve meaningful gross margins. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in commercializing our orphan drug product candidates, if at all, or that we will be able to generate sufficient revenues from their sales to produce a meaningful return due to the limited market size.

Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs with different active moieties can be approved for the same condition or a drug with the same active moiety can be approved for a different indication. Orphan drug designation by FDA or EMA neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process. In addition, even if we intend to seek orphan drug designation for product candidates or indications, we may never receive such designations or obtain orphan drug exclusivity.

Moreover, there can be no assurance that the designation and/or exclusivity provisions currently in the law may not be changed in the future and the impact of any such changes, if made, on us. The orphan drug exclusivity provisions have been the subject of scrutiny from the press, from some members of Congress and from some in the medical community. Furthermore, the FDA’s interpretations of the Orphan Drug Act have been successfully challenged in court and future court decisions could continue that trend. There can be no assurance that the exclusivity granted to orphan drugs approved by the FDA will not be modified in the future, and how any such change might affect our products, if approved.

We have limited experience in marketing proprietary drug products. If we are unable to establish such marketing and sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our proprietary drug candidates, we may not be able to generate sales revenue from such products.

We have limited sales, marketing and commercial product experience. For the product candidates and/or territories where we do not have existing partnerships pursuant to which our partners will be responsible for the marketing and sales of such products, we may be required to develop an in-house commercial organization and sales force for such products, which will require significant capital expenditures, management resources and time. We would have to compete with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to recruit, hire, train and retain marketing and sales personnel.

If we are unable to establish sufficient internal sales, marketing and commercial distribution capabilities for these proprietary drug candidates, we will need to pursue additional collaborative arrangements for the sales and marketing of our proprietary drugs. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements, or if we are able to do so, that they will have effective sales forces. Any revenue we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third parties, which may not be successful. We may have less control over the marketing and sales efforts of such third parties which may present fraud and abuse and other regulatory considerations, and our revenue from product sales may be lower than if we had commercialized our proprietary drug candidates ourselves. We also face competition in our search for third parties to assist us with the sales and marketing efforts of our proprietary drug candidates.

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There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop these marketing capabilities to successfully commercialize any proprietary product, and as a result, we may not be able to generate sales revenue from such products.

We face substantial competition, and our competitors may discover, develop or commercialize competing drugs before or more successfully than we do.

The development and commercialization of new drugs is highly competitive. We face competition with respect to any drug candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future, from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. There are a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell drugs or are pursuing the development of drugs for the treatment of the types of cancer for which we are developing and commercializing our drug candidates and drugs. Some of these competitive drugs and therapies are based on scientific approaches that are the same as or similar to our approach, and others are based on entirely different approaches. Potential competitors also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize drugs that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any drugs that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain approval from the FDA or other regulatory authorities for their drugs more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market and/or slow our regulatory approval.

Many of the companies against which we are competing or against which we may compete in the future have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved drugs than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller and other early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

If our competitors market products that are more effective, safer, have fewer side effects or are less expensive than our products or that reach the market sooner than any of our current or future product candidates, we may not achieve commercial success.

Our drug candidates, if approved, may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives, which could harm our business.

Successful sales of Klisyri® and any of our drug candidates, if approved, depend on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors. Patients who are provided medical treatment for their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their treatment. Adequate coverage and reimbursement from governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S., and commercial payors are critical to new drug acceptance.

The regulations that govern regulatory approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new therapeutic products vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or licensing approval is granted. In some non-U.S. markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain regulatory approval for a drug in a particular country but be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the drug and negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the drug in that country.

Our ability to commercialize any drugs successfully also will depend in part on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement for these drugs and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a drug is:

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We cannot be sure that reimbursement will be available for our drugs, if and once approved, and, if coverage and reimbursement are available, what the level of reimbursement will be. Reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the price of, any drug for which we obtain regulatory approval. Obtaining reimbursement for our drugs may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with branded drugs and drugs administered under the supervision of a physician. If reimbursement is not available or is available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any drug candidate that we successfully develop. If we or our partners fail to obtain and sustain an adequate level of coverage and reimbursement for any current or future product candidates, if approved, by third-party payers, potential future sales would be materially adversely affected. There will be no commercially viable market for any current or future product candidates, if approved, without adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payers, and any reimbursement policy may be affected by future healthcare reform measures. Further, we cannot be certain that adequate coverage and reimbursement will be available for either of our products in jurisdictions outside the U.S. or for any current or future product candidates, if approved. Additionally, even if there is a commercially viable market, if the level of coverage or reimbursement is below our expectations, our anticipated revenue and gross margins will be adversely affected.

In the U.S., no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for drugs exists among third-party payors. As a result, obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval of a drug from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to each payor supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our drugs on a payor-by-payor basis, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. Even if we obtain coverage for a given drug, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate for us to achieve or sustain profitability or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Additionally, third-party payors may not cover, or provide adequate reimbursement for, long-term follow-up evaluations required following the use of our drugs. However, under Medicare Part D—Medicare’s outpatient prescription drug benefit—there are protections in place to ensure coverage and reimbursement for oncology products and all Part D prescription drug plans are required to cover substantially all anti-cancer agents. In some non-U.S. countries, the pricing of drugs and biologics is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after obtaining regulatory approval of a drug candidate. In addition, market acceptance and sales of our drug candidates will depend significantly on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors for our drug candidates and may be affected by existing and future health care reform measures.

We have collaborations with third parties in international markets to commercialize and market Klisyri, and we intend to test and market any other approved drugs in a variety of international markets, which exposes us to the risks of conducting business in additional international markets.

We conduct business operations in regions, including the U.S., Hong Kong and Latin America, and other non-U.S. markets are an important component of our growth strategy. If we fail to obtain licenses or enter into collaboration arrangements with third parties in these markets, or if these parties are not successful, our revenue-generating growth potential will be adversely affected.

Moreover, international business relationships subject us to additional risks that may materially adversely affect our ability to attain or sustain profitable operations, including:

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These and other risks may materially adversely affect our ability to obtain or sustain revenue from international markets.

The use of legal, regulatory, and legislative strategies by both brand and generic competitors, including but not limited to “authorized generics” and regulatory petitions, may increase costs associated with the introduction or marketing of our generic products, could delay or prevent such introduction, and could adversely affect our results of operations.

Our competitors, both branded and generic, often pursue strategies to prevent, delay, or eliminate competition from generic alternatives to branded products. These strategies include:

If any other actions by our competitors and other third parties to prevent or delay activities necessary to the approval, manufacture, or distribution of our products are successful, our entry into the market and our ability to generate revenues associated with new products may be delayed, reduced, or eliminated, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and/or share price.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

A significant portion of our intellectual property portfolio currently comprises pending patent applications that have not yet been issued as granted patents, and if our pending patent applications fail to issue our business will be adversely affected. If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our technology and drugs, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and drugs similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and drugs may be adversely affected.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the U.S. and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology and drug candidates. We have sought to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the U.S., Europe and other countries related to novel technologies and drug candidates that we consider important to our business. The process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. There can be no

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assurance that our pending patent applications will result in issued patents. Moreover, even our issued patents do not guarantee us the right to practice our technology in relation to the commercialization of our platforms’ product candidates. Third parties may have blocking patents that could be used to prevent us from commercializing our patented technologies, platforms and product candidates and practicing our proprietary technology. There can also be no assurance that a third party will not challenge the validity of our patents or that we will obtain sufficient claim scope in those patents, in view of prior art, to prevent a third party from competing successfully with our drug candidates. We may become involved in interference, inter partes review, post grant review, ex parte reexamination, derivation, opposition or similar other proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. Such challenges may result in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and drug candidates, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and drug candidates. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new drug candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing drug candidates similar or identical to ours.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Changes in patent laws or the interpretation of patent laws in the U.S. and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection. Publications of discoveries in scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the U.S. and other jurisdictions are typically not published until eighteen months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.

The patent positions of companies like ours are generally uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions, due to inconsistent policies regarding the scope of claims allowable in patents. Changes in patent laws and rules, either by legislation, judicial decisions, or regulatory interpretation in the U.S. and other countries may diminish our ability to protect our inventions and enforce our intellectual property rights, and more generally could affect the value of our intellectual property.

In addition, the laws of certain non-U.S. countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as U.S. federal and state laws do. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the U.S., or from selling or importing drugs made using our inventions in and into the U.S. or non-U.S. jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own drugs and further, may export otherwise infringing drugs to non-U.S. jurisdictions where we have patent protection but where enforcement rights are not as strong as those in the U.S. These drugs may compete with our drug candidates and our patent or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or adequate to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in certain jurisdictions, including Latin America and China. The legal systems of some countries do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property, particularly those relating to biopharmaceutical products, which could make it difficult in those jurisdictions for us to stop the infringement or misappropriation of our patents or other intellectual property rights, or the marketing of competing drugs in violation of our proprietary rights. Proceedings to enforce our patent and other intellectual property rights in non-U.S. jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.

Furthermore, such proceedings could put our patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly, could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims of infringement or misappropriation against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful and our patent rights relating to our drug candidates could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or comparable non-U.S. authority.

Competitors may infringe our patent rights or misappropriate or otherwise violate our intellectual property rights. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, litigation may be necessary to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of our own intellectual property rights or the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation can be expensive and time-consuming. Our current and potential competitors may have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce and/or defend their intellectual property rights than we can. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property. Litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of management resources, which could harm our business and financial results. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that patent or other intellectual property rights owned by us are invalid or unenforceable, or may

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refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patent or other intellectual property rights do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put our patent, as well as any patents that may issue in the future from our pending patent applications, at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable or interpreted narrowly. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure.

If we initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce any patent, or any patents that may issue in the future from our patent applications, that relates to one of our drug candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that such patent rights are invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the U.S., defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace, and there are numerous grounds upon which a third party can assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent. Third parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the U.S. or abroad, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include ex parte re-examination, inter partes review, post-grant review, derivation and equivalent proceedings in non-U.S. jurisdictions, such as opposition proceedings. Although any party alleging invalidity or unenforceability of our patents has a high burden of proof, nonetheless such proceedings could result in revocation or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover and protect our drug candidates. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity of our patents, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art of which we, our patent counsel, and the patent examiner were unaware of during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on certain drug candidates. Such a loss of patent protection could have a material adverse impact on our business.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our patents and ownership of other intellectual property.

Although we are not currently experiencing any claims challenging the inventorship of our patents or ownership of our intellectual property, we may in the future be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as inventors or co-inventors. For example, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our drug candidates. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship. If we fail in defending any such claims, we may lose rights such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, our patent or other intellectual property rights. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

If we are sued for infringing intellectual property rights of third parties, such litigation could be costly and time-consuming and could prevent or delay us from developing or commercializing our drug candidates.

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including litigation in the U.S. courts, inter partes review, post grant review, interference and ex parte reexamination proceedings before the USPTO or oppositions and other comparable proceedings in non-U.S. jurisdictions. Numerous issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing or commercializing drug candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our drug candidates or manufacturing processes may give rise to claims of infringement of the patent rights of others.

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents of which we are currently unaware with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to the use or manufacture of our drug candidates. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, patent applications that are currently pending may later result in issued patents that our drug candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies that are first publicized or commercialized after the filing date of those patents infringes upon them. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover the manufacturing process of any of our drug candidates, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to prevent us from commercializing such drug candidate unless we obtain a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire or are finally determined to be held invalid or unenforceable. Similarly, if any third-party patent is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our formulations, processes for manufacture or methods of use, including combination therapy or patient selection methods, the holders of any such patent may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable drug candidate unless we obtain a license, limit our uses, or until such patent expires or is finally determined to be held invalid or unenforceable. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Third parties who bring successful claims against us for infringement of their intellectual property rights may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could prevent us from developing and commercializing one or more of our drug candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of management and employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement or misappropriation against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees in the case of willful infringement, obtain

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one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing drug candidates, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure and undertaking additional preclinical studies, clinical trials or regulatory review. In the event of an adverse result in any such litigation, or even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our drug candidates. We cannot predict whether any required license would be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and we may fail to obtain any of these licenses on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. In the event that we are unable to obtain such a license, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize one or more of our drug candidates, which could harm our business significantly. We may also elect to enter into license agreements in order to settle patent infringement claims or to resolve disputes prior to litigation and any such license agreements may require us to pay royalties and other fees that could significantly harm our business.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical personnel, management personnel, or both from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities and our operations. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

If our products conflict with the intellectual property rights of third parties, we may incur substantial liabilities and we may be unable to commercialize products in a profitable manner or at all.

We seek to launch generic pharmaceutical products either where patent protection or other regulatory exclusivity of equivalent branded products has expired, where patents have been declared invalid or where products do not infringe the patents of others. However, at times, we may seek approval to market generic products before the expiration of patents relating to the branded versions of those products, based upon our belief that such patents are invalid or otherwise unenforceable or would not be infringed by our products. Our success depends in part on our ability to operate without infringing the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. The manufacture use and sale of generic versions of products has been subject to substantial litigation in the pharmaceutical industry. These lawsuits relate to the validity and infringement of patents or proprietary rights of third parties. If our products were found to be infringing the intellectual property rights of a third-party, we could be required to cease selling the infringing products, causing us to lose future sales revenue from such products and face substantial liabilities for patent infringement, in the form of payment for the innovator’s lost profits or a royalty on our sales of the infringing product. These damages may be significant and could materially adversely affect our business. Any litigation, regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, would be costly and time consuming and we could incur significant costs and/or a significant reduction in revenue in defending the action and from the resulting delays in manufacturing, marketing or selling any of our products subject to such claims.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment, and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for noncompliance with these requirements.

The USPTO and various non-U.S. governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and other patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. Although an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment of a patent application or lapse of a patent include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees, and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. In any such event, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

The terms of our patents may not be sufficient to effectively protect our drug candidates and business.

In most countries in which we file patent applications, including the U.S., the term of an issued patent is twenty years from the earliest claimed filing date of a non-provisional patent application in the applicable country. With respect to any issued patents in the U.S., we may be entitled to obtain a patent term extension or extend the patent expiration date provided we meet the applicable requirements for obtaining such patent term extensions. Although such extensions may be available, the life of a patent and the protection it affords is by definition limited. Even if patents covering our drug candidates are obtained, we may be open to competition from other companies as well as generic medications once the patent life has expired for a drug. If patents are issued on our currently pending patent applications, the resulting patents will be expected to expire on dates ranging approximately from 2024 to 2040, excluding any potential patent term extension or adjustment. Upon the expiration of our issued patents, we will not be able to assert such patent rights against potential competitors and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

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In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar technology. Furthermore, our competitors may independently develop similar technologies. For these reasons, we may have competition for our technologies, platforms and product candidates. Moreover, because of the extensive time required for development, testing and regulatory review of a potential product, it is possible that a related patent may expire before any particular product candidate can be commercialized or that such patent will remain in force for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing any significant advantage of the patent.

If we do not obtain additional protection under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments and similar legislation in other countries extending the terms of our patents, if issued, relating to our drug candidates, our business may be materially harmed.

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA regulatory approval for our drug candidates, one or more of our U.S. patents, if issued, may be eligible for limited patent term restoration under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent term extension of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during drug development and the FDA regulatory review process. Patent term extensions, however, cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of fourteen years from the date of drug approval by the FDA, and only one patent can be extended for a particular drug.

The application for patent term extension is subject to approval by the USPTO, in conjunction with the FDA. We may not be granted an extension due to, for example, failure to apply within applicable deadlines, failure to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain a patent term extension for a given patent or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we will have the right to exclusively market our drug will be shortened and our competitors may obtain earlier approval of competing drugs. As a result, our ability to generate revenues could be materially adversely affected.

Changes in patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our drug candidates.

As is the case with other biopharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patent rights. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biopharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore costly, time-consuming, and inherently uncertain. In addition, the U.S. has recently enacted and is currently implementing wide-ranging patent reform legislation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future. For example, in Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain claims to naturally-occurring substances are not patentable. Although we do not believe that our issued patents or any patents that may issue from our pending patent applications directed to our drug candidates if issued in their currently pending forms, as well as patent rights licensed by us, will be found invalid based on this decision, we cannot predict how future decisions by the courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may impact the value of our patent rights. There could be similar changes in the laws of foreign jurisdictions that may impact the value of our patent or our other intellectual property rights.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed. We may also be subject to claims that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.

In addition to our issued patents and pending patent applications, we rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position and to protect our drug candidates. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties that have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. These agreements provide that all confidential information concerning our business or financial affairs developed or made known to the individual during the course of the individual’s relationship with us is to be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except in specific circumstances. In the case of employees, the agreements provide that all inventions conceived by the individual, and which are related to our current or planned business or research and development or made during normal working hours, on our premises or using our equipment or proprietary information, are our exclusive property. In many cases our confidentiality and other agreements with consultants, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers and other advisors require them to assign to us or grant us licenses to inventions they invent as a result of the work or services they render under such agreements or grant us an option to negotiate a license to use such inventions. However, any of these parties may breach such agreements and disclose our proprietary information, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we

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would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or information to compete with us and our competitive position would be harmed.

Furthermore, many of our employees, including our executive officers, were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Some of these employees, including each member of our executive officers, executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in connection with such previous employment. Although we try to ensure that our employees do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these employees have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such employee’s former employer. We are not aware of any threatened or pending claims related to these matters or concerning the agreements with our executive officers, but litigation may be necessary in the future to defend against such claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

In addition, while we typically require our employees, consultants and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own, which may result in claims by or against us related to the ownership of such intellectual property. If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management and scientific personnel. Further, to the extent that our employees, contractors, consultants, collaborators and advisors use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.

We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our proprietary technology and processes by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Although we have confidence in the security of our systems, security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach.

We may not be successful in obtaining or maintaining necessary rights for our development pipeline through acquisitions and in-licenses.

Because our programs may involve additional drug candidates that require the use of proprietary rights held by third parties, the growth of our business may depend in part on our ability to acquire and maintain licenses or other rights to use these proprietary rights. We may be unable to acquire or in-license any compositions, methods of use, or other third-party intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify. The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and a number of established companies are also pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities.

In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license intellectual property rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights, our business, financial condition and prospects for growth could suffer.

If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we license intellectual property rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could be required to pay monetary damages or could lose license rights that are important to our business.

We have entered into license agreements with third parties providing us with rights under various third-party patents and patent applications, including the rights to prosecute patent applications and to enforce patents. Certain of these license agreements impose and, for a variety of purposes, we may enter into additional licensing and funding arrangements with third parties that also may impose diligence, development or commercialization timelines and milestone payment, royalty, insurance and other obligations on us. Under our license agreements for the cell therapy platform, we are obligated to pay royalties on net sales of drug products, if commercialized, and milestone payments related to the development and commercialization of any drug candidates developed from the licensed platform. We may be obligated to make other specified payments relating to our drug candidates and/or pay license maintenance and other fees. In our agreements with BCM, we are also required to meet our co-development obligations with BCM, and if we fail to do so, BCM may terminate our agreements relating to the cell therapy platform. Certain of the license agreements relating to our Orascovery platform provide us with the exclusive right to practice technologies in major markets including North America, South America, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Eastern Europe, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and parts of Southeast Asia, although the right to practice the technologies and any inventions arising out of such technologies outside of these territories may be reserved to the licensing company. We also have clinical development obligations under certain of these agreements that we are required to satisfy. If we fail to comply with our obligations under our current or future license agreements, our counterparties may have the right to terminate these agreements, in which event we might not be able to develop, manufacture or market any drug or drug candidate that is covered by the licenses or we may face claims for monetary damages or other penalties under these agreements. Such

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an occurrence could diminish the value of these products and our company. Termination of the licenses provided in these agreements or reduction or elimination of our rights under these agreements may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms or cause us to lose our rights under these agreements, including our rights to important intellectual property or technology.

In particular, our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing any of our patented inventions, either directly or indirectly, will depend in part on our success in obtaining, defending, and enforcing patent claims that cover our technology, inventions and improvements. With respect to both licensed and company-owned intellectual property, we cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications filed by us in the future, nor can we be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be commercially useful in protecting our platforms and product candidates and the methods used to manufacture those platforms and product candidates. Our issued patents and those that may issue in the future may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, which could limit our ability to stop competitors from marketing related platforms or product candidates or limit the length of the term of patent protection that we may have for our technologies, platforms and product candidates.

If our licensing and sublicensing activities result in non-compliance with our licensing agreements, our business relationships with our licensing partners may suffer and we may be required to pay monetary damages or rescind or amend existing agreements which are important to our business.

We have entered into agreements with third parties under which we have granted licenses to use certain of our patents and patent applications, including the rights to develop, seek regulatory approval for and sell products using our tirbanibulin 1% ointment. We have also entered into similar agreements sublicensing the intellectual property for the Orascovery platform, which we have licensed from Hanmi. We have granted exclusive patent rights to certain of these partners and have granted them certain additional rights with respect to the intellectual property we have licensed to them. From time to time we may engage in other licensing transactions in which we acquire licenses to certain intellectual property or sublicense intellectual property rights. If we fail to comply with or are found to have violated the terms of any of our licenses, we may be required to rescind or amend our license agreements or pay damages to license counterparties or other rightsholders. This may also negatively impact our relationships with our licensing and sublicensing partners for our candidate platforms. For further information regarding the terms of our licenses, please see “Business—Our R&D Programs”.

We depend on our agreements with Hanmi to provide rights to the intellectual property relating to certain of our product candidates. Any termination or loss of significant rights under those agreements would adversely affect our development or commercialization of our lead product candidates.

We have licensed the intellectual property rights related to encequidar, an integral part of our current Orascovery product candidates, from Hanmi pursuant to two license agreements. If, for any reason, our license agreements are terminated or we otherwise lose those rights, it would adversely affect our business. Our license agreements with Hanmi impose on us obligations relating to exclusivity, territorial rights, development, commercialization, funding, payment, diligence, sublicensing, insurance, intellectual property protection and other matters. If we breach any material obligations, or use the intellectual property licensed to us in an unauthorized manner, we may be required to pay damages to Hanmi, and Hanmi may have the right to terminate our license, which could result in us being unable to develop, manufacture and sell our product candidates that incorporate encequidar.

In addition, under our 2013 license agreement with Hanmi, we have granted Hanmi a one-time right of first negotiation that, at Hanmi’s discretion, requires us to negotiate in good faith the sale of our rights in Oral Paclitaxel under such agreement to Hanmi at a purchase price determined by an internationally-recognized investment banking firm with an office in Hong Kong at any time prior to the earlier of (1) our first commercial sale of products using such technology or (2) receipt by Hanmi of written notice from our company of the sublicense of the rights in an applicable product to a third party. If Hanmi exercises this right of first negotiation and we reach an agreement to sell our rights under that licensing agreement, our ability to continue to develop certain of our product candidates would be significantly impaired and would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Each of our license agreements with Hanmi expires on the earlier of (1) expiration of the last of Hanmi’s patent rights licensed under the agreement or (2) invalidation of Hanmi’s patent rights which are the subject of the agreement, provided that the term will automatically be extended for consecutive one year periods unless either party gives notice to the other at least ninety days prior to expiration of the patent rights licensed under the agreement or before the then current annual expiration date of the agreement. The patent rights licensed to us under the agreements with Hanmi have expiry dates ranging from 2023 to 2033, unless the terms of such licensed patents are extended in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Subject to certain conditions, Hanmi may also terminate the license agreements if we fail to comply with certain development milestones set out in each of the agreements. The agreements also contain customary termination rights for either party, such as in the event of a breach of the agreement or the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings by the other party or by mutual agreement. For further information regarding the license terms, right of first negotiation and termination provisions of the Hanmi in-license agreements, please see “Business—Our R&D Programs—Orascovery Platform—Orascovery License Agreements.”

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Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties

We may rely on third parties to conduct our preclinical studies and clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines, perform satisfactorily or operate in compliance with laws and regulations, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our drug candidates and our business could be substantially harmed.

We have relied upon and may, in the future, rely upon third-party CROs to monitor and manage data for our ongoing preclinical and clinical programs. We rely on these parties for execution of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and control only certain aspects of their activities. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, and regulatory requirements and scientific standards, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

We and our CROs are required to comply with GCPs, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for all of our drugs in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or any of our CROs fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCP regulations. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under cGMP regulations. Our failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or to do so on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, our CROs are not our employees, and except for remedies available to us under our agreements with such CROs, we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our ongoing clinical, non-clinical and preclinical programs. In the event that any of our foreign CROs are impacted by political, social or financial instability, they may be unable to maintain production capacity or compliance with regulatory requirements. If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols, regulatory requirements, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our drug candidates. As a result, our results of operations and the commercial prospects for our drug candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

Our total revenue is highly dependent on a limited number of pharmaceutical wholesalers, and the loss of, or any significant decrease in business from, any one or more of our major pharmaceutical wholesalers could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We have derived a significant portion of our revenue from a limited number of customers, as is typical in the pharmaceutical industry. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 we generated 63% and 62% of our total revenue, respectively, from the three largest wholesalers in the U.S. market. If we are unable to maintain our business relationships with these major pharmaceutical wholesalers on commercially acceptable terms, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Even if we are able to maintain our relationships with customers, a change in the mix of products those customers purchase and which we are able to produce or supply may affect our gross margin and results of operations.

We rely on third parties to manufacture our drug candidate supplies and our business could be harmed if those third parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of product or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.

We rely on outside vendors to manufacture supplies and process our drug candidates. Our capacity to manufacture and process drugs on a commercial scale is limited. We have limited experience in managing the manufacturing process, and our process may be more difficult or expensive than the approaches currently in use. Accordingly, we primarily rely on third parties for manufacturing capabilities. Our reliance on third-party manufacturers exposes us to the following risks:

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Each of these risks could delay or prevent the completion of our trials or the approval of any of our drug candidates by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, result in higher costs or adversely impact development of our drug candidates. In addition, we will rely on third parties to perform certain specification tests on our drug candidates prior to delivery to patients. If these tests are not conducted appropriately and test data are not reliable, patients could be put at risk of serious harm and the FDA or other regulatory authorities could place significant restrictions on our company until deficiencies are remedied.

The manufacture of drug and biological products is complex and requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls.

Manufacturers of drug and biological products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up or out, validating the production process, and assuring high reliability of the manufacturing process (including the absence of contamination). These problems include logistics and shipping, difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product, product testing, operator error, availability of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and non-U.S. regulations. Furthermore, if contaminants are discovered in our supply of our drug candidates or in manufacturing facilities, those manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. We cannot assure you that any stability failures or other issues relating to the manufacture of our drug candidates will not occur in the future. Additionally, our manufacturers may experience manufacturing difficulties due to resource constraints or as a result of labor disputes or unstable political environments. If our manufacturers were to encounter any of these difficulties, or otherwise fail to comply with their contractual obligations, our ability to provide our drug candidate to patients in clinical trials would be jeopardized. Any delay or interruption in the supply of clinical trial supplies could delay the completion of clinical trials, increase the costs associated with maintaining clinical trial programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to begin new clinical trials at additional expense or terminate clinical trials completely.

If third-party manufacturers fail to comply with pharmaceutical manufacturing regulations, our financial results and financial condition will be adversely affected.

Before a third party can begin commercial manufacture of our drug candidates and potential drugs, contract manufacturers are subject to regulatory inspections of their manufacturing facilities, processes and quality systems. Due to the complexity of the processes used to manufacture drug and biological products and our drug candidates, any potential third-party manufacturer may be unable to initially pass federal, state or international regulatory inspections in a cost-effective manner in order for us to obtain regulatory approval of our drug candidates. If our contract manufacturers do not pass their inspections by the FDA or other regulatory authorities, our commercial supply of drug product or substance will be significantly delayed and may result in significant additional costs, including the delay or denial of any marketing application for our drug candidates. In addition, drug and biological manufacturing facilities are continuously subject to inspection by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, before and after drug approval, and must comply with cGMPs. Our contract manufacturers may encounter difficulties in achieving quality control and quality assurance and may experience shortages in qualified personnel. In addition, contract manufacturers’ failure to achieve and maintain high manufacturing standards in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, or the incidence of manufacturing errors, could result in patient injury, product liability claims, product shortages, product recalls or withdrawals, delays or failures in product testing or delivery, cost overruns or other problems that could seriously harm our business, reputation or corporate image. If a third-party manufacturer with whom we contract is unable to comply with manufacturing regulations, we may also be subject to fines, unanticipated compliance expenses, recall or seizure of our drugs, product liability claims, total or partial suspension of production and/or enforcement actions, including injunctions and criminal or civil prosecution. These possible sanctions could materially adversely affect our financial results and financial condition.

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Furthermore, changes in the manufacturing process or procedure, including a change in the location where the product is manufactured or a change of a third-party manufacturer, could require prior review by the FDA or other regulatory authorities and/or approval of the manufacturing process and procedures in accordance with the FDA’s regulations, or comparable requirements. This review may be costly and time consuming and could delay or prevent the launch of a product. The new facility will also be subject to pre-approval inspection. In addition, we have to demonstrate that the product made at the new facility is equivalent to the product made at the former facility by physical and chemical methods, which are costly and time consuming. It is also possible that the FDA or other regulatory authorities may require clinical testing as a way to prove equivalency, which would result in additional costs and delay.

We have entered into collaborations and may form or seek collaborations or strategic alliances or enter into additional licensing arrangements in the future, and we may not realize the benefits of such alliances or licensing arrangements.

We have partnered with companies such as BCM, Hanmi, Almirall, and Gland and may form or seek strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations, or enter into additional licensing arrangements with third parties, subject to any restrictions imposed by our financing arrangements and other agreements, that we believe will complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to our drug candidates and any future drug candidates that we may develop. Any of these relationships may require us to incur non-recurring and other charges, increase our near and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing stockholders, or disrupt our management and business.

In addition, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex. Moreover, we may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for our early stage drug candidates because they may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort and third parties may not view our drug candidates as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy. If and when we collaborate with a third party for development and commercialization of a drug candidate, we can expect to relinquish some or all of the control over the future success of that drug candidate to the third party.

Further, collaborations involving our drug candidates are subject to numerous risks, which may include the following:

As a result, if we enter into collaboration agreements and strategic partnerships or license our drugs, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations and company culture, which could delay our timelines or otherwise adversely affect our business. We also cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction. If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable collaborators on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a drug candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or

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commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to enter into collaborations and do not have sufficient funds or expertise to undertake the necessary development and commercialization activities, we may not be able to further develop our drug candidates or bring them to market and generate product sales revenue, which would harm our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We have engaged and will continue to rely on a single vendor to manage our order to cash cycle and our distribution activities in the U.S., and the loss or disruption of service from this vendor could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

Our U.S. customer management, order processing, invoicing, cash application, chargeback and rebate processing and distribution and logistics activities are managed by Eversana Life Science Services (“Eversana”), a managed services provider with a focus on life sciences companies. If we were to lose the availability of Eversana’s services due to a dispute, termination of or inability to renew the contract, or business continuity issues due to events beyond their control such as fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, quarantines, wars, civil unrest, strikes or governmental action, such loss could have a material adverse effect on our operations. Although multiple providers of such services exist, there can be no assurance that we could secure another source to handle these transactions on acceptable terms or otherwise to our specifications in the event of a disruption of services at operational centers.

Risks Related to Our Industry, Business and Operations

We are dependent on our key personnel, and if we are not successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.

We are highly dependent on Johnson Lau, our Chief Executive Officer; Jeffrey Yordon, our Chief Operating Officer; Daniel Lang, the President of Athenex Cell Therapy; Joe Annoni, our Chief Financial Officer; Rudolf Kwan, our Chief Medical Officer of Small Molecules; and Darrel Cohen, our Chief Medical Officer of Cell Therapy, and the other principal members of our management and scientific teams. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other employees. The loss of the services of any of these persons could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives.

To induce valuable employees to remain at our company, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we have provided equity awards that vest over time. The value to employees of these equity awards that vest over time may be significantly affected by changes in the price of our common stock that are beyond our control and may at any time be insufficient to counteract more lucrative offers from other companies. Although we have employment agreements with our key employees, any of our employees could leave our employment at any time, with or without notice. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth strategy will be limited.

Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel or consultants will also be critical to our success. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our discovery and preclinical development and commercialization strategy. The loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees and consultants could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives and seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business strategy.

The loss of any member of the Company’s management, either permanently or for an indeterminate period of time, and/or failure to successfully implement our succession plan to enable the effective transfer of knowledge or to facilitate smooth transitions in leadership could significantly disrupt the management of the Company’s business and impair the Company’s ability to execute its business strategies. We have experienced significant changes in our management team and business in recent years, and more changes could occur. Replacing executive officers and key employees or consultants may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to successfully develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize products. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these key personnel or consultants on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. Management transition periods, including adding new personnel, could be difficult as new employees gain an understanding of our business and strategy. If we are unable to successfully integrate new employees, we may have difficulty maintaining compliance with our internal control over financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures, and executing our business strategy, which could have an adverse effect on our overall financial condition.

Certain members of our leadership may engage in other business ventures that may have interests in conflict with ours.

In order to recruit and retain qualified personnel, we may choose to hire part-time employees, use consultants, or permit personnel to pursue other professional opportunities. As a result, certain of our employees, officers, directors and consultants may not devote all of their time to our business, and may from time to time serve as officers, directors and consultants of other companies. These other companies may have interests in conflict with ours. For instance, Dr. Johnson Lau, who serves as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and Dr. Manson Fok, who serves on our board of directors, are also directors of Avalon, a stockholder of ours and one of our license partners. Dr. Lau also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Axis, a joint venture that we majority own. As a

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result, these individuals owe duties to each of these entities, which duties may conflict with the duties that they owe to us and our stockholders. We also face competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us.

We may have conflicts of interest with our affiliates and related parties, and in the past, we have engaged in transactions and entered into agreements with affiliates that were not negotiated at arms’ length.

We have engaged, and may in the future engage, in transactions with affiliates and other related parties. These transactions may not have been, and may not be, on terms as favorable to us as they could have been if obtained from non-affiliated persons. While an effort has been made and will continue to be made to obtain services from affiliated persons and other related parties at rates and on terms as favorable as would be charged by others, there will always be an inherent conflict of interest between our interests and those of our affiliates and related parties. Our affiliates may economically benefit from our arrangements with related parties. If we engage in related party transactions on unfavorable terms, our operating results will be negatively impacted.

Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.

We are exposed to the risk of fraud, misconduct or other illegal activity by our executive officers, employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and negligent conduct that fails to: comply with the laws of the U.S., including regulations of the FDA and other similar non-U.S. regulatory authorities; provide true, complete and accurate information to the FDA and other similar non-U.S. regulatory authorities; comply with healthcare fraud and abuse and privacy laws in the U.S. and similar non-U.S. fraudulent misconduct laws; or report financial information or data accurately or to disclose unauthorized activities to us. In addition to Klisyri, which was approved by the FDA in December 2020, if we obtain FDA approval of additional drug candidates and begin commercializing those drugs in the U.S., our potential exposure under U.S. laws will continue to increase significantly and our costs associated with compliance with such laws are also likely to increase. These laws may impact, among other things, our current activities with principal investigators and research patients, as well as proposed and future sales, marketing and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales and marketing of healthcare items and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry, are subject to extensive laws designed to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs and other business arrangements generally. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of patient recruitment for clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

We have engaged, and may engage in future, acquisitions or strategic partnerships that increase our capital requirements, dilute our stockholders, cause us to incur debt or assume contingent liabilities, and subject us to other risks.

Subject to any limitations imposed by our financing arrangements, we may evaluate various acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including licensing or acquiring complementary products, intellectual property rights, technologies or businesses. For example, in May 2021, we acquired Kuur and its Cell Therapy technology. To realize the anticipated benefits of the Kuur acquisition, we must successfully integrate Kuur’s business with ours. The integration of Kuur’s business and any potential acquisition or strategic partnership entails numerous risks, including:

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In addition, if we undertake acquisitions, we may issue dilutive securities, assume or incur debt obligations, incur large one-time expenses and acquire intangible assets that could result in significant future amortization expense. Moreover, we may not be able to locate suitable acquisition opportunities and this inability could impair our ability to grow or obtain access to technology or products that may be important to the development of our business.

Our internal computer systems, or those used by our CROs, collaboration partners, third-party service providers or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches.

Despite the implementation of cybersecurity measures, our information technology and Internet-based systems, including those of our current and future CROs, collaboration partners, third-party service providers and other contractors and consultants, are vulnerable to damage, interruption, or failure from computer viruses, unauthorized access, intrusion, and other cybersecurity incidents, and we have experienced a security breach in the past. As the majority of our workforce has the ability to work remotely, we face heightened risks related to remote work, including strain on our information technology systems, coordination issues and the threat of cyber-security incidents related to unauthorized system access, aggressive social engineering tactics, and attacks on our information technology systems used to conduct our business. This could result in the exposure of sensitive data including the loss of trade secrets, intellectual property, personal identifiable or sensitive information of employees, customers, partners, clinical trial patients and others, leading to a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Likewise, we partially rely on our third-party research institution collaborators for research and development of our drug candidates and other third parties for the manufacture of our drug candidates and to conduct clinical trials, and similar cybersecurity incidents relating to their computer systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. Certain data security breaches must be reported to affected individuals and the government, and in some cases to the media, under provisions of HIPAA, other U.S. federal and state law, and requirements of non-U.S. jurisdictions, and financial penalties may also apply. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the further development and commercialization of our drug candidates could be delayed. To help mitigate future incidents, we have put in place enhanced security measures required for access by consultants. Notwithstanding such measures, we cannot be certain that no future security breaches will occur or that future breaches will not result in a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations.

Business disruptions could seriously harm our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.

Our operations, and those of our third-party research institution collaborators, CROs, suppliers and other contractors and consultants, could be subject to earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, water shortages, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, fires, extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics or pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, and other natural or man-made disasters or business interruptions, for which we are predominantly self-insured. In addition, we partially rely on our third-party research collaborators for conducting research and development of our drug candidates, and they may be affected by government shutdowns or withdrawn funding. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. Our ability to obtain clinical supplies of our drug candidates could be disrupted if the operations of these suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption. Damage or extended periods of interruption to our corporate, development or research facilities due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, communications failure, unauthorized entry or other events could cause us to cease or delay development of some or all of our drug candidates. Although we maintain property damage and business interruption insurance coverage on these facilities, our insurance might not cover all losses under such circumstances and our business may be seriously harmed by such delays and interruption.

If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our drug candidates.

We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of our drug candidates and will face an even greater risk if we are able to commercialize our clinical candidates. For example, we may be sued if drugs that we plan to manufacture cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, as applicable, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the drug, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be

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required to limit commercialization of our drug candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of drugs we develop, alone or with collaborators. Although we currently carry clinical trial insurance, which we believe to be adequate for our current operations, the amount of such insurance coverage may not be adequate now, or in the future, and we may be unable to maintain such insurance, or we may not be able to obtain additional or replacement insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all. Our insurance policies may also have various exclusions, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We may have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Even if our agreements with any future corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.

Additionally, we may be sued if the products that we commercialize, market or distribute for our partners cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable, and may result in:

We have limited insurance coverage, and any claims beyond our insurance coverage may result in us incurring substantial costs and a diversion of resources.

We maintain property insurance policies covering physical damage to, or loss of, our buildings and their improvements, equipment, office furniture and inventory as well as business interruption insurance covering loss of income & extra expenses associated with physical damage to our property. We maintain workers’ compensation/employer’s liability insurance covering death or work-related injury of employees. We purchase general liability insurance covering certain incidents involving third parties that occur on or in the premises of the company, and products liability insurance covering certain incidents involving third parties resulting from our products. We purchase directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and employment practices liability insurance. We do not maintain key-man life insurance on any of our senior management or key personnel. Our insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover any claim for product liability, damage to our fixed assets or employee injuries. Any liability or damage to, or caused by, our facilities or our personnel beyond our insurance coverage may result in our incurring substantial costs and a diversion of resources.

We may increasingly become a target for public scrutiny, including complaints to regulatory agencies, negative media coverage, including social media and malicious reports, all of which could severely damage our reputation and materially and adversely affect our business and prospects.

We focus on the development of drugs used in the treatment of cancers, and such drugs may be the subject of regulatory, watchdog and media scrutiny and coverage, which also creates the possibility of heightened attention from the public, the media and

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our participants. In addition, members of our management and board include high-profile public figures who may be the subject of media and negative publicity and attention. From time to time, these objections or allegations, regardless of their veracity, may result in public protests or negative publicity, which could result in government inquiry or harm our reputation. Corporate transactions we or related parties undertake may also subject us to increased media exposure and public scrutiny. There is no assurance that we would not become a target for public scrutiny in the future or such scrutiny and public exposure would not severely damage our reputation as well as our business and prospects.

In addition, our directors and management have been in the past, and may continue to be, subject to scrutiny by the media and the public regarding their activities in and outside our company, which may result in unverified, inaccurate or misleading information about them being reported by the press. Negative publicity about our directors or management, even if untrue or inaccurate, may harm our reputation.

Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

We have incurred net operating losses (“NOLs”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Unused NOLs will carry forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused NOLs expire (if ever). NOLs generated after December 31, 2017 are not subject to expiration, but the yearly utilization of such NOLs is limited to 80 percent of taxable income. Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, if a corporation undergoes an ownership change (generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage points change (by value) in the equity ownership of one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders who own at least 5% of a corporation’s stock over any three-year period), the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change income may be limited. We believe that we have experienced such a change in 2021 and may experience more in the future, which may affect our ability to utilize our NOLs. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had federal NOLs of approximately $69.3 million and $93.7 million, respectively, that could be limited by our past and any future ownership change, which could have an adverse effect on our future results of operations. The change in 2021 is a result in a reduction of $108.9 million from a Section 382 limitation that occurred in 2021, less an increase in potentially limited NOLs of $17.8 million as a result of the Kuur acquisition. Similar limitations will apply to our ability to carry forward any unused tax credits to offset future taxable income.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

Recently enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize our drug candidates and affect the prices we may obtain.

In the U.S., China and certain other jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay regulatory approval of our drug candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any additional drug candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval.

In the U.S., the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (the "MMA"), changed the way Medicare covers and pays for pharmaceutical products. The legislation expanded Medicare coverage for drug purchases by the elderly and introduced a new reimbursement methodology based on average sales prices for physician-administered drugs. In addition, this legislation provided authority for limiting the number of drugs that will be covered in any therapeutic class. Cost reduction initiatives and other provisions of this legislation could decrease the coverage and price that we receive for any approved products. While the MMA only applies to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Therefore, any reduction in reimbursement that results from the MMA may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.

The ACA included provisions to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add transparency requirements for the healthcare and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. Among other things, the ACA increased manufacturers’ rebate liability under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, imposed a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products and required manufacturers to provide a discount off the negotiated price of prescriptions filled by beneficiaries in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, referred to as the “donut hole,” which is now 70% of the negotiated price. There have been efforts to repeal or overturn the ACA. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge on procedural grounds that argued the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress. Thus, the ACA will remain in effect in its current form. It is possible that the ACA will be subject to judicial or Congressional challenges in the future. It is uncertain how any such challenges and the healthcare measures of the Biden administration will impact the ACA and our business.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the U.S. since the ACA was enacted. These changes included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, starting in 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute will remain in effect through 2030, with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Medicare reductions phased back in starting with a 1% reduction

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in effect from April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022 before increasing to the full 2% reduction. There may be additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding as a result of future legislation.

We expect that the ACA, as well as other healthcare reform legislative measures that have been since adopted or may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and an additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved drug. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our drugs.

For example, on November 20, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") finalized a regulation removing safe harbor protection under the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute for price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors under Part D, either directly or through pharmacy benefit managers, unless the price reduction is required by law or unless it is passed through to the dispensing pharmacy and reflected in the price to the patient. The implementation of the rule was delayed by the Biden administration to January 1, 2023 in response to ongoing litigation and subsequently delayed by the IRA until January 1, 2032. In addition, effective January 1, 2024, a provision capping the rebate amount under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program at 100% of AMP will be eliminated, which means that a manufacturer could pay a rebate amount on a unit of the drug that is greater than the price the manufacturer receives for the drug. Further, on December 31, 2020, CMS published a new rule, effective January 1, 2023, effective January 1, 2023, requiring manufacturers to ensure the full value of co-pay assistance is passed on to the patient or these dollars will count toward the Average Manufacturer Price and Best Price calculation of the drug. On May 21, 2021, PhRMA sued the HHS in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to stop the implementation of the rule claiming that the rule contradicts federal law surrounding Medicaid rebates, and on May 17, 2022, the court vacated the rule.

In addition, on September 9, 2021, the Biden administration published a wide-ranging list of policy proposals, most of which would need to be carried out by Congress, to reduce drug prices and drug payment. The HHS plan includes, among other reform measures, proposals to lower prescription drug prices, including by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices and disincentivizing price increases, and to support market changes that strengthen supply chains, promote biosimilars and generic drugs, and increase price transparency. These healthcare reform initiatives recently culminated in the enactment of the IRA in August 2022, which will, among other things, allow the HHS to negotiate the selling price of certain drugs and biologics that CMS reimburses under Medicare Part B and Part D, although only high-expenditure single-source drugs that have been approved for at least 7 years (11 years for biologics) can be selected by CMS for negotiation, with the negotiated price taking effect two years after the selection year. The negotiated prices, which will first become effective in 2026, will be capped at a statutory ceiling price. Beginning in October 2022 for Medicare Part D and January 2023 for Medicare Part B, the IRA will also penalize drug manufacturers that increase prices of Medicare Part D and Part B drugs at a rate greater than the rate of inflation. The IRA permits the Secretary of HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. Manufacturers that fail to comply with the IRA may be subject to various penalties, including civil monetary penalties. The IRA also extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. These provisions will take effect progressively starting in 2023, although they may be subject to legal challenges.

Other legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict coverage and reimbursement and sales and promotional activities, for pharmaceutical products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether agencies such as the FDA or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will issue new regulations, guidance or interpretations that may impact our drug candidates. In addition, increased scrutiny by the U.S. Congress of the FDA’s approval process may significantly delay or prevent regulatory approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.

We are subject, directly or indirectly, to applicable U.S. federal and state anti-kickback, false claims laws, physician payment transparency laws, fraud and abuse laws or similar healthcare and privacy and security laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.

Healthcare providers, physicians and others play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of our products and any of our product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval. Our operations are subject to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act and physician payment transparency laws and regulations. These laws may impact, among other things, our proposed sales and marketing programs as well as any patient support programs we may consider offering. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:

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Additionally, we are subject to state and non-U.S. equivalents of each of the healthcare laws described above, among others, some of which may be broader in scope and may apply regardless of the payor. Many U.S. states have adopted laws similar to the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, some of which apply to the referral of patients for healthcare services reimbursed by any source, not just governmental payors, including private insurers. In addition, some states have passed laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the April 2003 Office of Inspector General Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and/or the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals. Several states also impose other marketing restrictions or require pharmaceutical companies to make marketing or price disclosures to the state. There are ambiguities as to what is required to comply with these state requirements and if we fail to comply with an applicable state law requirement, we could be subject to penalties.

Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. In addition, recent health care reform legislation has strengthened these laws. For example, the ACA, among other things, amends the intent requirement of the federal Anti-Kickback and criminal healthcare fraud statutes. As a result of such amendment, a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of these statutes or specific intent to violate them in order to have committed a violation. Moreover, the ACA provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act.

Violations of fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal and/or civil sanctions, including penalties, fines and/or exclusion or suspension from federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and debarment from contracting with the U.S. government. In addition, private individuals have the ability to bring civil whistleblower or qui tam actions on behalf of the U.S. government under the Federal False Claims Act as well as under the false claims laws of several states.

Law enforcement authorities are increasingly focused on enforcing these laws, and it is possible that some of our practices may be challenged under these laws. Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. In addition, the

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approval and commercialization of any of our drug candidates outside the U.S. will also likely subject us to non-U.S. equivalents of the healthcare laws mentioned above, among other non-U.S. laws.

If any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs.

Lastly, political, economic and regulatory influences are subjecting the health care industry in the U.S. to fundamental change. Initiatives to reduce the federal budget and debt and to reform health care coverage are increasing cost-containment efforts. We anticipate that federal agencies, Congress, state legislatures, and the private sector will continue to review and assess alternative health care benefits, controls on health care spending, and other fundamental changes to the healthcare delivery system. Any proposed or actual changes could limit coverage for or the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for health care products and services, which could also result in reduced demand for our products or additional pricing pressures, and limit or eliminate our spending on development projects and affect our ultimate profitability.

Our business is subject to applicable laws and regulations relating to sanctions, anti-money laundering and anti-bribery practices, the violation of which could adversely affect our operations.

We must comply with all applicable economic sanctions, anti-money laundering and anti-bribery laws and regulations of the U.S. and other foreign jurisdictions where we operate, including China. U.S. laws and regulations applicable to us include the economic trade sanctions laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, as well as certain laws administered by the U.S. Department of State. Our business is also subject to anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in the U.K., the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 and the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 in the U.S. and equivalent or similar legislation in the other countries where we do business. In addition, we are subject to the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws such as the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 that generally prohibit the corrupt provision of anything of value to foreign governments and their officials and political parties for the purpose of influencing official conduct or obtaining or retaining an undue business advantage. Applicable anti-bribery laws also may prohibit commercial bribery.

We have operations, conduct clinical trials, deal with government entities, including hospitals and public health regulators, and have contracts in countries known to experience corruption and commercial bribery. Our activities in these countries, particularly China and countries in Latin America, create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by our employees, brokers or agents that could be in violation of various laws, including the FCPA, even though these parties are not always subject to our control and supervision. Corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices occur from time-to-time in China, where we conduct business. There is no assurance that our existing safeguards and procedures will be completely effective in ensuring compliance with such laws, and our employees, brokers or agents may engage in conduct for which we may be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA or other anti-bribery laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our reputation, business, operating results, and financial condition.

Regulations administered by OFAC govern transactions with countries and persons subject to U.S. trade sanctions. We are also subject to U.S. Government restrictions on transactions with specific entities and individuals, including, without limitation, those set forth on the Entity List, the Specially Designated Nationals List, the Denied Persons List, the Unverified List, and the U.S. State Department’s lists of debarred parties and sanctioned entities, and we may also be subject to restrictions on transactions with specific entities and individuals subject to the sanctions administered by the United Nations Security Council, the EU, Her Majesty’s Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority. These regulations prohibit us from entering into or facilitating unlicensed transactions with, for the benefit of, or in some cases involving the property and property interests of such persons, governments, or countries designated by the relevant sanctions authority under one or more sanctions regimes. Failure to comply with these sanctions and embargoes may result in material fines, sanctions or other penalties being imposed on us or other governmental investigations. In addition, various state and municipal governments, universities and other investors maintain prohibitions or restrictions on investments in companies that do business involving sanctioned countries or entities.

International economic and trade sanctions are complex and subject to frequent change, including jurisdictional reach and the lists of countries, entities, and individuals subject to the sanctions. Current or future economic and trade sanctions regulations or developments might have a negative impact on our business or reputation, and we may incur significant costs related to current, new, or changing sanctions programs, as well as investigations, fines, fees or settlements, which may be difficult to predict. In addition, companies subject to SEC reporting obligations are required under Section 13 of the Exchange Act to disclose in their periodic reports specified dealings or transactions involving Iran or other individuals and entities targeted by certain sanctions promulgated by OFAC that the reporting company or any of its affiliates engaged in during the period covered by the relevant periodic report. In some cases, Section 13 requires companies to disclose transactions even if they are permissible under U.S. law. The SEC is required to post this notice of disclosure pursuant to Section 13 on its website and report to the President and certain congressional committees regarding such filings.

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Although we have policies and controls in place that are designed to ensure compliance with these laws and regulations, it is possible that an employee or intermediary could fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations. In such event, we could be exposed to civil penalties, criminal penalties and other sanctions, including fines or other punitive actions, and the government may seek to impose modifications to business practices, including cessation of business activities in sanctioned countries, and modifications to compliance programs, which may increase compliance costs. In addition, such violations could damage our business and/or our reputation. Such criminal or civil sanctions, penalties, other sanctions, and damage to our business and/or reputation could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Any failure to comply with applicable regulations and industry standards or obtain various licenses and permits could harm our reputation and our business, results of operations and prospects.

A number of governmental agencies or industry regulatory bodies in the U.S., and in non-U.S. jurisdictions including China and countries in Latin America, impose strict rules, regulations and industry standards governing pharmaceutical and biotechnology research and development and manufacturing and marketing activities, which apply to us. Our failure to comply with such regulations could result in the termination of ongoing research or manufacturing and marketing, administrative penalties imposed by regulatory bodies or the disqualification of data for submission to regulatory authorities. This could harm our reputation, prospects for future work and operating results. For example, if we were to treat research animals inhumanely or in violation of international standards set out by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, it could revoke any such accreditation and the accuracy of our animal research data could be questioned.

If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses, we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of or exposure to hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage, use or disposal of biological or hazardous materials.

In addition, we may be required to incur substantial costs to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.

If we face allegations of noncompliance with the law and encounter sanctions, our reputation, revenues and liquidity may suffer, and our drugs could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market.

Any government investigation of alleged violations of law could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity. Any failure to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may significantly and adversely affect our ability to commercialize and generate revenues from our drugs. If regulatory sanctions are applied or if regulatory approval is withdrawn, the value of our company and our operating results will be adversely affected. Additionally, if we are unable to generate revenues from our product sales, our potential for achieving profitability will be diminished and the capital necessary to fund our operations will be increased.

Risks Related to Doing Business Internationally

Tensions between the U.S. and China may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have operations in Hong Kong and expect that a portion of our future revenue will be sourced from licensing partnerships in China. Accordingly, our operations, financial condition and results of operations are affected by economic, political and legal developments between the U.S. and China. For example, raw material costs are impacted by governmental actions, such as tariffs and trade sanctions. The imposition by the U.S. government of tariffs on products imported from certain countries and trade sanctions against certain countries have introduced greater uncertainty with respect to policies affecting trade between the United States and other countries and have impacted the cost of certain raw materials. Major developments in trade relations, including the imposition of new or increased tariffs by the United States and/or other countries, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Political tensions between the U.S. and China create uncertainties for doing business in China, including compliance risks that may arise from retaliatory regulations, restrictions on technology transfers between the countries or measures enacted that further impede our ability to repatriate capital from our subsidiaries in China. The uncertainties caused by continued tensions, together with the risk of escalating retaliatory policies could increase our cost of doing business, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and may result in our inability to sustain our operations, and growth and expansion strategies with respect to China.

Fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses, which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We incur portions of our expenses, and may in the future derive revenues, in currencies other than U.S. dollars, in particular, the RMB. As a result, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange risk as our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. For example, we sold our interest in our API manufacturing business in China during 2022, and the consideration payable in tranches through the first half of 2023 is denominated in RMB. We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates through this agreement, and we are subject to the risk that the U.S. dollar is reduced in value relative to the RMB. We currently do not engage in hedging transactions to protect against uncertainty in future exchange rates between particular foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. An increase in the value of the U.S. dollar against currencies in countries in which we conduct business could have a negative impact on our research and development costs.

The value of the RMB against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions and the foreign exchange policy adopted by China and other non-U.S. governments. Generally, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into RMB for our operations, appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the RMB amount we would receive. Conversely, if we decide to convert our RMB into U.S. dollars for other business purposes, appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the RMB would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount we would receive. We cannot predict the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, and foreign currency fluctuations in the future may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Scrutiny of companies with operations in China may result in increased regulatory review of us and negatively impact the trading price of our common stock and could have a material adverse effect upon our business, including our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and prospects.

We believe that the implementation of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCAA”), the delistings of China-based business from U.S. stock exchanges, and the general negative publicity surrounding companies with operations in China, including concerning the directors and officers of such companies, that are listed in the U.S. have negatively impacted stock prices for such companies and the HFCAA may result in additional delistings of companies with significant China operations from U.S. securities exchanges. Various equity-based research organizations have published reports on China-based companies after examining, among other things, their corporate governance practices, related party transactions, sales practices and financial statements that have led to special investigations and stock suspensions on national exchanges, including as a result of purported whistle-blowing or leaking by employees or former employees. Any similar scrutiny of us, regardless of its lack of merit, could result in a diversion of management resources and energy, potential costs to defend ourselves against rumors, decreases and volatility in the trading price of our common stock, and increased directors and officers insurance premiums and could have a material adverse effect upon our business, including our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and prospects.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

If we fail to comply with the continued listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Market, our common stock may be delisted from the exchange.

Our common stock is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “ATNX.” The continued listing of our common stock on Nasdaq is subject to our compliance with a number of listing standards. In particular, during 2022, our common stock failed to maintain a minimum bid price of at least $1.00 per share. In February 2023, we effected a reverse stock split to increase the per share price of our common stock to regain compliance with the Nasdaq listing standards. There can be no assurance that this reverse stock split will be sufficient for our stock price to maintain a minimum bid price of at least $1.00 per share for the foreseeable future.

If we fail to satisfy the Nasdaq continued listing requirements, such as the corporate governance requirements, the stockholder’s equity requirement or maintaining the minimum bid price requirement, Nasdaq may take steps to delist our common stock. Such a delisting or another notification of failure to comply with such requirements would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. We and our stockholders could be materially adversely impacted if our common stock were to be delisted from Nasdaq. In particular:

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In the event of a delisting, we would take actions to restore our compliance with Nasdaq’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement or prevent future noncompliance with Nasdaq’s listing requirements.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on price appreciation of our common stock for return on your investment, if any.

We intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and earnings to fund our business operations and the development of our business. In addition, our Senior Credit Agreement restricts our and our restricted subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our common stock as a source for any future dividend income.

Our board of directors has significant discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to the restrictions contained in our financing agreements. Even if our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on, among other things, restrictions on the form and amount of such dividends in our debt agreements, our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Accordingly, the return on an investment in our common stock will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our common stock. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain its current market price. You may not realize a return on your investment in our common stock and you may even lose your entire investment in our common stock.

Concentration of ownership among our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control.

Our executive officers and directors beneficially own approximately 8.8% of our outstanding common stock in the aggregate, based on the number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2022. Perceptive Advisors LLC and its affiliates own approximately 14.6% and IP Group PLC owns approximately 5.9% of our outstanding common stock, based on the number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2022. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, will be able to influence or control matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions or other extraordinary transactions. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. They may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change of control of our company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our common stock. Our directors and executive officers’ investment in and position in our company could also discourage others from pursuing any potential acquisition of us, which could have the effect of depriving the holders of our common stock of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over the prevailing market price.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents may discourage our acquisition by a third party, which could limit our stockholders’ opportunity to sell their shares at a premium.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws include provisions that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of our company, modify our structure or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our stockholders of an opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control in a tender offer or similar transaction.

The trading price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to you.

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The trading price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile and could fluctuate widely in response to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our common stock may be highly volatile for specific business reasons, including:

Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and trading price of our common stock. We could be subject to additional securities class action litigation against us following a future period of volatility in the market price of our shares.

In addition, the stock market, in general, and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market and industry factors, including the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, limited supply of natural resources, and acts of war, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. Further, the current decline in the financial markets and related factors beyond our control may cause our common stock price to decline rapidly and unexpectedly.

General Risk Factors

Our business is subject to macroeconomic factors, like inflation, supply chain disruptions that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine, that may have an adverse impact on our business and clinical development activities.

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Economic conditions across the world face continued uncertainty due to, among other things, high and rising inflation, higher interest rates, and increased geopolitical risk in multiple regions including Ukraine. Continued economic uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our business and financial condition.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced supply chain disruptions and, in line with the industry overall, slowed enrollment or suspensions of ongoing clinical trials for our earlier stage product candidates as healthcare resources are diverted to address the pandemic. We could face similar risks if the pandemic worsens or in the event of a new public health emergency. Similarly, if the war in Ukraine or other external events cause a significant macroeconomic downturn, we may experience a multitude of additional disruptions that could severely impact our business, operations and development activities, including the following:

If our partners experience significant or extended disruptions to their business due to these macroeconomic factors, including the war in Ukraine, it could result in substantial supply shortages that could harm our specialty drug business and our overall financial condition and results of operations. These disruptions could adversely impact our ability to conduct clinical development activities, planned clinical trials and our business generally, and could have a material adverse impact on our operations and financial condition and results.

If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our consolidated financial results.

We cannot assure you that there will not be material weaknesses and significant deficiencies that our independent registered public accounting firm or we will identify in the future. Under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a deficiency in internal control over financial reporting exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or personnel, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency or combination of deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis. As a public company, we must maintain effective disclosure and financial controls and implement those controls in our corporate governance practices including our board and committee practices. If we identify such issues or if we are unable to produce accurate and timely financial statements, our stock price may be adversely affected, and we may be unable to maintain compliance with applicable listing requirements.

Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud.

We are subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, and recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC.

We believe that any disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected, which would cause us to be unable to produce accurate financial statements and may adversely affect our business.

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There are limitations on the liability of our officers and directors, and we may have to indemnify our officers and directors in certain instances.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limits, to the maximum extent permitted under Delaware law, the personal liability of our directors for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors. The indemnification provisions may require us, among other things, to indemnify such officers and directors against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers (other than liabilities arising from willful misconduct of a culpable nature), to advance their expenses incurred as a result of certain proceedings against them as to which they could be indemnified. Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides that a corporation may indemnify a director, officer, employee or agent made or threatened to be made a party to an action by reason of the fact that he or she was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or was serving at the request of the corporation, against expenses actually and reasonably incurred in connection with such action if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful. Delaware law does not permit a corporation to eliminate a director’s duty of care and the provisions of our certificate of incorporation have no effect on the availability of equitable remedies, such as injunction or rescission, for a director’s breach of the duty of care.

We believe that our limitation of officer and director liability assists us to attract and retain qualified employees and directors. However, in the event an officer, a director or the board of directors commits an act that may legally be indemnified under Delaware law, we will be responsible to pay for such officer(s) or director(s) legal defense and potentially any resulting damages. Furthermore, the limitation on director liability may reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and may discourage or deter stockholders from instituting litigation against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties, even though such an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders and us. Limitations of director liability may be viewed as limiting the rights of stockholders, and the broad scope of the indemnification provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation could result in increased expenses.

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