Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Our business faces many risks. Past experience may not be indicative of future performance, and as noted elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have included forward-looking statements about our business, plans and prospects that are subject to change. Forward-looking statements are particularly located in, but not limited to, the sections “Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” In addition to the other risks or uncertainties contained in this Annual Report, the risks described below may affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flows. If any of these risks occur, either alone or in combination with other factors, our business, financial condition or operating results could be adversely affected and the trading price of our common stock may decline. Moreover, readers should note this is not an exhaustive list of the risks we face; some risks are unknown or not quantifiable, and other risks that we currently perceive as immaterial may ultimately prove more significant than expected. Statements about plans, predictions or expectations should not be construed to be assurances of performance or promises to take a given course of action.

COVID-19

We have in the past been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and may in the future been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the pandemic, we have at times experienced reduced capacity to provide CDMO services as a result of instituting social distancing at work requirements in our Texas facility, restricting access to essential workers, as well as taking other precautions. We also experienced a full three-day operational shutdown in April 2020 for extensive facility cleaning following the discovery that an employee had contracted COVID-19, and successfully resumed operations on a reduced capacity basis.

We have ascertained that certain risks associated with further COVID-19 developments may adversely impact our operations and liquidity, and our business and share price may also be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we do not anticipate any significant threat to our operations at this point in time. Due to the general unknown nature surrounding the crisis, we cannot reasonably estimate the potential for any future impacts on our operations or liquidity.

The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 and continued progress in various countries around the world, including the United States, has led authorities around the globe to take various extraordinary measures to stem the spread of the disease, such as emergency travel and transportation restrictions, school closures, quarantines and social distancing measures. The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an adverse effect on global markets and may lead to a major slowdown in the economy in the United States and globally.

In recognition of the significant threat to the liquidity of financial markets posed by COVID-19, on March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), a stimulus bill intended to bolster the U.S. economy, among other things, was signed into law to provide emergency assistance to qualifying businesses and individuals. There can be no assurance that these interventions by the government will be successful, and the financial markets may experience significant contractions in available liquidity. On April 16, 2020, the Company received $600,000 related to its filing under the Paycheck Protection Program and the CARES Act. Forgiveness of this loan is only available for principal that is used for the limited purposes that qualify for forgiveness under the Small Business Administration’s ("SBA") requirements, and that to obtain forgiveness, we must request it and must provide documentation in accordance with the SBA's requirements, and certify that the amounts we are requesting to be forgiven qualify under those requirements. Forgiveness of the loan is dependent upon approval of the SBA and there can be no assurance or certainty that forgiveness will in fact occur. It is not possible at this time to estimate the further need, availability, extent or impact of any additional such relief. There can be no assurance that these interventions by the government will be successful, and the financial markets may experience significant contractions in available liquidity. Although the Company does not anticipate current operational difficulties, the risk exists that further COVID-19 developments may negatively impact the Company’s financial condition and restrict the availability of liquidity for its operational needs.

On March 11, 2020, iBio filed four provisional patent applications (the “Patent Applications”) that apply its Virus Like Particle ("VLP") platform technology, or its lichenase carrier immunostimulatory (“LicKM”) adjuvant technology, in conjunction with its FastPharming Manufacturing System for treating or preventing infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the agent that causes COVID-19. We announced our first proprietary COVID-19 development program on March 26, 2020, and its second program on June 4, 2020.

In addition, as previously announced, on February 6, 2020, iBio and CC-Pharming Ltd., of Beijing, China (“CC-Pharming”) executed a Statement of Work 2 (“SOW2”), pursuant to an existing Master Joint Development Agreement to develop and test a new CC-Pharming SARS-CoV-2 antigen to be manufactured using iBio’s FastPharming Manufacturing System. The contemplated collaborative effort has not yet progressed in any material respect.

There is no assurance that our activities relating to the development of intellectual property in the field of vaccine candidate development for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which are reflected in the filing of the Patent Applications described above, will result in the development of any successful product candidates or generate any proceeds or that we will be able to develop a vaccine in time for its use. These efforts are subject to the risks relating to the development and commercialization of our technologies and product candidates, risks relating to our intellectual property and other risks relating to our operations described in this Annual Report.

In addition, we may face additional risks relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential negative effects on our operations, share price and its toll on the world economy and health risks generally. COVID-19 may affect our operations and those of third parties on which we rely, including our customers and suppliers. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be affected by: disruptions in our customers’ abilities to fund, develop, or bring to market products as anticipated; delays in or disruptions to the conduct of clinical trials by our customers; cancellations of contracts or confirmed orders from our customers; and the inability, difficulty, or additional cost or delays in obtaining key raw materials, components, and other supplies from our existing supply chain; among other factors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our operations could again be disrupted if some of our employees become ill or are otherwise absent from work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, governmental restrictions, including travel restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, business closures, new safety requirements or regulations, or restrictions on the import or export of certain materials, or other operational issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. We continue to monitor our operations and governmental recommendations and have made modifications for an indefinite period to our normal operations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, including requiring most non-production related employees to work remotely, which may increase cyber security risks or create data accessibility concerns.

The evolving nature of the circumstances is such that it is impossible, at this stage, to determine the full and overall impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have, but it could further disrupt production and cause delays in the supply and delivery of products used in our operations, adversely affect our employees and disrupt our operations and manufacturing activities, all of which may have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital

We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect to incur losses during our next fiscal year and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

Since our 2008 spinoff from Integrated BioPharma, we have incurred operating losses and negative cash flows from operations. Our net loss was approximately $16.4 million and $17.6 million for 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of June 30, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $150.4 million.

To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of common stock, preferred stock and warrants. We have devoted substantially all of our efforts to research and development, including the development and validation of our technologies, our CDMO facilities, and the development of a proprietary therapeutic product against fibrosis and COVID-19 vaccines based upon our technologies. We have not completed development of or commercialized any vaccine or therapeutic product candidates. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and may incur operating losses for at least the next year. We anticipate that our expenses and losses will increase substantially if we:

To become and remain profitable, we must succeed in attracting and maintaining customers for the development, manufacturing and technology transfer services offered by iBio CDMO, or acquire customers for our new Research & Bioprocess Products presently in development. Our profitability in large part depends on the spending on iBio CDMO’s services by its customers and potential customers and our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidates. In addition, our profitability will also depend on continuing to commercialize our technologies or we, alone or with our licensees, must succeed in developing and eventually commercializing products that generate significant revenue. This will require us, alone or with our licensees and collaborators, to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including completing preclinical testing and clinical trials of our product candidates, obtaining regulatory approval for these product candidates and manufacturing, marketing and selling those products for which regulatory approval is obtained or establishing collaborations with parties willing and able to provide necessary capital or other value. We may never succeed in these activities. We may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability.

Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would diminish the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, diversify our product offerings or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

We anticipate that our expenses will increase in the future.

We expect our research and development expenses to increase significantly as our product candidates advance in clinical development. Because of numerous risks and uncertainties involved in our business, the timing or amount of increased development expenses cannot be accurately predicted, and our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities, to perform studies or clinical trials in addition to those we currently anticipate. Even if our product candidate is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with the commercial launch of and the related commercial-scale manufacturing requirements for our product candidate. As a result, we expect to continue to incur significant and increasing operating losses and negative cash flows for the foreseeable future. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with biopharmaceutical product development and commercialization, we are unable to accurately predict the timing or amount of future expenses or when, or if, we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. These losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our financial position and working capital.

We anticipate that our expenses will increase to the extent we:

We need additional funding to fully execute our business plan, which funding may not be available on commercially acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we may be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate the commercialization of our development and manufacturing services and efforts or our product development programs.

Even though we issued and sold an aggregate of (i) 19,473,013 shares of our common stock through July 16, 2020 for gross proceeds of $25,228,437 pursuant to the Lincoln Park March 2020 Purchase Agreement and (ii) 28,394,064 shares of our common stock September 9, 2020 for gross proceeds of $68,888,074 pursuant to the equity distribution agreement with UBS Securities, LLC ("UBS Securities") as our sales agent, as well as a significant percentage of the additional $27,000,000 of shares of our common stock pursuant to the equity distribution agreement, as amended by amendment no. 1, we still need additional capital to fully implement our current business, operating and development plans. To the extent that we initiate or continue clinical development without securing collaborator or licensee funding, our research and development expenses could increase substantially. Additionally, if we are unsuccessful in our efforts to attract and retain customers for CDMO services, develop and launch Research & Bioprocess Products, out-license our technologies and product candidates, or we find that it is necessary to advance the development of product candidates further than contemplated by our current business plans to secure favorable licensing terms, we would require substantial additional capital.

When we elect to raise additional funds or additional funds are required, we may raise such funds from time to time through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements or other financing alternatives. Additional equity or debt financing or corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, no further sales of shares of our common stock will be made pursuant to the Purchase Agreement that we entered into with Lincoln Park in March 2020 since we could no longer issue additional shares due to NYSE American limitations and therefore we terminated such agreement, effective July 27, 2020. If we are unable to raise capital in sufficient amounts when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and development programs or commercialization efforts and our ability to generate revenues and achieve or sustain profitability will be substantially harmed.

Given that our total cash and marketable securities as of October 8, 2020, exceeded $83 million we believe we have adequate cash to support our current operations. We plan to fund our future business operations using cash on hand, through proceeds realized in connection with the commercialization of our technologies and proprietary products, license and collaboration arrangements and the operation of iBio CDMO, and through proceeds from the sale of additional equity or other securities. We cannot be certain that such funding will be available on favorable terms or available at all. To the extent that the Company raises additional funds by issuing equity securities, its stockholders may experience significant dilution.

We have based this projection on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, in which case we may deplete our cash resources sooner than we currently anticipate. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

If we are unable to raise funds when required or on favorable terms, this assumption may no longer be operative, and we may have to: a) significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue the product application and/or commercialization of our proprietary technologies; b) seek collaborators for our technology and product candidates on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available; c) relinquish or otherwise dispose of rights to technologies, product candidates, or products that we would otherwise seek to develop or commercialize; or d) possibly cease operations.

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

Until such time as we can generate substantial development, manufacturing, license or product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, collaborations, strategic alliances, service contracts, manufacturing contracts, facility build-out and technology transfer contracts, licensing and other arrangements. Sources of funds may not be available or, if available, may not be available on terms satisfactory to us.

If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders will experience dilution. Debt financing, if available, would result in increased fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms, such as liquidation and other preferences, which are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. Should the financing we require to sustain our working capital needs be unavailable or prohibitively expensive when we require it, our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected and we may be unable to continue our operations.

To the extent that we raise additional capital through a public or private offering and sale of equity securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. Should the financing we require to sustain our working capital needs be unavailable or prohibitively expensive when we require it, our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected and we may be unable to continue our operations.

We have a limited operating history conducting commercial activities as a CDMO and developing vaccines and therapeutics, which may limit the ability of investors to make an informed investment decision.

We commenced independent operations in 2008, and our operations to date have included organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, acquiring and developing our proprietary technologies, recommissioning and operating our CDMO facility, identifying potential product candidates and undertaking, through third parties, preclinical trials and clinical trials of product candidates derived from our technologies. Commercial activities at our CDMO facility commenced in January 2016 with the large majority of our early efforts directed towards recommissioning the facility to help meet cGMP manufacturing standards and provisions for iBio’s core service offerings. The current vaccines and therapeutics being developed are all in preclinical development. Certain vaccine candidates using iBio’s technologies have previously been evaluated by other organizations in Phase 1 clinical trials; however, all of our vaccine and therapeutic protein product candidates are still in preclinical development. Neither we nor our collaborators have completed any other clinical trials for any vaccine or therapeutic protein product candidate produced using iBio technology. As a result, we have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete any Phase 2 or pivotal clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Consequently, any conclusion you reach about our future success or viability may not be as predictive as it might be if we had a longer operating history.

Even if we receive regulatory approval for the sale of any of our product candidates, we do not know when we will begin to generate significant revenue from such product candidates, if at all. Our ability to generate revenue depends on a number of factors, including our ability to:

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with development and manufacturing, we are unable to predict if we will generate significant revenue. If we cannot successfully execute on any of the factors listed above, our business may not succeed, and we may never generate significant revenue.

Reliance on government funding for our R&D programs may impose requirements that limit our ability to take certain actions, and subject us to potential financial penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have applied for government grants to support some of our research and development activities for our product candidates. Often government grants include provisions that reflect the government’s substantial rights and remedies, many of which are not typically found in commercial contracts, including powers of the government to potentially require repayment of all or a portion of the grant award proceeds, in certain cases with interest, in the event we violate certain covenants pertaining to various matters.

Risks Related to the Development and Commercialization of Our Technologies and Product Candidates

We rely on licenses to use various technologies that are material to our business and if the agreements underlying the licenses were to be terminated or if other rights that may be necessary for commercializing our intended products cannot be obtained, it would halt our ability to market our products and technology, as well as have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our prospects for our fibrosis product candidate are significantly dependent upon our U-Pitt License Agreements. The license grants us exclusive, worldwide rights to certain existing patents and related intellectual property that cover fibrosis. If we breach the terms of the license, including any failure to make minimum royalty payments required thereunder or failure to reach certain developmental milestones and by certain deadlines or other factors, U-Pitt has the right to terminate the license. If we were to lose or otherwise be unable to maintain the license on acceptable terms, or find that it is necessary or appropriate to secure new licenses from other third parties, we would not be able to market IBIO-100.

We currently have only four product candidates in early stages of pre-clinical development and are dependent on the success of these product candidates, which requires significant clinical testing before seeking regulatory approval. If our product candidates do not receive regulatory approval or are not successfully commercialized, our business may be harmed.

We are currently in preclinical development of four product candidates, IBIO-100, -200, -201 and -400, as a potential treatment for of fibrosis, COVID-19 and a veterinary vaccine for swine fever. It is possible that we may never be able to develop a marketable product candidate.

We expect that a substantial portion of our efforts and expenditures over the next few years will be devoted to these product candidates. Accordingly, our business currently depends heavily on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of these product candidates, which may not receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized even if regulatory approval is received. The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, sale, marketing and distribution of product candidates are and will remain subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and other countries that each have differing regulations. We are not permitted to market any product in the United States unless and until we receive approval from the FDA, or in any foreign countries unless and until we receive the requisite approval from regulatory authorities in such countries. We have never submitted an NDA or BLA to the FDA or comparable applications to other regulatory authorities and do not expect to be in a position to do so for the foreseeable future. Obtaining approval of an NDA or BLA is an extensive, lengthy, expensive and inherently uncertain process, and the FDA may delay, limit or deny approval of its product for many reasons.

We depend on spending and demand from our customers for our contract manufacturing and development services. 

Any reduction in customer spending on outsourcing contract manufacturing and development services could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The amount that our customers choose to spend on our contract manufacturing and development services offerings is based upon, among other things, the clinical outcomes and market success of their research, development and marketing, available resources, access to capital and their need to develop new products which, in turn, depend upon a number of other factors, including their competitors’ research, development and product initiatives and the anticipated market for any new products, as well as clinical and reimbursement scenarios for specific products and therapeutic areas. In addition, increasing consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry may adversely impact such spending, particularly in the event that any of our customers choose to develop or acquire integrated manufacturing operations.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be significantly impacted if the products we manufacture for our customers do not gain market acceptance. 

If the products we manufacture for our customers do not gain market acceptance or production volumes of key products that we manufacture for our customers decline, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. We depend on, and have no control over, market acceptance for the products we manufacture for our customers. Consumer demand for our customers’ products could be adversely affected by, among other things, delays in securing regulatory approvals, the emergence of competing or alternative products, including generic drugs, the loss of patent and other intellectual property rights protection, reductions in private and government payment product subsidies or changing product marketing strategies.

We expect that continued changes to the healthcare industry, including ongoing healthcare reform, changes in government or private funding of healthcare products and services, legislation or regulations governing the delivery, pricing or reimbursement of pharmaceuticals and healthcare services or mandated benefits, could cause healthcare industry participants to purchase fewer services from us or influence the price that others are willing to pay for our services. Changes in the healthcare industry’s pricing, selling, inventory, distribution or supply policies or practices could also significantly reduce our revenue and profitability.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular technology or product candidate and fail to capitalize on technologies or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on specific product candidates derived from or enhanced by our technologies or that have been identified and partially developed by our clients or collaborators. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other technologies or product candidates that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending and the spending of our clients and collaborators may not yield any commercially viable products.

We have based our research and development efforts largely on our technologies and product candidates derived from such technologies. Notwithstanding our large investment to date and anticipated future expenditures in these technologies, we have not yet developed, and may never successfully develop, any marketed products using these technologies. As a result, we may fail to address or develop product candidates based on other scientific approaches that may offer greater commercial potential or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

We also may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional product candidates using our technologies. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. These research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development.

If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements on terms less favorable to us than possible.

We, our clients and collaborators, are very early in our development efforts. If we or our clients and collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

Excepting a limited number of vaccine candidates that have been evaluated in completed Phase 1 clinical trials, all of our other vaccine and therapeutic protein product candidates are still in preclinical development. Our ability to generate product sales revenues for our own products, which we do not expect will occur for many years, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates. The success of our product candidates will depend on several factors, including the following:

If we or our collaborators do not achieve one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidates, which would materially harm our business.

We may not be successful in our efforts to use iBio technologies to build a pipeline of product candidates and develop marketable products.

While we believe that data we and our collaborators have obtained from preclinical studies and Phase I clinical trials of iBio technology-derived and iBio technology-enhanced product candidates has validated these technologies, our technologies have not yet, and may never lead to, approvable or marketable products. Even if we are successful in further validating our technologies and continuing to build our pipeline, the potential product candidates that we identify may not be suitable for clinical development for many possible reasons, including harmful side effects, limited efficacy or other characteristics that indicate that such product candidates are unlikely to be products that will receive marketing approval and achieve market acceptance. If we and our collaborators do not successfully develop and commercialize product candidates based upon our technologies, we will not obtain product or collaboration revenues in future periods, which likely would result in significant harm to our financial position and adversely affect our stock price.

Neither we nor our clients, collaborators or licensees will be able to commercialize product candidates based on our technologies and services if preclinical studies do not produce successful results or clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and efficacy in humans.

Preclinical and clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and has an uncertain outcome. Success in preclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. We and our licensees may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, preclinical testing and the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent the commercialization of product candidates based on our iBio technologies, including the following:

Significant clinical trial delays could allow our competitors to bring products to market before we or our licensees do and impair our ability to commercialize our technologies and product candidates based on our technologies. Poor clinical trial results or delays may make it impossible to license a product candidate, or reduce its attractiveness to prospective licensees, so that we will be unable to successfully develop and commercialize such a product candidate.

Clinical trials are risky, lengthy and expensive. We incur substantial expense for, and devote significant time and resources to, preclinical testing and clinical trials, yet cannot be certain that these tests and trials will demonstrate that a product candidate is effective and well-tolerated, or will ever support its approval and commercial sale. For example, clinical trials require adequate supplies of clinical trial material and sufficient patient enrollment to power the trial. Delays in patient enrollment can result in increased costs and longer development times. Even if we, or a licensee or collaborator, if applicable, successfully complete clinical trials for our clinical product candidate, we or they might not file the required regulatory submissions in a timely manner and may not receive marketing approval for the clinical product candidate. We cannot assure you that our clinical product candidate will successfully progress further through the drug development process, or will ultimately result in an approved and commercially viable product.

Enrollment and retention of subjects in clinical trials is an expensive and time-consuming process and could be made more difficult or rendered impossible by multiple factors outside our control.

We may encounter delays in enrolling, or be unable to enroll, a sufficient number of participants to complete any of our clinical trials. Once enrolled, we may be unable to retain a sufficient number of participants to complete any of our trials. Late-stage clinical trials of our clinical product candidate may require the enrollment and retention of large numbers of subjects. Subject enrollment and retention in clinical trials depends on many factors, including the size of the subject population, the nature of the trial protocol, the existing body of safety and efficacy data with respect to the trial drug, the number and nature of competing treatments and ongoing clinical trials of competing drugs for the same indication, the proximity of subjects to clinical sites and the eligibility criteria for the trial.

Furthermore, any negative results we may report in clinical trials of our clinical product candidate or negative results of similar product candidates may make it difficult or impossible to recruit and retain participants in other clinical trials of that same clinical product candidate. Delays or failures in planned subject enrollment or retention may result in increased costs, program delays or both, which could have a harmful effect on its ability to develop its clinical product candidate, or could render further development impossible. In addition, we expect to rely on contract research organizations (“CROs”) and clinical trial sites to ensure proper and timely conduct of our future clinical trials and, while we intend to enter into agreements governing our services, we will be limited in our ability to compel our actual performance in compliance with applicable regulations. Enforcement actions brought against these third parties may cause further delays and expenses related to our clinical development programs.

If we, or our clients and collaborators, are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals, we, or our clients and collaborators, will not be able to commercialize our, or third-party, product candidates or will not be able to do so as soon as anticipated, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

Our product candidates and the activities associated with their development and commercialization, including their design, testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and by similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. Failure to obtain marketing approval for a product candidate will prevent us from commercializing the product candidate. We have not received approval to market any of our product candidates from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction. We have only limited experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and expect to rely on third parties to assist us in this process. Securing marketing approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate’s safety and efficacy. Securing marketing approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the regulatory authorities. Our product candidates may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use.  If any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, the accompanying label may limit the approved use in such a restrictive manner that it is not possible to obtain commercial viability for such product.

The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive and may take many years. If additional clinical trials are required for certain jurisdictions, these trials can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved, and may ultimately be unsuccessful. Changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review process for each submitted product application, may cause delays in the review and approval of an application. Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept a marketing application as deficient or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Any marketing approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.

Although the FDA and other regulatory authorities have approved plant-based therapeutics in the past, consistent with the oversight of all products, the FDA is monitoring whether these plant-based therapeutics pose any health and human safety risks. While they have not issued any regulation to date that is averse to plant-based vaccines or therapeutics, it is possible that the FDA and other regulatory authorities could issue regulations in the future that could adversely affect our product candidates.

If we experience delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of our product candidates, the commercial prospects for our product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.

Alternative technologies may supersede our technologies or make them noncompetitive, which would harm our ability to generate future revenue.

The manufacture of biologics and the methods of such manufacture are intensely competitive fields. Each of these fields is characterized by extensive research efforts, which result in rapid technological progress that can render existing technologies obsolete or economically noncompetitive. If our competitors succeed in developing more effective technologies or render our technologies obsolete or noncompetitive, our business will suffer. Many universities, public agencies and established pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and other life sciences companies with substantially greater resources than we have are developing and using technologies and are actively engaging in the development of products similar to or competitive with our technologies and products. To remain competitive, we must continue to invest in new technologies and improve existing technologies. To make such renewing investment we will need to obtain additional financing. If we are unable to secure such financing, we will not have sufficient resources to continue such investment. In addition, they also have significantly greater experience in the discovery and development of products, as well as in obtaining regulatory approvals of those products in the United States and in foreign countries. Our current and potential future competitors also have significantly more experience commercializing drugs that have been approved for marketing. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries could result in even more resources being concentrated among a small number of our competitors.

Our competitors may devise methods and processes for protein expression that are faster, more efficient or less costly than that which can be achieved using iBio technologies. There has been and continues to be substantial academic and commercial research effort devoted to the development of such methods and processes. If successful competitive methods are developed, it may undermine the commercial basis for iBio products and our technologies and related services.

We will face competition from other drugs currently approved or that will be approved in the future for the treatment of the diseases we are currently targeting. Therefore, our ability to compete successfully will depend largely on our ability to:

The availability of our competitors’ products could limit the demand, and the price we are able to charge, for any product candidate we develop. The inability to compete with existing or subsequently introduced therapies would have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.

Established pharmaceutical companies may invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of novel compounds or to in-license novel compounds that could make our product candidate less competitive. In addition, any new products that competes with an approved product must demonstrate compelling advantages in efficacy, convenience, tolerability and safety in order to overcome price competition and to be commercially successful. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection, discovering, developing, receiving the FDA’s approval for or commercializing medicines before we do, which would have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Our clinical product candidate may exhibit undesirable side effects when used alone or in combination with other approved pharmaceutical products, which may delay or preclude its development or regulatory approval, or limit its use if ever approved.

Throughout the drug development process, we must continually demonstrate the activity, safety and tolerability of our clinical product candidate in order to obtain regulatory approval to further advance our clinical development, or to eventually market it. Even if our clinical product candidate demonstrates adequate biologic activity and clear clinical benefit, any unacceptable side effects or adverse events, when administered alone or in the presence of other pharmaceutical products, may outweigh these potential benefits. We may observe adverse or serious adverse events or drug-drug interactions in preclinical studies or clinical trials of our clinical product candidate, which could result in the delay or termination of its development, prevent regulatory approval, or limit its market acceptance if it is ultimately approved.

Even if we obtain FDA approval in the United States, we may never obtain approval for or commercialize our clinical product candidate in any other jurisdiction, which would limit our ability to realize each product’s full market potential.

In order to market our clinical product candidate in a particular jurisdiction, we must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements on a country-by-country basis regarding safety and efficacy. Approval by the FDA in the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval in any other country. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional product candidate testing and validation and additional administrative review periods. Seeking foreign regulatory approval could result in difficulties and costs for us and require additional preclinical studies or clinical trials which could be costly and time consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our clinical product candidate in those countries. We do not have any product candidates approved for sale in any jurisdiction, including in international markets, and it does not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory approvals in international markets are delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of any product candidate we develop will be unrealized.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval, we will still face extensive ongoing regulatory requirements and our clinical product candidate may face future development and regulatory difficulties.

Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, recordkeeping, export, import, advertising and promotional activities for such product candidate, among other things, will be subject to extensive and ongoing requirements of and review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety, efficacy and other post-marketing information and reports, establishment registration and drug listing requirements, continued compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, requirements relating to manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping and current GCP requirements for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Even if marketing approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product candidate may be marketed or to the conditions of approval. If our clinical product candidate receives marketing approval, the accompanying label may limit the approved use of our product, which could limit sales.

The FDA may also impose requirements for costly post-marketing studies or clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety and/or efficacy of our clinical product candidate. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use and if we do not market our clinical product candidate for its approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing. Violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act relating to the promotion of prescription drugs may lead to FDA enforcement actions and investigations alleging violations of federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws, as well as state consumer protection laws.

In addition, later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our clinical product candidate, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:

The FDA’s policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our clinical product candidate. 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 marketing approval that we may have obtained.

Even if our clinical product candidate receives marketing approval, we may fail to achieve market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors or others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

If our clinical product candidate receives marketing approval, we may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. If we do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant revenues and become profitable. The degree of market acceptance, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

Because we expect sales of our clinical product candidate to be based on the same mechanism of action, the failure of our first product candidate to achieve market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing sooner than we otherwise planned.

The insurance coverage and reimbursement status of newly approved products are uncertain. Our product candidates may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party coverage and reimbursement practices, or healthcare reform initiatives, which would harm our business. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for new or current products could limit our ability to market those products and decrease our ability to generate revenue.

The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing, coverage, and reimbursement for new drugs vary widely from country to country. In the United States, recently enacted legislation may significantly change the approval requirements in ways that could involve additional costs and cause delays in obtaining approvals. 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 product licensing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a product in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenue we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if any product candidates we may develop obtain marketing approval.

Our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates also will depend in part on the extent to which coverage and adequate reimbursement for these products and 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. The availability of coverage and extent of reimbursement by governmental and private payors is essential for most patients to be able to afford treatments such as gene therapy products. Sales of these or other product candidates that we may identify will depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of our product candidates will be paid by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or reimbursed by government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers and other third-party payors. If coverage and adequate reimbursement is not available, or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain pricing sufficient to realize a sufficient return on our investment.

The availability and extent of reimbursement by governmental and private payors is essential for most patients to be able to afford expensive treatments. Sales of our clinical product candidate that receive marketing approval will depend substantially, both in the United States and internationally, on the extent to which the costs of our clinical product candidate will be paid by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or reimbursed by government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers and other third-party payors. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only on a limited basis, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our clinical product candidate. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain adequate pricing that will allow it to realize a sufficient return on our investment.

Outside the United States, international operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in Europe, Canada and other countries may cause us to price our clinical product candidate on less favorable terms that we currently anticipate. In many countries, particularly the countries of the European Union, the prices of medical products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our clinical product candidate to other available therapies. In general, the prices of products under such systems are substantially lower than in the United States. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for products, but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that it is able to charge for its clinical product candidate. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for its products may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenues and profits.

Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors, in the United States and internationally, to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and level of reimbursement for newly approved products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for its clinical product candidate. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our clinical product candidate due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected for new products entering the marketplace.

Failure to comply with existing and future regulatory requirements could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our CDMO operations are highly regulated and we must comply with the regulatory requirements of various local, state, provincial, national and international regulatory bodies having jurisdiction in the countries or localities in which we manufacture products or in which our customers’ products are distributed. In particular, we are subject to laws and regulations concerning development, testing, manufacturing processes, equipment and facilities, including compliance with cGMPs, import and export, and product registration and listing, among other things. As a result, our facility is subject to regulation by the FDA, as well as regulatory bodies of other jurisdictions where our customers have marketing approval for their products. As we expand our operations and geographic scope, we may be exposed to more complex and newer regulatory and administrative requirements and legal risks, any of which may require expertise in which we have little or no experience. It is possible that compliance with new regulatory requirements could impose significant compliance costs on us. Such costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Not only will our customers’ products be subject to the regulatory approvals discussed above that our proprietary products will be subject to, but our facility is subject to governmental approval for the testing or manufacturing of products If our manufacturing facility is not able to demonstrate compliance with cGMPs, pass other aspects of pre-approval inspections or properly scale up to produce commercial supplies, the FDA or other regulatory agencies can delay approval of a customers’ drug candidate.

In addition, if new legislation or regulations are enacted or existing legislation or regulations are amended or are interpreted or enforced differently, we may be required to obtain additional approvals or operate according to different manufacturing or operating standards. This may require a change in our development and manufacturing techniques or additional capital investments in our facility. Any related costs may be significant. If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements in the future, then we may be subject to warning letters and/or civil or criminal penalties and fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, restrictions on the import and export of our products, debarment, exclusion, disgorgement of profits, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution and the loss of contracts and resulting revenue losses. Inspections by regulatory authorities that identify any deficiencies could result in remedial actions, production stoppages or facility closure, which would disrupt the manufacturing process and supply of product to our customers. In addition, such failure to comply could expose us to contractual and product liability claims, including claims by customers for reimbursement for lost or damaged active pharmaceutical ingredients or recall or other corrective actions, the cost of which could be significant.

The FDA and comparable government authorities having jurisdiction in the countries in which we or our customers intend to market their products have the authority to withdraw product approval or suspend manufacture if there are significant problems with raw materials or supplies, quality control and assurance or the product we manufacture is adulterated or misbranded. If our manufacturing facilities and services are not in compliance with the FDA and comparable government authorities, we may be unable to obtain or maintain the necessary approvals to continue manufacturing products for our customers, which would materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our customers’ failure to receive or maintain regulatory approval for their product candidates could negatively impact our revenue and profitability.

Our contract manufacturing business materially depends upon the regulatory approval of the products we manufacture. As such, if our customers experience a delay in, or failure to receive, approval for any of their product candidates or fail to maintain regulatory approval of their products, our revenue and profitability could be adversely affected. Additionally, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority does not approve of our facilities for the manufacture of a customer product or if it withdraws such approval in the future, our customers may choose to identify alternative manufacturing facilities and/or relationships, which could significantly impact our ability to expand our CDMO capacity and capabilities and achieve profitability.

Our manufacturing services are highly complex, and if we are unable to provide quality and timely services to our customers, our business could suffer.

The manufacturing services we offer are highly complex, due in part to strict regulatory requirements. A failure of our quality control systems in our facilities could cause problems to arise in connection with facility operations for a variety of reasons, including equipment malfunction, viral contamination, failure to follow specific manufacturing instructions, protocols and standard operating procedures, problems with raw materials or environmental factors. Such problems could affect production of a single manufacturing run or a series of runs requiring the destruction of products, or could halt manufacturing operations altogether. In addition, our failure to meet required quality standards may result in our failure to timely deliver products to our customers which, in turn, could damage our reputation for quality and service. Any such incident could, among other things, lead to increased costs, lost revenue, reimbursement to customers for lost drug substance, damage to and possible termination of existing customer relationships, time and expense spent investigating the cause and, depending on the cause, similar losses with respect to other manufacturing runs. With respect to our commercial manufacturing, if problems are not discovered before the product is released to the market, we may be subject to regulatory actions, including product recalls, product seizures, injunctions to halt manufacture and distribution, restrictions on our operations, civil sanctions, including monetary sanctions, and criminal actions. In addition, such issues could subject us to litigation, the cost of which could be significant.

If we fail to comply with state and federal healthcare regulatory laws, we could face substantial penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, exclusion from participation in governmental healthcare programs, and the curtailment of its operations, any of which could harm our business.

Although we do not intend to provide healthcare services or submit claims for third party reimbursement, we will be subject to healthcare fraud and abuse regulation and enforcement by federal and state governments, which could significantly impact our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include, but are not limited to:

Further, the ACA, among other things, amended the intent requirements of the federal anti-kickback statute and certain criminal statutes governing healthcare fraud. A person or entity can now be found guilty of violating the statute without actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it. In addition, the ACA provided 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 FCA. Any violations of these aforementioned laws, or any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could result in the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative sanctions, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, imprisonment, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, contractual damages, any of which could cause a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.

We have entered into consulting and scientific advisory board arrangements with physicians and other healthcare providers. Compensation for some of these arrangements includes the provision of stock options. While we have worked to structure our arrangements to comply with applicable laws, because of the complex and far-reaching nature of these laws, regulatory agencies may view these or other transactions as prohibited arrangements that must be restructured, or discontinued, or for which we could be subject to other significant penalties. We could be adversely affected if regulatory agencies interpret our financial relationships with providers who influence the ordering of and use our products to be in violation of applicable laws.

The scope and enforcement of each of these laws is uncertain and subject to rapid change in the current environment of healthcare reform, especially in light of the lack of applicable precedent and regulations. Federal and state enforcement bodies have continued their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has continued to result in a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and significant settlements in the healthcare industry.

Responding to investigations can be time- and resource-consuming and can divert management’s attention from the business. Additionally, as a result of these investigations, healthcare providers and entities may have to agree to additional onerous compliance and reporting requirements as part of a consent decree or corporate integrity agreement. Any such investigation or settlement could increase our costs or otherwise have an adverse effect on its business.

Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and to limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.

We face the risk of product liability exposure in connection with the testing of our product candidates in human clinical trials and will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any products that we may develop. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our product candidates or products caused injuries, we will incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

Prior to commencing human clinical trials, we will seek to obtain product liability insurance coverage. Such insurance coverage is expensive and may not be available in coverage amounts we seek or at all. If we obtain such coverage, we may in the future be unable to maintain such coverage at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise.

If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our clinical product candidate, if approved.

We do not have any infrastructure for the sales, marketing or distribution of our clinical product candidates, and the cost of establishing and maintaining such an organization may exceed the cost-effectiveness of doing so. In order to market any product candidate that may be approved, we must build our sales, distribution, marketing, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. To achieve commercial success for any product candidate for which we have obtained marketing approval, we will need a sales and marketing organization. There are significant expenses and risks involved with establishing our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, including our ability to hire, retain and appropriately incentivize qualified individuals, generate sufficient sales leads, provide adequate training to sales and marketing personnel, and effectively manage a geographically dispersed sales and marketing team. If we were to determine to develop our own sales organization, any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities could delay any product candidate launch, which would adversely impact commercialization.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our clinical product candidate on our own include:

We intend to pursue collaborative arrangements regarding the sale and marketing of our clinical product candidate, if approved, for certain international markets; however, we may not be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements. To the extent that we depend on third parties for marketing and distribution, any revenues we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third parties, and there can be no assurance that such efforts will be successful.

If we are unable to build our own sales force in the United States or negotiate a collaborative relationship for the commercialization of our clinical product candidate outside the United States, we may be forced to delay the potential commercialization or reduce the scope of our sales or marketing activities. We may have to enter into arrangements with third parties or otherwise at an earlier stage than we would otherwise choose and we may be required to relinquish rights to our intellectual property or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects.

We may be competing with many companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without an internal team or the support of a third party to perform marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.

If we obtain approval to commercialize our clinical product candidate outside of the United States, a variety of risks associated with international operations could harm our business.

If our clinical product candidate is approved for commercialization, we intend to enter into agreements with third parties to market them in certain jurisdictions outside the United States. We expect that we will be subject to additional risks related to international operations or entering into international business relationships, including:

We have no prior experience in these areas. In addition, there are complex regulatory, tax, labor and other legal requirements imposed by both the European Union and many of the individual countries in Europe with which we will need to comply.

Recently enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our clinical product candidate and affect the prices we may obtain.

In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of executive, legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could, among other things, prevent or delay marketing approval of our clinical product candidate, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. Changes in regulations, statutes or the interpretation of existing regulations could impact our business in the future by requiring, for example: (i) changes to our manufacturing arrangements, (ii) additions or modifications to product labeling, (iii) the recall or discontinuation of our products or (iv) additional record-keeping requirements. If any such changes were to be imposed, they could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Among policy makers in the United States and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality and/or expanding access. In the United States, the pharmaceutical industry has been a particular focus of these efforts and has been significantly affected by major legislative initiatives. In March 2010, the ACA was passed, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both the government and private insurers, and significantly impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The ACA, among other things, subjects biological products to potential competition by lower-cost biosimilars, addresses a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted or injected, increases the minimum Medicaid rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and extends the rebate program to individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations, establishes annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, and creates a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D.

There remain executive, judicial and Congressional challenges. Since January2017, President Trump has signed several Executive Orders and other directives designed to delay the implementation of certain provisions of the ACA or otherwise circumvent some of the requirements for health insurance mandated by the ACA. Concurrently, Congress has considered legislation that would repeal or repeal and replace all or part of the ACA. While Congress has not passed comprehensive repeal legislation, several bills affecting the implementation of certain taxes under the ACA were signed into law. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or Tax Act, included a provision which repealed, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the ACA on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year that is commonly referred to as the “individual mandate.” On December 14, 2018, a Texas U.S. District Court Judge ruled that the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress as part of the Tax Act. Additionally, on December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the District Court ruling that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the District Court to determine whether the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. On March 2, 2020, the United States Supreme Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari to review this case. It is unclear how such litigation and other efforts to repeal and replace the ACA will impact the ACA and our business.

There have been, and likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at the foreign, federal and state levels directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our products. Such reforms could have an adverse effect on anticipated revenue from product candidates that we may successfully develop and for which we may obtain regulatory approval and may affect our overall financial condition and ability to develop product candidates. At the federal level, the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2021 includes a $135 billion allowance to support legislative proposals seeking to reduce drug prices, increase competition, lower out-of-pocket drug costs for patients, and increase patient access to lower-cost generic and biosimilar drugs. On March 10, 2020, the Trump administration sent “principles” for drug pricing to Congress, calling for legislation that would, among other things, cap Medicare Part D beneficiary out-of-pocket pharmacy expenses, provide an option to cap Medicare Part D beneficiary monthly out-of-pocket expenses, and place limits on pharmaceutical price increases.  Further, the Trump administration previously released a “Blueprint” to lower drug prices and reduce out of pocket costs of drugs that contained proposals to increase drug manufacturer competition, increase the negotiating power of certain federal healthcare programs, incentivize manufacturers to lower the list price of their products, and reduce the out of pocket costs of drug products paid by consumers. While some of these and other measures may require additional authorization to become effective, Congress and the Trump administration have each indicated that it will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing.

We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products, which could result in reduced demand for our clinical product candidate or additional pricing pressures. For example, it is possible that additional governmental action is taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.

For our clinical product candidates, we intend to use our own manufacturing facility. Any manufacturing problems experienced by us could result in a delay or interruption in the supply of our clinical product candidate until the problem is cured or until we locate and qualify an alternative source of manufacturing and supply.

We currently manufacture our clinical product candidates and do not have a second alternative manufacturer. If we were to experience any prolonged disruption for our manufacturing, we could be forced to seek additional third-party manufacturing contracts, thereby increasing our development costs and negatively impacting our timelines and any commercialization costs. If we change manufacturers at any point during the development process or after approval of a product candidate, we will be required to demonstrate comparability between the product manufactured by the old manufacturer and the product manufactured by the new manufacturer. If we are unable to do so we may need to conduct additional clinical trials with product manufactured by the new manufacturer.

If we are not able to manufacture sufficient quantities of our clinical product candidate, our development activities would be impaired. In addition, the manufacturing facility where our clinical product candidate is manufactured is subject to ongoing, periodic inspection by the FDA or other comparable regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP. Any failure to follow and document the manufacturer’s adherence to such cGMP regulations or other regulatory requirements may lead to significant delays in the availability of clinical bulk drug substance and finished product for clinical trials, which may result in the termination of or a hold on a clinical trial, or may delay or prevent filing or approval of marketing applications for our clinical product candidate. We also may encounter problems with the following:

If we encounter any of these problems or are otherwise delayed, or if the cost of manufacturing is not economically feasible or we cannot find another third-party manufacturer, we may not be able to produce our clinical product candidate in a sufficient quantity to meet future demand.

These risks are likely to be exacerbated by our limited experience with our current products and manufacturing processes. If demand for our products materializes, we may have to invest additional resources to purchase materials, hire and train employees, and enhance our manufacturing processes. It may not be possible for us to manufacture our clinical product candidate at a cost or in quantities sufficient to make its clinical product candidate commercially viable. Any of these factors may affect our ability to manufacture our products and could reduce gross margins and profitability.

Reliance on third-party manufacturers and suppliers entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufacture our clinical product candidate ourselves, including:

If we rely on a third party contract manufacturer or its suppliers fail to deliver the required commercial quantities of our clinical product candidate required for our clinical trials and, if approved, for commercial sale, on a timely basis and at commercially reasonable prices, and we are unable to find one or more replacement manufacturers or suppliers capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost, in substantially equivalent volumes and quality, and on a timely basis, we would likely be unable to meet demand for our products and would have to delay or terminate our pre-clinical or clinical trials, and we would lose potential revenue. It may also take a significant period of time to establish an alternative source of supply for our clinical product candidate and to have any such new source approved by the FDA or any applicable foreign regulatory authorities. Furthermore, any of the above factors could cause the delay or suspension of initiation or completion of clinical trials, regulatory submissions or required approvals of our clinical product candidate, cause it to incur higher costs and could prevent us from commercializing our clinical product candidate successfully.

Risks Related to Dependence on Third Parties

Establishing and maintaining collaborations is a key component of our business strategy. If we are unable to establish new collaborations and maintain both new and existing collaborations, or if these collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected.

Our current business plan contemplates that we will in the future derive significant revenues from collaborators and licensees that successfully utilize iBio technologies in connection with the production, development and commercialization of vaccines and therapeutic protein product candidates. Our realization of these revenues and dependence on existing collaborations, and any future collaborations we enter into, is subject to a number of risks, including the following:

If our collaborations do not result in the successful development and commercialization of products or if one or more of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may not receive any future research and development funding or milestone or royalty payments under the collaboration. If we do not receive the funding we expect under these agreements, our continued development of our product candidates could be delayed and we may need additional resources to develop additional product candidates. There can be no assurance that our collaborations will produce positive results or successful products on a timely basis or at all.

We seek to establish and collaborate with additional pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for development and potential commercialization of iBio technology-produced and iBio technology-enhanced product candidates. We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Our ability to reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration depends, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. If we fail 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 product candidate, reduce or delay its development or the development of one or more of our other product candidates, or increase our expenditures and undertake additional development or 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 product candidates or bring them to market or continue to develop our product portfolio and our business may be materially and adversely affected.

If third parties on whom we or our licensees will rely for the conduct of preclinical studies and clinical trials do not perform as contractually required or as we expect, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates and our business may suffer.

We do not have the ability to independently conduct the preclinical studies and clinical trials required to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates. We have not yet contracted with any third parties to conduct clinical trials of product candidates we develop independently of collaborators. We will depend on licensees or on independent clinical investigators, contract research organizations and other third-party service providers to conduct the clinical trials of our product candidates. We will rely heavily on these parties for successful execution of our clinical trials but will not control many aspects of their activities. For example, the investigators participating in our clinical trials will not be our employees. However, we will be responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Third parties may not complete activities on schedule, or may not conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols. The failure of these third parties to carry out their obligations could delay or prevent the development, approval and commercialization of our product candidates.

If revenue from a third-party customer or client is concentrated in an amount that makes up a significant percentage of our total revenues, we may be adversely impacted by the significant dependence upon that client, including but not limited to, receipt and collections of outstanding amounts, continued operational allocations toward the client and related efficiencies, capacity and opportunity costs.

At this time, we are continually promoting our technologies and CDMO capabilities to further expand and grow our revenue base and business. We will continue to consider any potential revenue and client related concentration risks. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, CC-Pharming accounted for approximately 77% of total revenue. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, CC-Pharming accounted for approximately 92% of our total revenues. Although we expect our revenues to increase significantly and further vary by client over the next twelve months, there are no guarantees we will be correct in our assumptions.

If third-party vendors, upon whom we rely to conduct our preclinical studies or clinical trials, do not perform or fail to comply with strict regulations, these studies or trials may be delayed, terminated, or fail, or we could incur significant additional expenses, which could materially harm our business.

We have limited resources dedicated to designing, conducting and managing our preclinical studies and clinical trials. We have historically relied on, and intend to continue to rely on, third parties, including CROs, consultants and principal investigators to assist us in designing, managing, conducting, monitoring and analyzing the data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials. We rely on these vendors and individuals to perform many facets of the clinical development process on our behalf, including conducting preclinical studies and will rely on them for the recruitment of sites and subjects for participation in our clinical trials, maintenance of good relations with the clinical sites, and ensuring that these sites are conducting our trials in compliance with the trial protocol and applicable regulations. If these third parties fail to perform satisfactorily, or do not adequately fulfill their obligations under the terms of our agreements with them, we may not be able to enter into alternative arrangements without undue delay or additional expenditures, and therefore the preclinical studies and clinical trials of our clinical product candidate may be delayed or prove unsuccessful.

Further, the FDA, the EMA, or similar regulatory authorities in other countries, may inspect some of the clinical sites participating in our clinical trials or our third-party vendors’ sites to determine if our clinical trials are being conducted according to good clinical practices, or GCPs, or similar regulations. If we or a regulatory authority determine that our third-party vendors are not in compliance with, or have not conducted our clinical trials according to applicable regulations, we may be forced to exclude certain data from the results of the trial, or delay, repeat or terminate such clinical trials.

We intend to rely on third parties to conduct, supervise and monitor our clinical trials, and if those third parties perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.

We will rely on clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, and we expect to have limited influence over their actual performance.

We will rely upon CROs to monitor and manage data for our clinical programs, as well as the execution of future nonclinical studies. We expect to control only certain aspects of our CROs’ activities. Nevertheless, we will be responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

We and our CROs will be required to comply with the Good Laboratory Practices and GCPs, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and are also required by the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European Economic Area and comparable foreign regulatory authorities in the form of International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use guidelines for any of our product candidates that are in preclinical and clinical development. The Regulatory authorities enforce GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with GCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these regulations or fail to recruit a sufficient number of subjects, we may be required to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

Our CROs will not be our employees, and we will not control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our future clinical and nonclinical programs. These CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials, or other drug development activities which could harm our competitive position. We face the risk of potential unauthorized disclosure or misappropriation of our intellectual property by CROs, which may reduce our trade secret protection and allow our potential competitors to access and exploit our proprietary technology. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for any 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, any product candidate that we develops. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for any product candidate that it develops would be harmed, its costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

If our relationship with these CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding additional CROs involves substantial cost and requires management’s time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new CRO commences work. As a result, delays occur, which can materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. Although we intend to carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, there can be no assurance that it will not encounter challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.

Our clinical product candidates may cause adverse effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent our regulatory approval or limit the scope of any approved label or market acceptance.

Adverse events caused by our clinical product candidates or generally by plant-based therapeutics could cause reviewing entities, clinical trial sites or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in the denial of regulatory approval. If an unacceptable frequency or severity of adverse events are reported in our clinical trials for our clinical product candidates, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for such clinical product candidate may be negatively impacted. In addition, adverse events caused by any clinical product candidate administered in combination with our product candidates could cause similar interruptions and delays, even though not caused by our clinical product candidates.

Furthermore, if any of our products are approved and then cause serious or unexpected side effects, 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 clinical product candidate and could substantially increase the costs of commercialization.

We rely on third parties to supply most of the necessary raw materials and supplies for the products we manufacture on behalf of our customers and our inability to obtain such raw materials or supplies may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our operations require various raw materials, including proprietary resins, buffers, and filters, in addition to numerous additional raw materials supplied primarily by third parties. We or our customers specify the raw materials and other items required to manufacture their product and, in some cases, specify the suppliers from whom we must purchase these raw materials. In certain instances, the raw materials and other items can only be supplied by a limited number of suppliers and, in some cases, a single source, or in limited quantities. If third-party suppliers do not supply raw materials or other items on a timely basis, it may cause a manufacturing run to be delayed or canceled which would adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.   If we experience difficulties acquiring sufficient quantities of required materials or products from our existing suppliers, or if our suppliers are found to be non-compliant with the FDA’s quality system regulation, cGMPs or other applicable laws or regulations, we would be required to find alternative suppliers. If our primary suppliers become unable or unwilling to perform, any resulting delays or interruptions in the supply of raw materials required to support our manufacturing of cGMP pharmaceutical-grade products would ultimately delay our manufacture of products for our customers, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

Furthermore, third-party suppliers may fail to provide us with raw materials and other items that meet the qualifications and specifications required by us or our customers. If third-party suppliers are not able to provide us with raw materials that meet our or our customers’ specifications on a timely basis, we may be unable to manufacture their product or it could prevent us from delivering products to our customers within required timeframes. Any such delay in delivering our products may create liability for us to our customers for breach of contract or cause us to experience order cancellations and loss of customers. In the event that we manufacture products with inferior quality components and raw materials, we may become subject to product liability claims caused by defective raw materials or components from a third-party supplier or from a customer, or our customer may be required to recall its products from the market. 

Any claims beyond our insurance coverage limits, or that are otherwise not covered by our insurance, may result in substantial costs and a reduction in our available capital resources.

We maintain property insurance, employer’s liability insurance, product liability insurance, general liability insurance, business interruption insurance, and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, among others. Although we maintain what we believe to be adequate insurance coverage, potential claims may exceed the amount of insurance coverage or may be excluded under the terms of the policy, which could cause an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results from operations. Generally, we would be at risk for the loss of inventory that is not within customer specifications. These amounts could be significant. In addition, in the future we may not be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage or we may be required to pay higher premiums and accept higher deductibles in order to secure adequate insurance coverage.

We may be subject to various litigation claims and legal proceedings. 

We, as well as certain of our directors and officers, may be subject to claims or lawsuits during the ordinary course of business. Regardless of the outcome, these lawsuits may result in significant legal fees and expenses and could divert management’s time and other resources. If the claims contained in these lawsuits are successfully asserted against us, we could be liable for damages and be required to alter or cease certain of our business practices. Any of these outcomes could cause our business, financial performance and cash position to be negatively impacted.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

If we or our licensors are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our technology and products, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, competitors could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and products may be impaired.

Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other intellectual property protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology and products. We seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our novel technologies and product candidates, and by maintenance of our trade secrets through proper procedures.

The patent prosecution process 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, in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions. 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.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States and we may fail to seek or obtain patent protection in all major markets. For example, European patent law restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body more than United States law does. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions, nor can we know whether those from whom we license patents were the first to make the inventions claimed or were the first to file. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection.

Moreover, we may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the U.S. PTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future product candidates.

Even if our pending or future patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product 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 products similar or identical to ours.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or other intellectual property, which could be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our issued patents or other intellectual property. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their intellectual property. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, construe the patent’s claims narrowly or refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, which could adversely affect us and our collaborators.

In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our product candidates to market. 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 during this type of litigation.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability, and the ability of our collaborators, to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. There is considerable intellectual property litigation in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. While no such litigation has been brought against us and we have not been held by any court to have infringed a third party’s intellectual property rights, we cannot guarantee that our technology, products or use of our products do not infringe third-party patents. It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. For example, applications filed before November 29, 2000 and certain applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States remain confidential until patents issue. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing, which is referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our products or technology could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications which have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our technologies, our products or the use of our products.

We may become party to, or threatened with, future adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products and technology, including interference or derivation proceedings before the U.S. PTO and similar bodies in other countries. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing intellectual property rights and intellectual property rights that may be granted in the future.

If we are found to infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing and marketing our products and technology. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing the infringing technology or product. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

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 limited number of personnel 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 price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. 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 compromise our ability to compete in the marketplace.

If we are found to have failed 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 lose intellectual property rights that are important to our business.

We are a party to an exclusive license agreement with Planet Biotechnology, Inc., an exclusive license agreement with University of Pittsburgh, as well as a non-exclusive license agreement with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, and may need to obtain additional licenses from others to advance our research and development activities or allow the commercialization of our lead products or other product candidates that we may identify. Our license agreements impose, and we expect that future license agreements will impose, various development, diligence, commercialization, and other obligations on us. In spite of our efforts, our licensors might allege that we have materially breached our obligations under such license agreements and might therefore attempt to terminate the license agreements, thereby removing or limiting our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by these license agreements. If these in-licenses are terminated, or if the underlying patents fail to provide the intended exclusivity, competitors or other third parties might have the freedom to seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products identical to ours and we may be required to cease our development and commercialization of our lead products or other product candidates that we may identify. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

Moreover, disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a licensing agreement, including:

• the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation-related issues;

• the extent to which our product candidates, technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;

• the sublicensing of patent and other rights under our collaborative development relationships;

• our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;

• the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our partners; and

• the priority of invention of patented technology.

In addition, the agreements under which we currently license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our product candidates for an adequate amount of time.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition from competitive products, including generics or biosimilars. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

If we are unable to protect our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and product candidates, we also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also seek to enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Our trade secrets may also be obtained by third parties by other means, such as breaches of our physical or computer security systems. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent them, or those to whom they communicate it, from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position would be harmed.

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

We or our licensors may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets, or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. For example, we or our licensors may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants or others who are involved in developing our product candidates. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or our or our licensors’ ownership of our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property. If we or our licensors fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, intellectual property that is important to our product candidates. 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. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. The following examples are illustrative:

Should any of these events occur, they could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

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

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on our product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions, whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims 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 or license.

We may be subject to claims that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.

Many of our employees, including our senior management, were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. These employees typically executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in connection with their previous employers. 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, but in the future litigation may be necessary 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 require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or 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, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. The assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing or the assignment agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.

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

Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various governmental patent agencies outside of the United States in several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications. We have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we employ an outside firm and rely on our outside counsel to pay these fees due to non-U.S. patent agencies. 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. We employ reputable law firms and other professionals to help us comply, and in many cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which non-compliance 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. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter the market and this circumstance would have a material adverse effect on our business.

Changes in patent law, including recent patent reform legislation, could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents.

Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. Assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, prior to March 2013, in the United States, the first to invent the claimed invention was entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application was entitled to the patent. After March 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the America Invents Act, enacted in September 2011, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third party was the first to invent the claimed invention. A third party that files a patent application in the USPTO after March 2013, but before us could therefore be awarded a patent covering an invention of ours even if we had made the invention before it was made by such third party. This will require us to be cognizant of the time from invention to filing of a patent application. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing or until issuance, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to our product candidates or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our or our licensor’s patents or patent applications. In addition, the patent positions of companies in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals are particularly uncertain. 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. This combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the validity and enforceability of patents, once obtained. Depending on future actions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could have a material adverse effect on our existing patent portfolio and our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property in the future.

Risks Related to iBio CDMO’s Operations

If iBio CDMO is unable to provide quality and timely offerings to its customers, its business could suffer, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

A failure of quality control systems in iBio CDMO’s facilities could cause problems to arise in connection with facility operations or during preparation or provision of products, in both cases, for a variety of reasons, including equipment malfunction, failure to follow specific protocols and procedures, problems with raw materials or environmental factors. Such problems could affect production of a particular batch or series of batches, requiring the destruction of products, or could halt facility production altogether. In addition, failure to meet required quality standards may result in failure to timely deliver products to customers. Any such incident could, among other things, lead to increased costs, lost revenue, reimbursement to customers, damage to and possibly termination of existing customer relationships, time and expense spent investigating the cause and, depending on the cause, similar losses with respect to other batches or products. If problems are not discovered before a product is released to the market, we may be subject to regulatory actions, including product recalls, product seizures, injunctions to halt manufacture and distribution, restrictions on our operations, civil sanctions, including monetary sanctions, and criminal actions. In addition, such issues could subject us to litigation, the cost of which could be significant.

A failure by iBio CDMO to attract and maintain customers and any reduction in spending or demand for iBio CDMO’s development, manufacturing and technology transfer services could have a material adverse effect on our business.

iBio CDMO’s operations will depend, in part, on its ability to attract and maintain customers for its development, manufacturing and technology transfer services and on the amount of customer spending on such services. If iBio CDMO fails to attract customers or its customers’ and potential customers’ spending on iBio CDMO’s services is reduced, this may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

iBio CDMO’s operations are subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, which could increase costs and restrict operations in the future.

iBio CDMO’s operations are subject to a variety of environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those of the Environmental Protection Agency and equivalent local and state agencies. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, air emissions, wastewater discharges, the use, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, soil and groundwater contamination and employee health and safety. Any failure to comply with environmental, health and safety requirements could result in the limitation or suspension of production or monetary fines or civil or criminal sanctions, or other future liabilities. iBio CDMO is also subject to laws and regulations governing the destruction and disposal of raw materials and the handling and disposal of regulated material.

Our operating results will be adversely affected if we are unable to maximize our facility capacity utilization.

iBio CDMO’s operating results are significantly influenced by our capacity utilization and, as such, if we are unable to utilize our facilities to capacity, our margins could be adversely affected, and our results of operations and financial condition will continue to be adversely affected. Further, while we continue to implement and execute our business plan and attract and maintain customers for our development, manufacturing and technology transfer services, our revenue volume may be insufficient to ensure the economical operation of our facilities, in which case our results of operations could be adversely affected.

A failure by iBio CDMO to hire and retain an appropriately skilled and adequate workforce could adversely impact the ability of the facility to operate and function efficiently.

iBio CDMO’s operations will depend, in part, on its ability to attract and retain an appropriately skilled and sufficient workforce to operate its development and manufacturing facility. The facility is located in a growing biotechnology hub and competition for skilled workers will continue to increase as the industry undergoes further growth in the area.

Failure to comply with existing and future regulatory requirements could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our industry is highly regulated. We are required to comply with the regulatory requirements of various local, state, provincial, national and international regulatory bodies having jurisdiction in the countries or localities in which we manufacture products or in which our customers’ products are distributed. In particular, we are subject to laws and regulations concerning development, testing, manufacturing processes, equipment and facilities, including compliance with cGMP, import and export, and product registration and listing, among other things. As we expand our operations and geographic scope, we may be exposed to new and more complex regulatory and administrative requirements and legal risks, any of which may require expertise in which we have little or no experience. It is possible that compliance with new regulatory requirements could impose significant compliance costs on us. Such costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

Our manufacturing services are highly complex, and if we are unable to provide quality and timely services to our customers, our business could suffer.

The manufacturing services we offer are highly complex, due in part to strict regulatory requirements. A failure of our quality control systems in our facilities could cause problems to arise in connection with facility operations for a variety of reasons, including equipment malfunction, viral contamination, failure to follow specific manufacturing instructions, protocols and standard operating procedures, problems with raw materials or environmental factors. Such problems could affect production of a single manufacturing run or a series of runs, requiring the destruction of products, or could halt manufacturing operations altogether. In addition, our failure to meet required quality standards may result in our failure to timely deliver products to our customers, which in turn could damage our reputation for quality and service. Any such incident could, among other things, lead to increased costs, lost revenue, reimbursement to customers for lost drug substance, damage to and possibly termination of existing customer relationships, time and expense spent investigating the cause and, depending on the cause, similar losses with respect to other manufacturing runs. With respect to our commercial manufacturing, if problems are not discovered before the product is released to the market, we may be subject to regulatory actions, including product recalls, product seizures, injunctions to halt manufacture and distribution, restrictions on our operations, civil sanctions, including monetary sanctions, and criminal actions. In addition, such issues could subject us to litigation, the cost of which could be significant.

We depend on spending and demand from our customers for our contract manufacturing and development services and any reduction in spending or demand could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The amount that our customers spend on the development and manufacturing of their products or product candidates, particularly the amount our customers choose to spend on outsourcing these services to us, substantially impacts our revenue and profitability. The outcomes of our customers’ research, development and marketing also significantly influence the amount that our customers choose to spend on our services and offerings. Our customers determine the amounts that they will spend on our services based upon, among other things, the clinical and market success of their products, available resources, access to capital and their need to develop new products, which, in turn, depend upon a number of other factors, including their competitors’ research, development and product initiatives and the anticipated market for any new products, as well as clinical and reimbursement scenarios for specific products and therapeutic areas. Further, increasing consolidation in the pharmaceutical industry may impact such spending, particularly in the event that any of our customers choose to develop or acquire integrated manufacturing operations. Any reduction in customer spending on biologics development and related services as a result of these and other factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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

We intend to grow our business operations as demand increases and increase the number of our employees to accommodate such potential growth, which may cause us to experience periods of rapid growth and expansion. This potential future growth could create a strain on our organizational, administrative and operational infrastructure, including manufacturing operations, quality control, technical support and other administrative functions. Our ability to manage our growth properly will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls.

As our commercial operations and sales volume grow, we will need to continue to increase our capacity for manufacturing, customer service, billing and general process improvements and expand our internal quality assurance program, among other things. We may also need to purchase additional equipment, some of which can take several months or more to procure, set up and validate, and increase our manufacturing, maintenance, software and computing capacity to meet increased demand. These increases in scale, expansion of personnel, purchase of equipment or process enhancements may not be successfully implemented.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our customers’ proprietary information, we may be subject to claims.

Many of the formulations used and processes developed by us in manufacturing our customers’ products are subject to trade secret protection, patents or other intellectual property protections owned or licensed by such customer. While we make significant efforts to protect our customers’ proprietary and confidential information, including requiring our employees to enter into agreements protecting such information, if any of our employees breaches the non-disclosure provisions in such agreements, or if our customers make claims that their proprietary information has been disclosed, our reputation may suffer damage and we may become subject to legal proceedings that could require us to incur significant expenses and divert our management’s time, attention and resources.

Our services and our customers’ products may infringe on or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Any claims that our services infringe the rights of third parties, including claims arising from any of our customer engagements, regardless of their merit or resolution, could be costly and may divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. We may not prevail in such proceedings given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in intellectual property litigation. If such proceedings result in an adverse outcome, we could be required, among other things, to pay substantial damages, discontinue the use of the infringing technology, expend significant resources to develop non-infringing technology, license such technology from the third party claiming infringement (which license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all) and/or cease the manufacture, use or sale of the infringing processes or offerings, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, our customers’ products may be subject to claims of intellectual property infringement and such claims could materially affect our business if their products cease to be manufactured and they have to discontinue the use of the infringing technology which we may provide. Any of the foregoing could affect our ability to compete or could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we do not enhance our existing or introduce new service offerings in a timely manner, our offerings may become obsolete or uncompetitive over time, customers may not buy our offerings and our revenue and profitability may decline.

iBio CDMO core services consist of the following offerings:

Demand for any of our service offerings may change in ways that we may not anticipate due to evolving industry standards and customer needs that are increasingly sophisticated and varied, as well as the introduction by others of new offerings and technologies that provide alternatives to our offerings. In the event we are unable to offer or enhance our service offerings or expand our manufacturing infrastructure to accommodate requests from our customers and potential customers, our offerings may become obsolete or uncompetitive over time, in which case our revenue and operating results would suffer. For example, if we are unable to respond to changes in the nature or extent of the technological or other needs of our customers through enhancing our offerings, our competition may develop offerings that are more competitive than ours and we could find it more difficult to renew or expand existing agreements or obtain new agreements. Potential innovations intended to facilitate enhanced or new offerings generally will require a substantial capital investment before we can determine their commercial viability, and we may not have financial resources sufficient to fund all desired innovations. Even if we succeed in creating enhanced or new offerings, however, they may still fail to result in commercially successful offerings or may not produce revenue in excess of our costs of development, and they may be rendered obsolete by changing customer preferences or the introduction by our competitors of offerings embodying new technologies or features. Finally, the marketplace may not accept our innovations due to, among other things, existing patterns of clinical practice, the need for regulatory clearance and/or uncertainty over market access or government or third-party reimbursement.

Revenue amounts generated by iBio CDMO have corresponding percentage rent expense components with minimum amounts due which may adversely impact the Company’s financial position and liquidity as we undergo business development and growth.

In addition to the base rent, iBio CDMO is required to pay to the Second Eastern Affiliate, for each calendar year during the term, a portion of the total gross sales for products manufactured or processed at the facility, equal to 7% of the first $5,000,000 of gross sales, 6% of gross sales between $5,000,001 and $25,000,000, 5% of gross sales between $25,000,001 and $50,000,000, 4% of gross sales between $50,000,001 and $100,000,000, and 3% of gross sales between $100,000,001 and $500,000,000. However, if for any calendar year period from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, iBio CDMO’s applicable gross sales are less than $5,000,000, or for any calendar year period from and after January 1, 2020, its applicable gross sales are less than $10,000,000, then iBio CDMO is required to pay the amount that would have been payable if it had achieved such minimum gross sales and shall pay no less than the applicable percentage for the minimum gross sales for each subsequent calendar year. If iBio CDMO does not have sufficient total gross sales to offset this rent expense, it may adversely impact the Company’s financial position and liquidity.

Risks Related to Business Operations

If we acquire companies, products or technologies, we may face integration risks and costs associated with those acquisitions that could negatively impact our business, results from operations and financial condition.

If we are presented with appropriate opportunities, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products or technologies. We may not realize the anticipated benefit of any acquisition or investment. If we acquire companies or technologies, we will face risks, uncertainties and disruptions associated with the integration process, including difficulties in the integration of the operations of an acquired company, integration of acquired technology with our products, diversion of our management’s attention from other business concerns, the potential loss of key employees or customers of the acquired business, and impairment charges if future acquisitions are not as successful as we originally anticipate. In addition, our operating results may suffer because of acquisition-related costs or amortization expenses or charges relating to acquired intangible assets. Any failure to successfully integrate other companies, products or technologies that we may acquire may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Furthermore, we may have to incur debt or issue equity securities to pay for any additional future acquisitions or investments, the issuance of which could be dilutive to our existing stockholders.

We depend on key personnel and the loss of key personnel could harm our business and results of operations.

We depend on our ability to attract and retain qualified scientific and technical employees as well as a number of key executives. These employees may voluntarily terminate their employment with us at any time. There can be no assurance that we will be able to retain key personnel, or to attract and retain additional qualified employees. Our inability to attract and retain key personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Relating to Our Common Stock

iBio is subject to compliance under the NYSE American continued listing standards of the NYSE American Company Guide, the failure of which can result in delisting from the NYSE American.

In order to maintain its listing with NYSE American, we must remain in compliance with the continued listing standards as set forth in the NYSE American Company Guide (the “Company Guide”), including the listing standard set forth in Section 1003 of the Guide, which applies if a listed company has stockholders’ equity below certain threshold amounts and has sustained losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in its five most recent fiscal years.

On October 16, 2019, we received notification from the NYSE American (the “Exchange”) that we were not in compliance with Section 1003(a)(ii) of the NYSE American Company Guide (the “Guide”), which applies if a listed company has stockholders’ equity of less than $4,000,000 and has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in three of its four most recent fiscal years, and Section 1003(a)(iii) of the Guide, which applies if a listed company has stockholders’ equity of less than $6,000,000 and has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in its five most recent fiscal years. On December 9, 2019, we received a further notice from the Exchange that we were below the Exchange’s continued listing standards set forth in Section 1003(a)(i) of the Guide, which applies if a listed company has stockholders’ equity of less than $2,000,000 and has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in two of its three most recent fiscal years. The December 9, 2019 notification from the Exchange also stated that the Exchange had determined that our securities have been selling for a low price per share for a substantial period of time and pursuant to Section 1003(f)(v) of the Guide, our continued listing on the Exchange was predicated on us effecting a reverse stock split or otherwise demonstrating sustained improvement in its share price within a reasonable period of time, which the Exchange determined to be no later than June 9, 2020. The Exchange notified us on June 9, 2020, that we had regained compliance with this section of the Exchange’s listing standards.

On January 10, 2020, we received notice from the Exchange that NYSE Regulation has accepted our November 15, 2019 plan to regain compliance with the Exchange’s continued listing standards set forth in Sections 1003(a)(i), 1003(a)(ii) and 1003(a)(iii) of the Guide and has granted a plan period through December 9, 2020, subject to periodic review by the Exchange, including quarterly monitoring, to regain compliance with the initiatives outlined in the plan. The Exchange notified us on October 1, 2020, that we had regained compliance with all of the Exchange’s continued listing standards set forth in Part 10 of the Guide. Specifically, the notification stated that we had resolved the continued listing deficiency with respect to Sections 1003(a)(i), 1003(a)(ii) and 1003(a)(iii) of the Guide by meeting the requirements of the $50 million market capitalization exemption in Section 1003(a) of the Guide.

There can be no assurance that we will continue to meet all of the Exchange’s continued listing standards, or exemptions therefrom, in the future.

Our operating results may vary significantly in the future, which may adversely affect the price of our common stock.

It is likely that our operating results may vary significantly in the future and that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily meaningful indicators of the future. You should not rely on the results of one quarter as an indication of our future performance. It is also possible that in some future quarters our operating results will fall below our expectations or the expectations of market analysts and investors. If we do not meet these expectations, the price of our common stock may decline significantly.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and under Delaware law could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable.

Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and provisions of applicable Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or other change in control that a stockholder may consider favorable. Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation, our Board of Directors may issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock. Any additional issuance of common stock could have the effect of impeding or discouraging the acquisition of control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, including a transaction in which our stockholders would receive a premium over the market price for their shares, and thereby protect the continuity of our management. Specifically, if in the due exercise of its fiduciary obligations, the Board of Directors were to determine that a takeover proposal was not in our best interest, shares could be issued by our Board of Directors without stockholder approval in one or more transactions that might prevent or render more difficult or costly the completion of the takeover by:

Our certificate of incorporation also allows our Board of Directors to fix the number of directors in the by-laws. Our certificate of incorporation does not contemplate cumulative voting in the election of directors and thus, under Delaware law, cumulative voting in the election of directors is not permitted. The effect of these provisions may be to delay or prevent a tender offer or takeover attempt that a stockholder may determine to be in his, her or its best interest, including attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by the stockholders.

We have a staggered Board of Directors, which could impede an attempt to acquire the Company or remove our management.

Our Board of Directors is divided into three classes, each of which serves for a staggered term of three years. This division of our Board of Directors could have the effect of impeding an attempt to take over our company or change or remove management, since only one class will be elected annually. Thus, only approximately one-third of the existing Board of Directors could be replaced at any election of directors.

We do not anticipate paying cash dividends for the foreseeable future, and therefore investors should not buy our stock if they wish to receive cash dividends.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends or distributions on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain our future earnings to support operations and to finance expansion and therefore we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

The sale of our common stock through current or future equity offerings may cause dilution and could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

We are entitled under our certificate of incorporation, as amended, to issue up to 275,000,000 shares of our common stock and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock.

On June 26, 2018, we closed an underwritten public offering with total gross proceeds of approximately $16,000,000, before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses payable by us. The securities offered by us consisted of (i) 4,350,000 shares of common stock at $0.90 per share, (ii) 6,300 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, with a stated value of $1,000 per preferred share, and convertible into an aggregate of 7,000,000 shares of common stock at $0.90 per share, (iii) 5,785 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, with a stated value of $1,000 per preferred share, and convertible into an aggregate of 6,427,778 shares of common stock at $0.90 per share. We granted the underwriters Alliance Global Partners, a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,666,666 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. On July 12, 2018, we received approximately $1,350,000, before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses payable by us, from the proceeds of the sale of 1,500,000 over-allotment shares of common stock purchased at $0.90 by the underwriter during the 45-day provision. 

On October 29, 2019, we closed a public offering of (i) 2,450,000 shares of our common stock, (ii) 4,510 shares of our Series C Convertible Preferred Stock, (iii) 25,000,000 Series A warrants to purchase shares of our common stock and (iv) 25,000,000 Series B warrants to purchase shares of our common stock. The net proceeds to us from the sale of these securities was approximately $4.5 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company.

As of the date of the filing of this Annual Report, we issued and sold an aggregate of (i) 28,394,064 shares of our common stock for gross proceeds of $66,879,647 pursuant to the equity distribution agreement with UBS Securities, (ii) 19,473,013 shares of our common stock for gross proceeds of $25,228,437 pursuant to the Lincoln Park March 2020 Purchase Agreement and 815,827 shares of our common stock as a commitment fee to Lincoln Park, and (iii) 1,000,000 shares of our common stock for gross proceeds of $1,090,000 in our offering in May 2020 with Lincoln Park.

As of October 8, 2020, we had issued and outstanding approximately 180.3 million shares of common stock and one share of iBio CMO Preferred Tracking Stock. As of October 9, 2020, 3.47 million options to purchase shares of common stock were outstanding and we had approximately 2.9 million shares of common stock reserved for future issuance of additional option grants under our 2018 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, as amended.

Accordingly, we will be able to issue up to approximately 33.4 million additional shares of common stock and 999,999 shares of preferred stock. Sales of our common stock offered through current or future equity offerings may result in substantial dilution to our stockholders. The sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock to investors, or anticipation of such sales, could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect sales.

The issuance of preferred stock or additional shares of common stock could adversely affect the rights of the holders of shares of our common stock.

Our Board of Directors is authorized to issue up to 999,999 shares of preferred stock without any further action on the part of our stockholders. Our Board of Directors has the authority to fix and determine the voting rights, rights of redemption and other rights and preferences of preferred stock. Currently, we have one share of preferred stock outstanding. Our Board of Directors may, at any time, designate a new series of preferred stock that would grant to holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common stock, and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, before the redemption of our common stock and authorize the issuance of such series of preferred stock, which may have a material adverse effect on the rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, our Board of Directors, without further stockholder approval, may, at any time, issue large blocks of preferred stock. In addition, the ability of our Board of Directors to designate and issue shares of preferred stock without any further action on the part of our stockholders may impede a takeover of our company and may prevent a transaction that is favorable to our stockholders.

We rely extensively on our information technology systems and are vulnerable to damage and interruption.

We rely on our information technology systems and infrastructure to process transactions, summarize results and manage our business, including maintaining client and supplier information. Additionally, we utilize third parties, including cloud providers, to store, transfer and process data. Our information technology systems, as well as the systems of our suppliers and other partners, whose systems we do not control, are vulnerable to outages and an increasing risk of continually evolving deliberate intrusions to gain access to company sensitive information. Likewise, data security incidents and breaches by employees and others with or without permitted access to our systems pose a risk that sensitive data may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. A cyber-attack or other significant disruption involving our information technology systems, or those of our vendors, suppliers and other partners, could also result in disruptions in critical systems, corruption or loss of data and theft of data, funds or intellectual property.  We may be unable to prevent outages or security breaches in our systems.  We remain potentially vulnerable to additional known or yet unknown threats as, in some instances, we, our suppliers and our other partners may be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects.  We also face the risk that we expose our vendors or partners to cybersecurity attacks.  Any or all of the foregoing could adversely affect our results of operations and our business reputation.

Any failure to maintain the security of information relating to our customers, employees and suppliers, whether as a result of cybersecurity attacks or otherwise, could expose us to litigation, government enforcement actions and costly response measures, and could disrupt our operations and harm our reputation. 

In connection with the sales and marketing of our products and services, we may from time to time transmit confidential information. We also expect to have access to, collect or maintain private or confidential information regarding any clinical trials conducted by us and the patients enrolled therein, employees, and suppliers, as well as our business. Cyberattacks are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is possible that computer hackers and others might compromise our security measures, or security measures of those parties that we do business with now or in the future, and obtain the personal information of patients in our clinical trials, vendors, employees and suppliers or our business information. A security breach of any kind, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses and attacks by hackers, employees or others, could expose us to risks of data loss, litigation, government enforcement actions, regulatory penalties and costly response measures, and could seriously disrupt our operations. Any resulting negative publicity could significantly harm our reputation, which could cause us to lose market share and have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting, and we cannot provide assurances that this weakness has been effectively remediated or that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting.

Our management has identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and has concluded that, due to such material weakness, which related to certain sales of common stock being recorded on the settlement date as opposed to the trade date, our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting were not effective as of June 30, 2020 and March 31, 2020. If not remediated properly, our failure to establish and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements and a failure to meet our reporting and financial obligations, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and the trading price of our common stock.  Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of management reports and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting that we may eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock.