UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark One)

 

☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended  June 30, 2017

 

☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from [   ] to [   ]

 

Commission file number  001-31392

 

 

Registrant's telephone number   011-972-74-7107259

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.        

 

Yes ☐          No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.                 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

 

Yes ☒          No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    

 

☒ Yes          ☐ No

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).           

 

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked prices of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

 

$107,969,302

 

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant's classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

 

97,473,652 as of August 31, 2017

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Our financial statements are stated in thousands United States Dollars, or US$, and are prepared in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP.

 

In this annual report, unless otherwise specified, all dollar amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars.

 

As used in this annual report, the terms "we", "us", "our", "the Company", and "Pluristem" mean Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. and our wholly owned Israeli subsidiary, unless otherwise indicated or required by the context.

 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

The statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "intends," "plans," "expects," "may," "will," "should," or "anticipates" or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  We remind readers that forward-looking statements are merely predictions and therefore inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors and involve known and unknown risks that could cause the actual results, performance, levels of activity, or our achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, levels of activity, or our achievements, or industry results, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements appear in Item 1 – "Business" and Item 7 – "Management's discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," (especially in the section titled "Outlook") as well as elsewhere in this Annual Report and include, among other statements, statements regarding the following:

 

·

the expected development and potential benefits from our products in treating various medical conditions;

 

·

the clinical trials to be conducted according to our license agreement with CHA Biotech Co. Ltd.;

 

·

our plan to execute our strategy independently, using our own personnel, and through relationships with research and clinical institutions or in collaboration with other companies;

 

·

the prospects of entering into additional license agreements, or other forms of cooperation with other companies and medical institutions;

 

·

our pre-clinical and clinical trials plans, including timing of initiation, enrollment and conclusion of trials;

 

·

achieving regulatory approvals, including under accelerated paths;

 

·

receipt of future funding from the Israel Innovation Authority;

 

·

our marketing plans, including timing of marketing our first product candidate, PLX-PAD;

 

·

developing capabilities for new clinical indications of placenta expanded (PLX) cells and new products;

 

·

our estimations regarding the size of the global market for our product candidates;

 

·

our expectations regarding our production capacity;

 

·

our expectation to demonstrate a real-world impact and value from our pipeline, technology platform and commercial-scale manufacturing capacity;

 

·

our expectations regarding our short- and long-term capital requirements;

 

·

the proposed joint venture to be established with Sosei Corporate Venture Capital Ltd. for the clinical development and commercialization of Pluristem’s PLX-PAD cell therapy product in Japan and the plan to enter into definitive agreements;

 

·

our outlook for the coming months and future periods, including but not limited to our expectations regarding future revenue and expenses; and

 

·

information with respect to any other plans and strategies for our business.

 

The factors discussed herein, including those risks described in Item 1A. "Risk Factors", and expressed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by such statements.  In addition, historic results of scientific research, clinical and preclinical trials do not guarantee that the conclusions of future research or trials would not suggest different conclusions. Also, historic results referred to in this Annual Report would be interpreted differently in light of additional research, clinical and preclinical trials results. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this filing, and except as required by law we undertake no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

 

 

•

The FDA, the EMA or the PMDA does not grant permission to proceed or places additional trials on clinical hold;

 

•

Subjects do not enroll in our trials at the rate we expect;

 

•

The regulators may ask to increase subject’s population in the clinical trials;

 

•

Subjects experience an unacceptable rate or severity of adverse side effects;

 

•

Third-party clinical investigators do not perform our clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol, GCP and regulatory requirements, or other third parties do not perform data collection and analysis in a timely or accurate manner;

 

•

Inspections of clinical trial sites by the FDA, EMA, PMDA or MFDS and other regulatory authorities find regulatory violations that require us to undertake corrective action, suspend or terminate one or more sites, or prohibit us from using some or all of the data in support of our marketing applications; or

 

•

One or more IRBs suspends or terminates the trial at an investigational site, precludes enrollment of additional subjects, or withdraws its approval of the trial.

 

Our development costs will increase if we have material delays in our clinical trials, or if we are required to modify, suspend, terminate or repeat a clinical trial. If we are unable to conduct our clinical trials properly and on schedule, marketing approval may be delayed or denied by the FDA, EMA, PMDA and other regulatory authorities.

 

If our processing and storage facility or our clinical manufacturing facilities are damaged or destroyed, our business and prospects would be adversely affected.

 

If our processing and storage facility,   our clinical manufacturing facilities or the equipment in such facilities were to be damaged or destroyed, the loss of some or all of the stored units of our cell therapy drug candidates would force us to delay or halt our clinical trial processes.  We have one clinical manufacturing facilities located in Haifa, Israel. If these facilities or the equipment in them are significantly damaged or destroyed, we may not be able to quickly or inexpensively replace our manufacturing capacity.

 

If we encounter problems or delays in the research and development of our potential cell therapy products, we may not be able to raise sufficient capital to finance our operations during the period required to resolve such problems or delays.

 

Our cell therapy products are currently in the development stage and we anticipate that we will continue to incur substantial operating expenses and incur net losses until we have successfully completed all necessary research and clinical trials.  We, and any of our potential collaborators, may encounter problems and delays relating to research and development, regulatory approval and intellectual property rights of our technology.  Our research and development programs may not be successful, and our cell culture technology may not facilitate the production of cells outside the human body with the expected result.  Our cell therapy products may not prove to be safe and efficacious in clinical trials.  If any of these events occur, we may not have adequate resources to continue operations for the period required to resolve the issue delaying commercialization and we may not be able to raise capital to finance our continued operation during the period required for resolution of that issue.  Accordingly, we may be forced to discontinue or suspend our operations.

 

We may not be able to secure and maintain research institutions to conduct our clinical trials.

 

We rely on research institutions to conduct our clinical trials. Specifically, the limited number of centers experienced with cell therapy product candidates heightens our dependence on such research institutions. Our reliance upon research institutions, including hospitals and clinics, provides us with less control over the timing and cost of clinical trials and the ability to recruit subjects. If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable research institutions on acceptable terms, or if any resulting agreement is terminated, we may be unable to quickly replace the research institution with another qualified institution on acceptable terms. We may not be able to secure and maintain suitable research institutions to conduct our clinical trials.

 

  Our product development programs are based on novel technologies and are inherently risky.

 

We are subject to the risks of failure inherent in the development of products based on new technologies. The novel nature of our therapeutics creates significant challenges in regards to product development and optimization, manufacturing, government regulation, third-party reimbursement and market acceptance. For example, the FDA, the EMA, the PMDA and other countries’ regulatory authorities have relatively limited experience with cell therapies. Very few cell therapy products have been approved by regulatory authorities to date for commercial sale, and the pathway to regulatory approval for our cell therapy product candidates may accordingly be more complex and lengthy. As a result, the development and commercialization pathway for our therapies may be subject to increased uncertainty, as compared to the pathway for new conventional drugs.

 

There are very few drugs and limited therapies that the FDA or EMA and other regulatory authorities  have approved as treatments for some of the disease indications we are pursuing. This could complicate and delay FDA, EMA or other countries’ regulatory authorities approval of our biologic drug candidates.

 

There are very few drugs and limited therapies currently approved for treatment of CLI, IC, ARS or HCT.  As a result, the clinical efficacy endpoints, or the criteria to measure the intended results of treatment may be difficult to determine. Despite our eligibility for certain accelerated pathways, this could increase the difficulty of our obtaining FDA, EMA or other countries’ regulatory authorities approval to market our products.

 

Our cell therapy drug candidates represent new classes of therapy that the marketplace may not understand or accept.

 

Even if we successfully develop and obtain regulatory approval for our cell therapy candidates, the market may not understand or accept them. We are developing cell therapy product candidates that represent novel treatments and will compete with a number of more conventional products and therapies manufactured and marketed by others, including major pharmaceutical companies. The degree of market acceptance of any of our developed and potential products will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

●

the clinical safety and effectiveness of our cell therapy drug candidates and their perceived advantage over alternative treatment methods, if any;

 

●

adverse events involving our cell therapy product candidates or the products or product candidates of others that are cell-based; and

 

●

the cost of our products and the reimbursement policies of government and private third-party payers.

 

If the health care community does not accept our potential products for any of the foregoing reasons, or for any other reason, it could affect our sales, having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The clinical manufacturing process for cell therapy products is complex and requires meeting high regulatory standards; we have limited manufacturing experience and know-how.  Any delay or problem in the clinical manufacturing of PLX may result in a material adverse effect on our business.

 

Our manufacturing process, controls, equipment and quality system for PLX-PAD have received approval from the FDA, EMA, Germany’s PEI, the Korean MFDS and the PMDA. However, the clinical manufacturing process is complex and we have no experience in manufacturing our product candidates at a commercial level. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to successfully develop and manufacture our product candidates in a manner that is cost-effective or commercially viable, or that our development and manufacturing capabilities might not take much longer than currently anticipated to be ready for the market.  In addition, if we fail to maintain regulatory approvals for our manufacturing facilities, we may suffer delays in our ability to manufacture our product candidates.  This may result in a material adverse effect on our business.

Because we received grants from the IIA we are subject to on-going restrictions.

 

We have received royalty-bearing grants from the IIA, for research and development programs that meet specified criteria. The terms of the IIA’s grants limit our ability to transfer know-how developed under an approved research and development program outside of Israel, regardless of whether the royalties are fully paid. Any non-Israeli citizen, resident or entity that, among other things, becomes a holder of 5% or more of our share capital or voting rights, is entitled to appoint one or more of our directors or our Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, serves as a director of our Company or as our CEO is generally required to notify the same to the IIA and to undertake to observe the law governing the grant programs of the IIA, the principal restrictions of which are the transferability limits described above. For more information, see “Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

 

We have limited operating history, which raises doubts with respect to our ability to generate revenues in the future.

 

We have a limited operating history in our business of developing and commercializing cell production technology.  Until we entered into the United Agreement, which was terminated in December 2015, we did not generate any revenues.  It is not clear when we will generate additional revenues or whether we will experience further delays in recognizing revenues such as resulted from a clinical hold.  Our primary source of funds has been the sale of our common stock and government grants.  We cannot give assurances that we will be able to generate any significant revenues or income in the future.  There is no assurance that we will ever be profitable.

 

If we do not keep pace with our competitors and with technological and market changes, our technology and products may become obsolete and our business may suffer.

 

The cellular therapeutics industry, of which we are a part, is very competitive and is subject to technological changes that can be rapid and intense. We have faced, and will continue to face, intense competition from biotechnology, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, academic and research institutions and governmental agencies engaged in cellular therapeutic and drug discovery activities or funding, both in the United States and internationally. Some of these competitors are pursuing the development of cellular therapeutics, drugs and other therapies that target the same diseases and conditions that we target in our clinical and pre-clinical programs.

 

Many of our competitors have greater resources, more product candidates and have developed product candidates and processes that directly compete with our products.  Our competitors may have developed, or could develop in the future, new products that compete with our products or even render our products obsolete.

 

We depend to a significant extent on certain key personnel, the loss of any of whom may materially and adversely affect our Company.

 

Our success depends to a significant extent on the continued services of certain highly qualified scientific and management personnel, in particular, Zami Aberman, our Co-CEO and Chairman, and Yaky Yanay, our Co-CEO and President.  We face competition for qualified personnel from numerous industry sources, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to attract and retain qualified personnel on acceptable terms.  The loss of service of any of our key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our operations or financial condition.  In the event of the loss of services of such personnel, no assurance can be given that we will be able to obtain the services of adequate replacement personnel.  We do not maintain key person insurance on the lives of any of our officers or employees.

 

The market for our products will be heavily dependent on third party reimbursement policies.

 

Our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates will depend on the extent to which government healthcare programs, as well as private health insurers, health maintenance organizations and other third party payers will pay for our products and related treatments.

 

Reimbursement by third party payers depends on a number of factors, including the payer’s determination that use of the product is safe and effective, not experimental or investigational, medically necessary, appropriate for the specific patient and cost-effective.  Reimbursement in the United States or foreign countries may not be available or maintained for any of our product candidates.  If we do not obtain approvals for adequate third party reimbursements, we may not be able to establish or maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.  Any limits on reimbursement from third party payers may reduce the demand for, or negatively affect the price of, our products.  The lack of reimbursement for these procedures by insurance payers has negatively affected the market for our products in this indication in the past.

 

Managing and reducing health care costs has been a general concern of federal and state governments in the United States and of foreign governments.  In addition, third party payers are increasingly challenging the price and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, and many limit reimbursement for newly approved health care products.  In particular, third party payers may limit the indications for which they will reimburse patients who use any products that we may develop.  Cost control initiatives could decrease the price for products that we may develop, which would result in lower product revenues to us.

 

Our success depends in large part on our ability to develop and protect our technology and our cell therapy products.  If our patents and proprietary rights agreements do not provide sufficient protection for our technology and our cell therapy products, our business and competitive position will suffer.

 

Our success will also depend in part on our ability to develop our technology and commercialize cell therapy products without infringing the proprietary rights of others.  We have not conducted full freedom of use patent searches and no assurance can be given that patents do not exist or could not be filed which would have an adverse effect on our ability to develop our technology or maintain our competitive position with respect to our potential cell therapy products.  If our technology components, devices, designs, products, processes or other subject matter are claimed under other existing United States or foreign patents or are otherwise protected by third party proprietary rights, we may be subject to infringement actions.  In such event, we may challenge the validity of such patents or other proprietary rights or we may be required to obtain licenses from such companies in order to develop, manufacture or market our technology or products.  There can be no assurances that we would be able to obtain such licenses or that such licenses, if available, could be obtained on commercially reasonable terms.  Furthermore, the failure to either develop a commercially viable alternative or obtain such licenses could result in delays in marketing our proposed products or the inability to proceed with the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring such licenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.  If we are required to defend ourselves against charges of patent infringement or to protect our proprietary rights against third parties, substantial costs will be incurred regardless of whether we are successful.  Such proceedings are typically protracted with no certainty of success.  An adverse outcome could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties and force us to curtail or cease our development of our technology and the commercialization our potential cell therapy products.

 

We have built the ability to manufacture clinical grade ASCs in-house. Through our experience with ASC-based product development, we have developed expertise and know-how in this field. To protect these expertise and know-how, our policies require confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, contractors, manufacturers and advisors. These agreements generally provide for protection of confidential information, restrictions on the use of materials and assignment of inventions conceived during the course of performance for us. These agreements might not effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information.

 

The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.

 

The market for our shares of common stock may fluctuate significantly. A number of events and factors may have an adverse impact on the market price of our common stock, such as:

 

•

results of our clinical trials or adverse events associated with our products;

 

•

the amount of our cash resources and our ability to obtain additional funding;

 

•

changes in our revenues, expense levels or operating results;

 

•

entering into or terminating strategic relationships;

 

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announcements of technical or product developments by us or our competitors;

 

•

market conditions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks in particular;

 

•

changes in laws and governmental regulations, including changes in tax, healthcare, competition and patent laws;

 

•

disputes concerning patents or proprietary rights;

 

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new accounting pronouncements or regulatory rulings;

 

•

public announcements regarding medical advances in the treatment of the disease states that we are targeting;

 

•

patent or proprietary rights developments;

 

•

regulatory actions that may impact our products;

 

•

disruptions in our manufacturing processes; and

 

•

competition.

 

In addition, a market downturn in general and/or in the biopharmaceutical sector in particular, may adversely affect the market price of our securities, which may not necessarily reflect the actual or perceived value of our Company.

 

Future sales of our shares may cause the prevailing market price of our shares to decrease.

 

Future sales of our common stock, or the perception that such sales may occur, could cause immediate dilution and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

 

A significant portion of our business is conducted outside the United States. Therefore, we are exposed to currency exchange fluctuations in other currencies such as the New Israeli Shekel, or NIS, and the Euro, because a portion of our expenses in Israel and Europe are paid in NIS and Euros, respectively, which subjects us to the risks of foreign currency fluctuations. Our primary expenses paid in NIS are employee salaries, fees for consultants and subcontractors and lease payments on our Israeli facilities. During 2017, we entered into forward contracts and other derivative instruments to hedge against some of the risk of changes in future cash flows from payments of payroll and related expenses and costs of operations denominated in NIS.

 

The dollar cost of our operations in Israel will increase to the extent increases in the rate of inflation in Israel are not offset by a devaluation of the NIS in relation to the dollar, which would harm our results of operations.

 

Since a considerable portion of our expenses such as employees' salaries are linked to an extent to the rate of inflation in Israel, the dollar cost of our operations is influenced by the extent to which any increase in the rate of inflation in Israel is or is not offset by the devaluation of the NIS in relation to the dollar. As a result, we are exposed to the risk that the NIS, after adjustment for inflation in Israel, will appreciate in relation to the dollar. In that event, the dollar cost of our operations in Israel will increase and our dollar-measured results of operations will be adversely affected. We cannot predict whether the NIS will appreciate against the dollar or vice versa in the future. Any increase in the rate of inflation in Israel, unless the increase is offset on a timely basis by a devaluation of the NIS in relation to the dollar, will increase labor and other costs, which will increase the dollar cost of our operations in Israel and harm our results of operations.

 

Potential product liability claims could adversely affect our future earnings and financial condition.

 

We face an inherent business risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products results in adverse effects.  We may not be able to maintain adequate levels of insurance for these liabilities at reasonable cost and/or reasonable terms.  Excessive insurance costs or uninsured claims would add to our future operating expenses and adversely affect our financial condition.

 

Our principal research and development and manufacturing facilities are located in Israel and the unstable military and political conditions of Israel may cause interruption or suspension of our business operations without warning.

 

Our principal research and development and manufacturing facilities are located in Israel.  As a result, we are directly influenced by the political, economic and military conditions affecting Israel.  Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its Arab neighbors. During July and August 2014 and November 2012, Israel was engaged in an armed conflict with a militia group and political party which controls the Gaza Strip, and during the summer of 2006, Israel was engaged in an armed conflict with Hezbollah, a Lebanese Islamist Shiite militia group and political party. These conflicts involved missile strikes against civilian targets in various parts of Israel, including areas in which our employees and some of our consultants are located, and negatively affected business conditions in Israel.

 

In addition, Israeli-based companies and companies doing business with Israel, have been the subject of an economic boycott by members of the Arab League and certain other predominantly Muslim countries since Israel's establishment.  Although Israel has entered into various agreements with certain Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority, and various declarations have been signed in connection with efforts to resolve some of the economic and political problems in the Middle East, we cannot predict whether or in what manner these problems will be resolved. Wars and acts of terrorism have resulted in significant damage to the Israeli economy, including reducing the level of foreign and local investment.

 

Furthermore, certain of our officers and employees may be obligated to perform annual reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces and are subject to being called up for active military duty at any time.  All Israeli male citizens who have served in the army are subject to an obligation to perform reserve duty until they are between 40 and 49 years old, depending upon the nature of their military service.

 

The trend towards consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may adversely affect us.

 

There is a trend towards consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. This consolidation trend may result in the remaining companies having greater financial resources and technical discovery capabilities, thus intensifying competition in these industries. This trend may also result in fewer potential collaborators or licensees for our therapeutic product candidates. Also, if a consolidating company is already doing business with our competitors, we may lose existing licensees or collaborators as a result of such consolidation.

 

This trend may adversely affect our ability to enter into license agreements or agreements for the development and commercialization of our product candidates, and as a result may materially harm our business.

 

Our cash may be subject to a risk of loss and we may be exposed to fluctuations in the market values of our portfolio investments and in interest rates.

 

Our assets include a significant component of cash and cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities.  We adhere to an investment policy set by our investment committee which aims to preserve our financial assets, maintain adequate liquidity and maximize returns.  We believe that our cash is held in institutions whose credit risk is minimal and that the value and liquidity of our deposits are accurately reflected in our consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2017.  Currently, we hold part of our current assets in bank deposits and part is invested in government bonds and a combination of corporate bonds and relatively low risk stocks.  However, nearly all of our cash and bank deposits are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the FDIC, or similar governmental deposit insurance outside the United States.  Therefore, our cash and any bank deposits that we now hold or may acquire in the future may be subject to risks, including the risk of loss or of reduced value or liquidity, particularly in light of the increased volatility and worldwide pressures in the financial and banking sectors. In the future, should we determine that there is a decline in value of any of our marketable securities which is not temporary in nature, this would result in a loss being recognized in our consolidated statements of operations.

 

Our marketable securities include our investment in CHA shares as part of the license agreement signed with CHA in June 2013; we may be exposed to fluctuations in the market values of the shares, as well as to fluctuations in the KRW exchange rate to U.S. dollar.

As part of the CHA Agreement, in June 2013 the parties invested in each other’s equity. As of June 30, 2017, we held 400,368 CHA shares valued at $4.4 million. The shares are listed on the KOSDAQ and the shares' price is denominated in KRW. We are exposed to changes in the market price of CHA shares, as well as to exchange rates fluctuations in the KRW currency compared to the U.S. dollar.

 

Although our internal control over financial reporting was considered effective as of June 30, 2017, there is no assurance that our internal control over financial reporting will continue to be effective in the future, which could result in our financial statements being unreliable, government investigations or loss of investor confidence in our financial reports.

 

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are required to furnish an annual report by our management assessing the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting identified by management. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm must annually provide an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.  Management's report as of the end of fiscal 2017 concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective.  In addition, our registered independent public accounting firm provided an opinion that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of the end of fiscal 2017.  There is, however, no assurance that we will be able to maintain such effective internal control over financial reporting in the future. Ineffective internal control over financial reporting can result in errors or other problems in our financial statements. In the future, if we or our registered independent public accounting firm are unable to assert that our internal controls are effective, our investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline. Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also result in investigation or sanctions by regulatory authorities.

 

Because substantially all of our officers and directors are located in non-U.S. jurisdictions, you may have no effective recourse against the management for misconduct and may not be able to enforce judgment and civil liabilities against our officers, directors, experts and agents.

 

Substantially all of our directors and officers are nationals and/or residents of countries other than the United States, and all or a substantial portion of their assets are located outside the United States.  As a result, it may be difficult to enforce within the United States any judgments obtained against our officers or directors, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any U.S. state.

Because we do not intend to pay any dividends on our common stock, investors seeking dividend income should not purchase shares of our common stock.

We have not declared or paid any dividends on our common stock since our inception, and we do not anticipate paying any such dividends for the foreseeable future.  Investors seeking dividend income should not invest in our common stock.

We are dependent upon third-party suppliers for raw materials needed to manufacture PLX; if any of these third parties fails or is unable to perform in a timely manner, our ability to manufacture and deliver will be compromised.

 

In addition to the placenta used in the clinical manufacturing process of PLX we require certain raw materials. These items must be manufactured and supplied to us in sufficient quantities and in compliance with current GMP. To meet these requirements, we have entered into supply agreements with firms that manufacture these raw materials to current GMP standards. Our requirements for these items are expected to increase if and when we transition to the manufacture of commercial quantities of our cell-based drug candidates.

 

In addition, as we proceed with our clinical trial efforts, we must be able to continuously demonstrate to the FDA, EMA and other regulatory authorities that we can manufacture our cell therapy product candidates with consistent characteristics. Accordingly, we are materially dependent on these suppliers for supply of current GMP-grade materials of consistent quality. Our ability to complete ongoing clinical trials may be negatively affected in the event that we are forced to seek and validate a replacement source for any of these critical materials.

 

We may not be able to take advantage of the new regulatory pathways in Europe and Japan to shorten our time to market our products.

 

Recent regulatory pathways in Europe and Japan may allow for early commercialization of our products and reducing the time to market our products. The purpose of Europe’s Adaptive Pathways is to shorten the time it takes for innovative medicines to reach patients with serious conditions that lack adequate treatment options. After a therapy is selected for the program, the Adaptive Pathways group conducts high level discussions and provides guidance to the applicant regarding the formal regulatory processes that precede a trial targeting early approval and further expansion of the indications. In Japan, a new law regarding regenerative therapies, including cell therapies, came into effect. The new law allows for conditional, time-limited approval of products for marketing after limited proof of efficacy.  

 

In May 2015, the EMA selected our PLX cell program in CLI for its Adaptive Pathway project. In addition, the PMDA approved the proposed quality and large-scale manufacturing methods for PLX-PAD and has cleared our PLX-PAD cells for use in clinical trials in Japan. However, since these new regulatory pathways are relatively new, we may not be able to meet the regulatory requirements and as a result would not benefit from early access to the market.

 

Favorable results from compassionate use treatment or initial interim results from a clinical trial do not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful and success in early stage clinical trials does not ensure success in later-stage clinical trials.

 

PLX cells have been administered as part of compassionate use treatments, which permit the administration of the PLX cells outside of clinical trials.  No assurance can be given that any positive results are attributable to the PLX cells, or that administration of PLX cells to other patients will have positive results. Compassionate use is a term that is used to refer to the use of an investigational drug outside of a clinical trial to treat a patient with a serious or immediately life-threatening disease or condition who has no comparable or satisfactory alternative treatment options. Regulators often allow compassionate use on a case-by-case basis for an individual patient or for defined groups of patients with similar treatment needs.

 

There is no assurance that we will obtain regulatory approval for PLX cells. We will only obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate if we can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA, the EMA, the PMDA or other applicable regulatory authorities, in well-designed and conducted clinical trials, that the product candidate is safe and effective and that the product candidate, including the cell production methodology, otherwise meets the appropriate standards required for approval. Clinical trials can be lengthy, complex and extremely expensive processes with uncertain results. A failure of one or more clinical trials may occur at any stage of testing.

 

Success in early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and initial results from a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. While results from treating patients through compassionate use have in certain cases been successful, we cannot be assured that further trials will ultimately be successful. Results of further clinical trials may be disappointing.

 

Even if early stage clinical trials are successful, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials for product candidates with patients receiving the drug for longer periods before we are able to seek approvals to market and sell these product candidates from the FDA and regulatory authorities outside the United States. Even if we are able to obtain approval for our product candidates through an accelerated approval review program, we may still be required to conduct clinical trials after such an approval.  If we are not successful in commercializing any of our lead product candidates, or are significantly delayed in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

 

We may not successfully maintain our existing exclusive out-licensing agreement with CHA, or establish new collaborative and licensing arrangements, which could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

 

One of the elements of our business strategy is to license our technology to other companies. Our business strategy includes establishing collaborations and licensing agreements with one or more pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. To date, we have a strategic partnership with CHA for both the IC and CLI indications in Korea. CHA will conduct PLX clinical studies in South Korea, and, following approval, a joint venture equally owned by both parties will be established to market PLX products in South Korea. Our PLX cells are also being used in South Korean sites participating to our International IC study through our partnership with CHA. Notwithstanding, we may not be able to further establish or maintain such licensing and collaboration arrangements necessary to develop and commercialize our product candidates. Even if we are able to maintain or establish licensing or collaboration arrangements, these arrangements may not be on favorable terms and may contain provisions that will restrict our ability to develop, test and market our product candidates. Any failure to maintain or establish licensing or collaboration arrangements on favorable terms could adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition or ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

 

Our agreements with our collaborators and licensees may have provisions that give rise to disputes regarding the rights and obligations of the parties. These and other possible disagreements could lead to termination of the agreement or delays in collaborative research, development, supply, or commercialization of certain product candidates, or could require or result in litigation or arbitration. Moreover, disagreements could arise with our collaborators over rights to intellectual property or our rights to share in any of the future revenues of products developed by our collaborators. These kinds of disagreements could result in costly and time-consuming litigation. Any such conflicts with our collaborators could reduce our ability to obtain future collaboration agreements and could have a negative impact on our relationship with existing collaborators.

 

Although we have entered into a term sheet with Sosei Corporate Venture Capital Ltd. there can be no assurance that a definitive agreement will be signed or that such proposed joint venture will be formed.

 

We have signed a binding term sheet with Sosei CVC for the establishment of for the establishment of a new Japanese corporation, or NewCo, for the clinical development and commercialization of our PLX-PAD cell therapy product in Japan. The parties have agreed to extend the deadline to enter into a definitive agreement by December 31, 2017. While the parties have executed a term sheet and we believe such definitive agreements will be finalized in the coming months, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in executing agreements by then. It is possible that the definitive agreements will not be executed, or that they may be executed on terms and conditions that are materially different than those set forth in the term sheet. There can be no assurance that we will execute the definitive agreements or that the proposed joint venture with Sosei CVC will be completed.

 

Failure in our information technology systems, including by cybersecurity attacks or other data security incidents, could significantly disrupt our operations.

Our operations depend, in part, on the continued performance of our information technology systems. Our information technology systems are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses and similar disruptions. Failure of our information technology systems could adversely affect our business, profitability and financial condition. Although we have information technology security systems, a successful cybersecurity attack or other data security incident could result in the misappropriation and/or loss of confidential or personal information, create system interruptions, or deploy malicious software that attacks our systems. It is possible that a cybersecurity attack might not be noticed for some period of time. The occurrence of a cybersecurity attack or incident could result in business interruptions from the disruption of our information technology systems, or negative publicity resulting in reputational damage with our shareholders and other stakeholders and/or increased costs to prevent, respond to or mitigate cybersecurity events. In addition, the unauthorized dissemination of sensitive personal information or proprietary or confidential information could expose us or other third-parties to regulatory fines or penalties, litigation and potential liability, or otherwise harm our business.

We have limited experience in conducting Phase III trials. If we fail in the conduct of such trials, our business will be materially harmed.

 

Even though we conducted Phase I and Phase II trials and we are currently conducting Phase III for our PLX-PAD product, and Phase I for our PLX-R18 product, and have recruited employees who are experienced in managing and conducting clinical trials, we have limited experience in this area.  We will need to expand our experience and rely on consultants in order to obtain regulatory approvals for our therapeutic product candidates.  The failure to successfully conduct clinical trials could materially harm our business.

Existing government programs and tax benefits may be terminated.

 

We have received certain Israeli government approvals under certain programs and may in the future utilize certain tax benefits in Israel by virtue of these programs. To remain eligible for such tax benefits, we must continue to meet certain conditions. If we fail to comply with these conditions in the future, the benefits we receive could be canceled and have to pay additional taxes. We cannot guarantee that these programs and tax benefits will be continued in the future, at their current levels or at all. If these programs and tax benefits are ended, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

If we fail to obtain or maintain orphan drug exclusivity for our products, our competitors may sell products to treat the same conditions and our revenue will be reduced.

Our business strategy focuses on the development of drugs that are eligible for FDA and European Union orphan drug designation. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product as an orphan drug if it is intended to treat a rare disease or condition, defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 in the United States where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing the drug will be recovered from sales in the United States. In the European Union, the EMA’s Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, or COMP, grants orphan drug designation to promote the development of products that are intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition affecting not more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union Community. Additionally, designation is granted for products intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a life threatening, seriously debilitating or serious and chronic condition and when, without incentives, it is unlikely that sales of the drug in the European Union would be sufficient to justify the necessary investment in developing the drug or biological product.

In the United States, orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages, and user-fee waivers. In addition, if a product receives the first FDA approval for the indication for which it has orphan designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusivity, which means the FDA may not approve any other application to market the same drug for the same indication for a period of seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority over the product with orphan exclusivity or where the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient product quantity. In the European Union, orphan drug designation also entitles a party to financial incentives such as reduction of fees or fee waivers and ten years of market exclusivity is granted following drug or biological product approval. This period may be reduced to six years if the orphan drug designation criteria are no longer met, including where it is shown that the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity.

Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs with different active moieties can be approved for the same condition. Even with orphan drug exclusivity, if a third party were to prepare or market a product which infringes upon our intellectual property, we may need to initiate litigation, which may be costly, to enforce our rights against such party. After an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same drug with the same active moiety for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later drug is safer, more effective, or makes a major contribution to patient care. Orphan drug designation on its own neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time for a drug.

While orphan drug products are typically sold at a high price relative to other medications, the market may not be receptive to high pricing of our products.

We develop our product candidates to treat rare and ultra-rare diseases, a space where medications are usually sold at high prices compared with other medications. Accordingly, even if regulatory authorities approve our product candidates, the market may not be receptive to, and it may be difficult for us to achieve, a per-patient per-year price high enough to allow us to realize a return on our investment.

The patent approval process is complex and we cannot be sure that our pending patent applications or future patent applications will be approved.

 

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. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our and any future licensors' patent rights are highly uncertain.  Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products 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. The laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States and we may not be able to obtain meaningful patent protection for any of our commercial products either in or outside the United States.

 

No assurance can be given that the scope of any patent protection granted will exclude competitors or provide us with competitive advantages, that any of the patents that have been or may be issued to us will be held valid if subsequently challenged, or that other parties will not claim rights to or ownership of our patents or other proprietary rights that we hold.  Furthermore, there can be no assurance that others have not developed or will not develop similar products, duplicate any of our technology or products or design around any patents that have been or may be issued to us or any future licensors.  Since patent applications in the United States and in Europe are not publicly disclosed until patents are issued, there can be no assurance that others did not first file applications for products covered by our pending patent applications, nor can we be certain that we will not infringe any patents that may be issued to others.

 

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 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. We have yet to conduct comprehensive freedom-to-operate searches to determine whether our proposed business activities or use of certain of the patent rights owned by us would infringe patents issued to third parties. 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 proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing patents or patents 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. 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. For example, we are aware of issued third party patents directed to placental stem cells and their use for therapy and in treating various diseases.  We may need to seek a license for one or more of these patents.  No assurances can be given that such a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.  Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

 

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management 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 adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors are able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

 

We must further protect and develop our technology and products in order to become a profitable company.

 

If we do not complete the development of our technology and products in development by the time our patents expire, create additional sufficient layers of patents or other intellectual property rights, other companies may use the technology to develop competing products.  If this happens, we may lose our competitive position and our business would likely suffer.

 

Furthermore, the scope of our patents may not be sufficiently broad to offer meaningful protection.  In addition, our patents could be successfully challenged, invalidated or circumvented so that our patent rights would not create an effective competitive barrier.  We also intend to seek patent protection for any of our potential cell therapy products once we have completed their development.

 

We also rely on trade secrets and unpatentable know-how that we seek to protect, in part, by confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, suppliers and licensees.  These agreements may be breached, and we might not have adequate remedies for any breach.  If this were to occur, our business and competitive position would suffer.

 

We may be exposed to liabilities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and any determination that we violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, or FCPA, and other laws that prohibit U.S. companies or their agents and employees from providing anything of value to a foreign official or political party for the purposes of influencing any act or decision of these individuals in their official capacity to help obtain or retain business, direct business to any person or corporate entity or obtain any unfair advantage. We have operations and agreements with third parties. Our international activities create the risk of unauthorized and illegal payments or offers of payments by our employees or consultants, even though they may not always be subject to our control. We discourage these practices by our employees and consultants. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and our employees or consultants, may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible for. Any failure by us to adopt appropriate compliance procedures and ensure that our employees and consultants comply with the FCPA and applicable laws and regulations in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial penalties or restrictions on our ability to conduct business in certain foreign jurisdictions.

Violations of the FCPA may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold our Company liable for successor liability FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire.