RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, prospects and stock price. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations.

Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history and no products approved for commercial sale, and we have incurred significant losses since our inception. We anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, which, together with our limited operating history, makes it difficult to assess our future viability.

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. Biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We have no products approved or cleared for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales and have incurred losses in each year since our inception in July 2010. We have only a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. In addition, we have limited experience and have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields, particularly in the biopharmaceutical industry. We continue to incur significant research and development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations. Our net loss for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016 was approximately $11.3 million and $21.2 million, respectively, and for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2017 was approximately $3.8 million and $10.1 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $45.5 million. We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, and we anticipate these losses will increase as we continue to develop our product candidates, conduct clinical trials and pursue research and development activities. Even if we achieve profitability in the future, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent periods. Our prior losses, combined with expected future losses, have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital.

We will require substantial additional financing to achieve our goals, and a failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development, other operations or commercialization efforts.

Since our inception, we have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in research and development activities and the acquisition of Creabilis plc. Nonclinical studies and clinical trials for our product candidates will require substantial funds to complete. As of March 31, 2017, we had capital resources consisting of cash of $6.8 million. We believe that we will continue to expend substantial resources for the foreseeable future in connection with the nonclinical and clinical development of our lead product candidates, SNA-120 and SNA-125, as well as our ongoing pivotal clinical trials for SNA-001, and the development of any other product candidates we may choose to pursue. These expenditures will include costs associated with conducting nonclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, and manufacturing and supply, as well as marketing and selling any products approved for sale. In addition, other unanticipated costs may arise. Because the outcome of any nonclinical study or clinical trial is highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of our lead product candidates and any future product candidates. In addition, we are obligated to make certain milestone payments to former Creabilis shareholders upon the achievement of predetermined milestones, as well as success

11

Table of Contents

payments to certain of our existing stockholders if the market price of our common stock meets or exceeds certain specified share price thresholds. These payments, to the extent triggered and payable in cash, will also have an effect on our liquidity and capital needs. To the extent these success payment obligations are satisfied in shares of our common stock, holders of our common stock would be diluted.

We believe that the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, will allow us to fund our operating plan for at least the next twelve months. However, our operating plans may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned, through public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, such as strategic collaborations. Such financing may result in dilution to stockholders, imposition of burdensome debt covenants and repayment obligations, or other restrictions that may affect our business. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including:

12

Table of Contents

Additional funds may not be available when we need them, on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis, we may be required to:

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below expectations.

Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including:

The cumulative effects of these factors could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. Investors should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance.

This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any forecasts we may provide to the market, or if the forecasts we provide to the

13

Table of Contents

market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated revenue or earnings guidance we may provide.

Our success payment obligations to certain of our existing stockholders may result in dilution to our other stockholders, may be a drain on our cash resources, or may cause us to incur debt obligations to satisfy the payment obligations.

In October 2015, we entered into a Success Payment Agreement with certain of our existing stockholders, pursuant to which we agreed to make success payments to such stockholders. These success payments are based on certain specified threshold per share values of our common stock measured at specific times during the success payment period, which began on the effective date of the Success Payment Agreement and ends on the fifth anniversary of the Success Payment Agreement, in October 2020. Success payments are payable in cash or, in our sole discretion, common stock, and will be owed, if ever, in the event that the value of our common stock meets or exceeds certain specified share price thresholds on any of the following dates during the success payment period: (1) any date after the 90th day after we complete this initial public offering; (2) the date on which we sell, lease, transfer or exclusively license all or substantially all of our assets to another company; and (3) the date on which we merge or consolidate with or into another entity (other than a merger in which our pre-merger stockholders own a majority of the shares of the surviving entity). In the case of an initial public offering, success payments are triggered when the per share value of our common stock, as determined based on the average trading price of a share of our common stock over the consecutive 90-day period preceding the date the success payment is triggered, meets or exceeds specified per share thresholds. In the case of an asset sale, license or sale of the company, success payments are triggered when the per share value of our common stock, as determined based on the consideration paid in the transaction for each share of our stock, meets or exceeds specified per share thresholds. Each per share threshold is associated with a success payment, ascending from $10.0 million at $53.71 per share to $35.0 million at $71.61 per share to $60.0 million at $107.42 per share, in each case giving effect to the 1-for-5.87 reverse stock split of our capital stock to be effected prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and subject to further adjustment for any stock dividend, stock split, combination of shares, or other similar events. These share price thresholds correspond to approximately $835.5 million, $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, in market capitalization, based on the number of our shares outstanding as of June 30, 2017. Any previous success payments made to stockholders pursuant to the Success Payment Agreement are credited against the success payment owed as of any future valuation date. The first payout is $10.0 million, the second payout is $35.0 million (inclusive of the first $10.0 million success payment, if previously paid) and the third payout is $60.0 million (inclusive of any previous success payments, if made). The success payments paid to such stockholders will not exceed, in aggregate, $60.0 million.

This offering will trigger the potential for success payments to the stockholders party to the Success Payment Agreement. However, during the first year following this offering we will not be required to make any success payments triggered by the per share market value of our common stock until the first anniversary of the closing of this offering (or a 90-day grace period following such anniversary, at our option if we are contemplating a capital market transaction during such grace period). In order to satisfy our obligations to make these success payments, if and when they are triggered, we may issue equity securities that may cause dilution to our stockholders, or we may use our existing cash or incur debt obligations to satisfy the success payment obligation in cash, which may adversely affect our financial position. In addition, these success payments may impede our ability to raise money in future public offerings of debt or equity securities or to obtain a third party line of credit.

14

Table of Contents

The success payment obligations to certain of our existing stockholders may cause GAAP operating results to fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter, which may reduce the usefulness of our GAAP financial statements.

Our success payment obligations to certain of our stockholders are recorded as a liability on our balance sheet. Under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP, we are required to remeasure the fair value this liability as of each quarter end. Factors that may lead to increases or decreases in the estimated fair value of this liability include, among others, changes in the value of our common stock, changes in the volatility of our common stock, changes in the applicable term of the success payments and changes in the risk free interest rate. As a result, our operating results and financial condition as reported by GAAP may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and from year to year and may reduce the usefulness of our GAAP financial statements. As of December 31, 2016 and March 31, 2017, the estimated fair value of the liability associated with the success payments was $1.3 million and $2.3 million, respectively.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our business is dependent on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our product candidates.

Our portfolio includes our lead product candidates: SNA-120, a topical tropomyosin receptor kinase A, or TrkA, inhibitor in clinical development for the treatment of pruritus associated with psoriasis as well as the underlying psoriasis; SNA-125, a topical Janus kinase 3 (JAK3)/TrkA inhibitor in nonclinical trials for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and pruritus; and SNA-001, a topical suspension of silver particles in pivotal trials for the treatment of acne and for the reduction of light-pigmented hair. The success of our business, including our ability to finance our company and generate any revenue in the future, will primarily depend on the successful development, regulatory approval or clearance and commercialization of our product candidates. In the future, we may also become dependent on other product candidates that we may develop or acquire. The clinical and commercial success of our product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including the following:

15

Table of Contents

These factors, many of which are beyond our control, could cause us to experience significant delays or an inability to obtain regulatory approvals or clearances or commercialize our product candidates. Even if regulatory approvals or clearances are obtained, we may never be able to successfully commercialize any of our product candidates. Accordingly, we cannot provide assurances that we will be able to generate sufficient revenue through the sale of our product candidates or any future product candidates to continue our business.

We may be unable to obtain regulatory approval or clearance for our product candidates under applicable regulatory requirements. The denial or delay of any such approval or clearance would delay commercialization of our product candidates and adversely impact our potential to generate revenue, our business and our results of operations.

To gain approval to market our product candidates, we must provide the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities with clinical data that adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product for the intended indication applied for in the applicable regulatory filing. Product development is long, expensive and uncertain processes, and delay or failure can occur at any stage of any of our clinical development programs. A number of companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials, even after promising results in earlier nonclinical or clinical studies. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, nonclinical findings made while clinical studies were underway and safety or efficacy observations made in clinical studies, including previously unreported adverse events. Success in nonclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and the results of clinical trials by other parties may not be indicative of the results in trials we may conduct.

While our product candidates SNA-120 and SNA-125 will be regulated as drug products under a new drug application, or NDA, pathway, SNA-001 will be regulated as a medical device. In the United States, before we can market SNA-001, or a new use of, new claim for or significant modification to SNA-001, we must first receive clearance under Section 510(k) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, from the FDA, unless an exemption applies. In the 510(k) clearance process, before a device may be marketed, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a legally-marketed “predicate” device, which includes a device that has been previously cleared through the 510(k) process or a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976 (pre-amendments device). To be “substantially equivalent,” the proposed device

16

Table of Contents

must have the same intended use as the predicate device, and either have the same technological characteristics as the predicate device or have different technological characteristics and not raise different questions of safety or effectiveness than the predicate device. Clinical data are sometimes required to support substantial equivalence.

Our product candidates SNA-120 and SNA-001 are currently in clinical development and our product candidate SNA-125 is currently in preclinical development. We currently have no products approved or cleared for sale, and we may never obtain regulatory approval or clearance to commercialize our lead product candidates. The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, clearance, sale, marketing and distribution of drug and medical device products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and other countries, and such regulations differ from country to country. We are not permitted to market our product candidates in the United States or in any foreign countries until they receive the requisite approval or clearance from the applicable regulatory authorities of such jurisdictions.

The FDA or any foreign regulatory bodies can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidates for many reasons, including:

Of the large number of biopharmaceutical and medical device products in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or other regulatory approval or clearance processes and are commercialized.

Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval or clearance from the FDA or applicable foreign agencies for any of our product candidates, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency may grant approval or clearance contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials which may be required after approval. The FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency also may approve or clear our lead product candidates for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA, or applicable foreign regulatory agency, may not approve or clear our product candidates with the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of such product candidates. For example, SNA-120, if approved, may only receive a label covering pruritus, a symptom of psoriasis, but may not receive labeling covering the treatment of psoriasis.

Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval or clearance would delay or prevent commercialization of our product candidates and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.

17

Table of Contents

Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure or delay can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. Success in nonclinical studies and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful. A number of companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials, even after positive results in earlier nonclinical studies or clinical trials. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, nonclinical findings made while clinical trials were underway and safety or efficacy observations made in clinical trials, including previously unreported adverse events. The results of nonclinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through nonclinical studies and initial clinical trials. Notwithstanding any potential promising results in earlier studies and trials, we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. Even if our clinical trials are completed, the results may not be sufficient to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates.

Although two of our lead product candidates, SNA-120 and SNA-001, are in clinical development, we may experience delays in completing ongoing studies or trials and initiating planned studies or trials, and we cannot be certain that studies or trials for our product candidates will begin on time, not require redesign, enroll an adequate number of subjects on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed or terminated for a variety of reasons, including delays or failures related to:

We may experience numerous adverse or unforeseen events during, or as a result of, nonclinical studies and clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates, including:

18

Table of Contents

For example, the FDA has recommended that, for the future Phase 3 pivotal trials of SNA-120 for the treatment of pruritus associated with psoriasis, we utilize the 11-point itch Numeric Rating Scale, or I-NRS, as the primary endpoint for assessing efficacy, rather than the pruritus visual analog scale, or VAS, used in the completed Phase 2b trial of SNA-120, despite the similarity between the two scales. The I-NRS scale requires patients to select a number between zero (no itch) to ten (the worst possible itch), but unlike a VAS, which uses a continuous scale, patients must select a specific whole number and not mark a point on the usual scale. It is possible that using the I-NRS scale could produce results that differ from results we saw in the prior Phase 2b trial in which the VAS scale was used.

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

We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by the Data Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may suspend or terminate a clinical trial due

19

Table of Contents

to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

Further, conducting clinical trials in foreign countries, as we may do for certain of our product candidates, presents additional risks that may delay completion of our clinical trials. These risks include the failure of enrolled patients in foreign countries to adhere to clinical protocol as a result of differences in healthcare services or cultural customs, managing additional administrative burdens associated with foreign regulatory schemes, as well as political and economic risks relevant to such foreign countries.

Principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and may receive cash or equity compensation in connection with such services. If these relationships and any related compensation result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, or a regulatory authority concludes that the financial relationship may have affected the interpretation of the trial, the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site may be questioned and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized, which could result in the delay or rejection of the marketing application we submit. Any such delay or rejection could prevent or delay us from commercializing our current or future product candidates.

If we experience delays in the completion, or termination, of any nonclinical study or clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates may be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed or not realized at all.

In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials may increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval or clearance process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval or clearance of our product candidates.

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

The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the study until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. The enrollment of patients depends on many factors, including:

In addition, our clinical trials may compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our product candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of

20

Table of Contents

patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Since the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we may conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials in such clinical trial site.

Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.

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

Undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Results of our clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics.

If unacceptable side effects arise in the development of our product candidates, we, the FDA, the IRBs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted, or the DSMB could suspend or terminate our clinical trials or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials or deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff. We expect to have to train medical personnel using our product candidates to understand the side effect profiles for our clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any of our product candidates. Inadequate training in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our product candidates could result in patient injury or death. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.

If any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

Any of the foregoing events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular product candidate, if approved or cleared, and result in the loss of significant revenues to us, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and business.

21

Table of Contents

As a company, we have never completed a Phase 3 program or obtained marketing approval for any product candidate and we may be unable to successfully do so for any of our product candidates. Failure to successfully complete any of these activities in a timely manner for any of our product candidates could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial performance.

Conducting a pivotal clinical trial and preparing, and obtaining marketing approval for, a product candidate is a complicated process. Although members of our management team have participated in pivotal trials and obtained marketing approvals for product candidates in the past while employed at other companies, we as a company have not done so. As a result, such activities may require more time and cost more than we anticipate. We are currently conducting pivotal clinical trials for SNA-001 and we anticipate commencing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials for SNA-120 after the completion of our additional Phase 2b clinical trial. Failure to successfully complete, or delays in, our pivotal trials or related regulatory submissions would prevent us from or delay us in obtaining regulatory approval for, or clearance of, our product candidates. In addition, it is possible that the FDA may refuse to accept for substantive review any NDAs or medical device marketing applications that we submit for our product candidates or may conclude after review of our applications that they are insufficient to obtain marketing approval or clearance of our product candidates. If the FDA does not accept our applications or issue marketing authorizations for our product candidates, it may require that we conduct additional clinical, nonclinical or manufacturing validation studies and submit that data before it will reconsider our applications. Depending on the extent of these or any other FDA-required studies, approval of any NDA or receipt of other marketing authorizations for any other applications that we submit may be delayed by several years, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be considered sufficient by the FDA to approve our NDAs or clear our 510(k) submissions or grant other marketing authorizations.

Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, marketing approvals would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates, generating revenues and achieving and sustaining profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for our product candidates, which could significantly harm our business.

Even if our lead product candidates or any future product candidates obtain regulatory approval or clearance, they may fail to achieve the broad degree of physician and patient adoption and use necessary for commercial success.

Even if we obtain FDA or other regulatory approvals or clearances, the commercial success of any of our current or future product candidates will depend significantly on the broad adoption and use of the resulting product by physicians and patients for approved indications. Our product candidates may not be commercially successful. For a variety of reasons, including among other things, competitive factors, pricing or physician preference, the degree and rate of physician and patient adoption of our current or future product candidates, if approved or cleared, will depend on a number of factors, including:

22

Table of Contents

We cannot assure you that our current or future product candidates, if approved, will achieve broad market acceptance among physicians and patients. Any failure by our product candidates that obtain regulatory approval or clearance to achieve market acceptance or commercial success would adversely affect our results of operations.

SNA-125, if approved for the treatment of pruritus or the underlying psoriasis, may compete with SNA-120, if approved for the treatment of pruritus or the underlying psoriasis, which could reduce the commercial success of SNA-120, if both are approved.

SNA-120 and SNA-125 are both designed to inhibit TrKA. We believe that SNA-125, by inhibiting both JAK3 and TrkA, has the potential to offer enhanced efficacy over SNA-120 in the treatment of pruritus and the underlying psoriasis, which could make SNA-125 a more compelling treatment for pruritus or the underlying psoriasis. To the extent both SNA-120 and SNA-125 are approved for pruritus or the underlying psoriasis, physicians and patients may prefer to use SNA-125 instead of SNA-120, and the revenue we would derive from SNA-120 could be reduced. If SNA-120 and SNA-125 compete for treatment of the same indications, the incremental revenue derived from SNA-125 may be less than if SNA-125 and SNA-120 did not treat the same indications.

We currently rely on single source third-party suppliers to manufacture nonclinical and clinical supplies of our product candidates and we intend to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of any approved or cleared product candidate. The loss of these suppliers, or their failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements or to provide us with sufficient quantities at acceptable quality levels or prices, or at all, would materially and adversely affect our business.

We do not currently have nor do we plan to build or acquire the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture supplies of our product candidates or the materials necessary to produce our product candidates for

23

Table of Contents

use in the conduct of our nonclinical studies or clinical trials, and we lack the internal resources and the capability to manufacture any of our product candidates on a nonclinical, clinical or commercial scale. The facilities used by our contract manufacturers to manufacture our product candidates are subject to various regulatory requirements and may be subject to the inspection of the FDA or other regulatory authorities. We do not control the manufacturing process of, and are completely dependent on, our contract manufacturing partners for compliance with the regulatory requirements, known as cGMPs (or the Quality System Regulation, or QSR, in the case of our device product candidates). If our contract manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA or comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions, we may not be able to rely on their manufacturing facilities for the manufacture or our product candidates. In addition, we have limited control over the ability of our contract manufacturers to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. If the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority finds these facilities inadequate for the manufacture of our product candidates or if such facilities are subject to enforcement action in the future or are otherwise inadequate, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market our product candidates.

We currently rely on third parties at key stages in our supply chain. There are a limited number of suppliers for materials we use in our product candidates and there may be a need to assess alternate suppliers to prevent a possible disruption of the manufacture of the materials necessary to produce our product candidates for our nonclinical studies and clinical trials, and if approved, ultimately for commercial sale. In the case of SNA-001, we have an agreement with nanoComposix to supply the silver nanoplates used to manufacture SNA-001 for nonclinical studies and clinical trials on an exclusive basis, subject to certain exceptions in the event of certain specified supply failures. In the case of SNA-120 and SNA-125, we currently obtain our supplies of drug substance and drug product through individual purchase orders. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition or manufacture of materials by our manufacturers. We generally do not begin a nonclinical study or clinical trial unless we believe we have access to a sufficient supply of a product candidate to complete such study or trial. Prior to submitting an NDA for SNA-120, we must complete nonclinical toxicity studies. We have not yet determined whether our existing manufacturers will be able to supply sufficient drug substance or drug product to conduct these studies, and if they are unable to do so, this would likely result in a delay of our NDA submission and approval of SNA-120. In addition, any significant delay in, or quality control problems with respect to, the supply of a product candidate, or the raw material components thereof, for an ongoing study or trial could considerably delay completion of our nonclinical studies or clinical trials, product testing and potential regulatory approval of our product candidates.

We expect to continue to depend on third-party contract manufacturers for the foreseeable future, but, except with respect to nanoComposix for the clinical supply of the silver nanoplates used to manufacture SNA-001, we have not entered into supply agreements with our current contract manufacturers or with any alternate suppliers and we currently do not have any supply agreements for the commercial production of the materials used to manufacture our product candidates.

We currently use only a single manufacturer for each component of the manufacturing process for each of our lead product candidates, and we have not yet engaged any manufacturers for the commercial supply of our product candidates. Although we intend to enter into such agreements prior to commercial launch of any of our product candidates, we may be unable to enter into any such agreement or do so on commercially reasonable terms, which could have a material adverse impact upon our business. Moreover, if there is a disruption to one or more of our third-party manufacturers’ or suppliers’ relevant operations, or if we are unable to enter into arrangements for the commercial supply of our product candidates, we will have no other means of producing our lead product candidates until they restore the affected facilities or we or they procure alternative manufacturing facilities or sources of supply. Our ability to progress our nonclinical and clinical programs could be materially and adversely impacted if any of the third party suppliers upon which we rely were to experience a significant business challenge, disruption or failure due to issues such as financial difficulties or bankruptcy, issues relating to other customers such as regulatory or quality compliance issues, or other financial, legal,

24

Table of Contents

regulatory or reputational issues. Additionally, any damage to or destruction of our third-party manufacturers’ or suppliers’ facilities or equipment may significantly impair our ability to manufacture our product candidates on a timely basis.

In addition, to manufacture our lead product candidates in the quantities that we believe would be required to meet anticipated market demand, our third-party manufacturers may need to increase manufacturing capacity and, in some cases, we plan to secure alternative sources of commercial supply, which could involve significant challenges and may require additional regulatory approvals. In addition, the development of commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities may require us and our third-party manufacturers to invest substantial additional funds and hire and retain the technical personnel who have the necessary manufacturing experience. Neither we nor our third-party manufacturers may successfully complete any required increase to existing manufacturing capacity in a timely manner, or at all. If our manufacturers or we are unable to purchase the raw materials necessary for the manufacture of our product candidates on acceptable terms, at sufficient quality levels, or in adequate quantities, if at all, the commercial launch of our lead product candidates or any future product candidates would be delayed or there would be a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues from the sale of such product candidates, if approved or cleared.

We rely on third parties in the conduct of all of our nonclinical studies and clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates.

We currently do not have the ability to independently conduct nonclinical studies that comply with the regulatory requirements known as good laboratory practice, or GLP, requirements. We also do not currently have the ability to independently conduct any clinical trials. The FDA and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions require us to comply with regulations and standards, commonly referred to as good clinical practice, or GCP, requirements for conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials, in order to ensure that the data and results are scientifically credible and accurate and that the trial subjects are adequately informed of the potential risks of participating in clinical trials. We rely on medical institutions, clinical investigators, contract laboratories and other third parties, such as CROs, to conduct GLP-compliant nonclinical studies and GCP-compliant clinical trials on our product candidates properly and on time. While we have agreements governing their activities, we control only certain aspects of their activities and have limited influence over their actual performance. The third parties with whom we contract for execution of our GLP-compliant nonclinical studies and our GCP-compliant clinical trials play a significant role in the conduct of these studies and trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. These third parties are not our employees and, except for restrictions imposed by our contracts with such third parties, we have limited ability to control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs. Although we rely on these third parties to conduct our GLP-compliant nonclinical studies and GCP-compliant clinical trials, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our GLP nonclinical studies and clinical trials is conducted in accordance with its investigational plan and protocol and applicable laws and regulations, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

Many of the third parties with whom we contract 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 that could harm our competitive position. If the third parties conducting our nonclinical studies or our clinical trials do not perform their contractual duties or obligations, experience significant business challenges, disruptions or failures, do not meet expected deadlines, terminate their agreements with us or need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the data they obtain is compromised due to their failure to adhere to our protocols or to GCPs, or for any other reason, we may need to enter into new arrangements with alternative third parties. This could be difficult, costly or impossible, and our nonclinical studies or clinical trials may need to be extended, delayed, terminated or repeated. As a result we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval in a timely fashion, or at all, for the applicable product candidate, our financial results and the commercial prospects for our product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

25

Table of Contents

Our product candidates, if approved, will face significant competition and our failure to effectively compete may prevent us from achieving significant market penetration. Most of our competitors have significantly greater resources than we do and we may not be able to successfully compete.

The biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries in particular are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on developing proprietary therapeutics. Numerous companies are engaged in the development, patenting, manufacturing and marketing of healthcare products competitive with those that we are developing. We face competition from a number of sources, such as pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, generic drug companies, biotechnology companies and academic and research institutions, many of which have greater financial resources, marketing capabilities, sales forces, manufacturing capabilities, research and development capabilities, clinical trial expertise, intellectual property portfolios, experience in obtaining patents and regulatory approvals for product candidates and other resources than we do. Some of the companies that offer competing products also have a broad range of other product offerings, large direct sales forces and long-term customer relationships with our target physicians, which could inhibit our market penetration efforts. In addition, certain of our product candidates, if approved, may compete with other dermatological products, including over-the-counter, or OTC, treatments, for a share of some patients’ discretionary budgets and for physicians’ attention within their clinical practices.

If approved for the treatment of pruritus, or the underlying psoriasis, SNA-120 and SNA-125 will face competition from a number of approved treatments for psoriasis, including branded topical drugs and generic versions where available. In many cases, these products have been developed, and are being marketed, by well-established companies such as Maruho, Valeant, Incyte, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. We believe that SNA-125, if approved for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, will also face potential competition from well-established companies that market, or are expected to market, branded and generic corticosteroids or topical calcineurin inhibitors.

If approved for the treatment of acne vulgaris, SNA-001 will face competition from a number of branded and generic oral and topical antimicrobials, oral and topical retinoids and oral contraceptives, including branded therapeutics, as well as potential competition from a similar procedure using gold particles that is currently in development by a third party. We believe SNA-001 would also face competition from a number of currently available procedural solutions for the treatment of acne, including chemical peels, laser or light-based treatments, and photodynamic therapy. If approved for light-pigmented hair removal or reduction, we also anticipate that SNA-001 would compete with hair reduction procedures using laser or intense pulsed light, which are available in dermatologist offices, medical spas and laser treatment centers, as well as against products designed for at-home use by the patient.

Certain alternative treatments offered by competitors may be available at lower prices and may offer greater efficacy or better safety profiles. Additional products and treatments, including numerous injectable biological products which have been approved or are currently in clinical trials, may also receive regulatory approval in one or more territories in which we compete, and these existing and new products may be more effective, more widely used and less costly than ours. Newly developed systemic or non-systemic treatments that replace existing therapies that are currently only utilized in patients suffering from severe disease may also have lessened side effects or reduced prices compared to current therapies, which make them more attractive for patients suffering from mild to moderate disease. Even if a generic product or an OTC product is less effective than our product candidates, a less effective generic or OTC product may be more quickly adopted by physicians and patients than our competing product candidates based upon cost or convenience.

For additional information regarding our competition, see the section of this prospectus captioned “Business—Competition.”

26

Table of Contents

If coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors are not available, it may make it difficult for us to sell certain of our products profitably.

Our ability to successfully commercialize our SNA-120 and SNA-125 product candidates and potentially some or all of our future product candidates that we may develop will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors establish adequate coverage and reimbursement for such product candidates. Patients who are prescribed treatments for their conditions and providers furnishing such services generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the associated healthcare costs. Patients are unlikely to use our products unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of our products and the procedures using our products.

Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of newly approved products. A trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and other third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medical products. Third-party payors also are increasingly challenging the effectiveness of and prices charged for medical products and services. Therefore, as a result of these cost containment measures, coverage and reimbursement may not be available for any product that we commercialize and, even if these are available, the level of reimbursement may not be sufficient enough to successfully commercialize any product candidates that we develop.

In the United States, private third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies. However, no uniform policy requirement for coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors and coverage and reimbursement can differ significantly from payor to payor. Each plan determines whether or not it will provide coverage, what amount it will pay, and with respect to pharmaceutical products, on what tier of its formulary such product will be placed. The position of a prescription drug on a formulary generally determines the co-payment that a patient will need to make to obtain the product and can strongly influence the adoption of a product by patients and physicians. Each plan may separately require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products and, as a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained at all. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement from both government-funded and private payors for any approved products that we develop could significantly harm our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize our product candidates and our overall financial condition.

We currently have no sales organization. If we are unable to establish sales capabilities on our own or through third parties, we may not be able to market and sell our product candidates effectively in the United States and foreign jurisdictions, if approved, or generate product revenue.

We currently do not have a sales organization. In order to commercialize our product candidates in the United States and foreign jurisdictions, we must build our marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services, and we may not be successful in doing so. If any of our product candidates receive regulatory approval, we expect to establish a sales organization with technical expertise and supporting distribution capabilities to commercialize each such product candidate, which will be expensive and time consuming. We have no prior experience in the marketing, sale and distribution of pharmaceutical products or medical devices and there are significant risks involved in building and managing a sales organization, including our ability to hire, retain, and 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. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities would adversely impact the commercialization of these products. We may choose to collaborate with third parties that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems, either to augment our own sales force and distribution systems or in lieu of our own sales force and distribution systems. If we are unable to enter into such arrangements on acceptable terms or at all, we

27

Table of Contents

may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. If we are not successful in commercializing our product candidates or any future product candidates, either on our own or through arrangements with one or more third parties, we may not be able to generate any future product revenue and we would incur significant additional losses.

We will need to increase the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing growth.

As of June 30, 2017, we had 43 full-time employees. We will need to continue to expand our managerial, operational, finance and other resources in order to manage our operations and clinical trials, continue our development activities and commercialize our lead product candidates or any future product candidates. Our management and personnel, systems and facilities currently in place may not be adequate to support this future growth. Our need to effectively execute our growth strategy requires that we:

If we fail to attract and retain senior management and key scientific personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop our lead product candidates or any future product candidates, conduct our clinical trials and commercialize our current or any future product candidates.

Our success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified management, clinical and scientific personnel. We are highly dependent upon our senior management, particularly our President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as our senior scientists and other members of our senior management team. The loss of services of any of these individuals could delay or prevent the successful development of our product pipeline, initiation or completion of our planned clinical trials or the commercialization of our lead product candidates or any future product candidates. Although we have entered into employment agreements with our senior management team, these agreements do not provide for a fixed term of service.

Competition for qualified personnel in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals field is intense due to the limited number of individuals who possess the skills and experience required by our industry. We will need to hire additional personnel as we expand our clinical development and if we initiate commercial activities. We may not be able to attract and retain quality personnel on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or that they have divulged proprietary or other confidential information, or that their former employers own their research output.

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

We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of our product candidates and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize any products. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, and a breach of warranty. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. In addition, we may be required to defend ourselves in the event an injury occurs from the negligent use of a laser in a procedure using SNA-001 or

28

Table of Contents

a laser malfunction causing injury during an aesthetic procedure. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

Our inability to obtain and maintain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost and scope of coverage to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of our current or any future product candidates we develop. We currently carry product liability insurance covering our clinical trials in the amount of $10 million in the aggregate. Although we maintain such insurance, any claim that may be brought against us could result in a court judgment or settlement in an amount that is not covered, in whole or in part, by our insurance or that is in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage. Our insurance policies also have various exclusions and deductibles, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We will have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to pay such amounts. Moreover, in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses. If and when we obtain approval for marketing any of our product candidates, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of such product candidate; however, we may be unable to obtain this liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

If we are not successful in discovering, developing, acquiring and commercializing additional product candidates, our ability to expand our business and achieve our strategic objectives would be impaired.

Although a substantial amount of our effort will focus on the continued nonclinical and clinical testing and potential approval or clearance of our lead product candidates, a key element of our strategy is to discover, develop and commercialize a diverse portfolio of product candidates to serve the dermatology market. We are seeking to do so through our internal research programs and may explore strategic collaborations for the development or acquisition of new products. Research programs to identify product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources, whether or not any product candidates are ultimately identified. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development for many reasons, including the following:

29

Table of Contents

If we fail to develop and successfully commercialize other product candidates, our business and future prospects may be harmed and our business will be more vulnerable to any problems that we encounter in developing and commercializing our lead product candidates.

We have in the past engaged and may in the future engage in strategic transactions that could affect our liquidity, dilute our existing stockholders, increase our expenses and present significant challenges in focus and energy to our management or prove not to be successful.

From time to time, we may consider strategic transactions, such as acquisitions of companies, asset purchases and out-licensing or in-licensing of intellectual property, products or technologies. In December 2016, we acquired the entire issued share capital of Creabilis plc, which became our direct wholly-owned subsidiary. Pursuant to the share purchase agreement for the Creabilis acquisition, we made an upfront payment of approximately $212,000 in cash, issued 1,407,679 shares of our Series A-3 Preferred Stock to the former Creabilis shareholders and settled approximately $6.7 million of Creabilis liabilities. Upon the achievement of certain specified clinical, regulatory and approval milestones for SNA-120 and SNA-125, we are obligated to pay the former Creabilis shareholders up to an aggregate of $58.0 million, which consists of an aggregate of $25.0 million in cash and $33.0 million in shares of our common stock. In addition, upon the achievement of certain annual net sales milestone thresholds for qualifying products, including SNA-120 and SNA-125, we are required to pay the former Creabilis shareholders up to an aggregate of $80.0 million in cash as well as one-time royalties of less than 1% on net sales of qualified products that exceed these net sales thresholds in the year such threshold is achieved. Our first contingent payment of $5.0 million, subject to certain offsets, which is payable in shares of our common stock, will become due upon the sooner to occur of the commencement of our additional Phase 2b trial for SNA-120 and the one-year anniversary of the closing of the transaction December 2017, subject to certain limited exceptions. See “Business—Significant Transaction—Acquisition of Creabilis plc.”

Additional potential transactions that we may consider in the future include a variety of business arrangements, including spin-offs, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, restructurings, divestitures, business combinations and investments. The Creabilis acquisition and any future transactions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of our equity securities, including our common stock, or the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses or acquired in-process research and development expenses, any of which could affect our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. Future acquisitions may also require us to obtain additional financing, which may not be available on favorable terms or at all. These transaction may never be successful and may require significant time and attention of management. In addition, the integration of any business that we may acquire in the future may disrupt our existing business and may be a complex, risky and costly endeavor for which we may never realize the full benefits of the acquisition.

If we do not successfully integrate Creabilis into our business operations, our business could be adversely affected.

The process of integrating an acquired business, technology, service, intellectual property, products or product candidates into our business may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, including diversion of resources and management’s attention from our core business. Our ability as an organization to integrate acquisitions, including Creabilis’ business, is relatively unproven. As a result of our acquisition of Creabilis in December 2016, we have undergone substantial changes in a short period of time and our business

30

Table of Contents

has changed and broadened in size and the scope of products we are developing. In addition, our business immediately shifted from being fully domestic to including international employees, entities, operations and facilities. Integrating the operations of a new business with that of our own is a complex, costly and time-consuming process, which requires significant management attention and resources to integrate the business practice and operations. The integration process may disrupt the businesses and, if implemented ineffectively, would preclude realization of the full benefits expected by us. Our failure to meet the challenges involved in integrating the Creabilis business in order to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions could cause an interruption of, or a loss of momentum in, our activities and could adversely affect our results of operations. Prior to the acquisition, Creabilis operated independently, with its own business, corporate culture, locations, employees and systems. There may be substantial difficulties, costs and delays involved in any integration of other businesses, including Creabilis, with that of our own. These may include:

These risks may be heightened in the case of Creabilis because the majority of the business’ operations and employees are located in Europe. Any one or all of these factors may increase operating costs or lower anticipated financial performance. Many of these factors are also outside of our control. In addition, dispositions of certain key products, technologies and other rights may affect our business operations.

In addition, even if the operations of Creabilis are integrated successfully, we may not realize the full benefits of the acquisition, including the cost savings or sales or growth opportunities that we expect. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frames, or at all. Additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration of the business. All of these factors could cause a reduction to our earnings, decrease or delay the expected accretive effect of the transaction, and negatively impact the price of our common stock.

The failure to successfully integrate the business operations of Creabilis and any other business we may acquire would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The international aspects of our business expose us to a variety of business, regulatory, political, operational, financial and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States, which could materially adversely affect our business.

We currently have limited international operations in Italy, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. Doing business internationally, including any future efforts by us or a collaborator to commercialize our product

31

Table of Contents

candidates outside the United States, involves a number of risks related to these international markets or business relationships, including but not limited to:

Any collaboration arrangements that we may enter into in the future may not be successful, which could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

We may seek collaboration arrangements for the commercialization, or potentially for the development, of certain of our product candidates depending on the merits of retaining commercialization rights for ourselves as compared to entering into collaboration arrangements. We will face, to the extent that we decide to enter into collaboration agreements, significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Moreover, collaboration arrangements are complex and time-consuming to negotiate, document, implement and maintain. We may not be successful in our efforts to establish and implement collaborations or other alternative arrangements should we so chose to enter into such arrangements. The terms of any collaborations or other arrangements that we may establish may not be favorable to us.

32

Table of Contents

Any future collaborations that we enter into may not be successful. The success of our collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Collaborations are subject to numerous risks, which may include risks that:

We will incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives. We may fail to comply with the rules that apply to public companies, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which could result in sanctions or other penalties that would harm our business.

We will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses as a public company, including costs resulting from public company reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and regulations regarding corporate governance practices. The listing requirements of The NASDAQ Global Market and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, require that we satisfy certain corporate

33

Table of Contents

governance requirements relating to director independence, filing annual and interim reports, stockholder meetings, approvals and voting, soliciting proxies, conflicts of interest and a code of conduct. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these requirements. Moreover, the reporting requirements, rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. Any changes we make to comply with these obligations may not be sufficient to allow us to satisfy our obligations as a public company on a timely basis, or at all. These reporting requirements, rules and regulations, coupled with the increase in potential litigation exposure associated with being a public company, could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or board committees or to serve as executive officers, or to obtain certain types of insurance, including directors’ and officers’ insurance, on acceptable terms.

After this offering, we will be subject to Section 404 of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, and the related rules of the SEC, which generally require our management and independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Beginning with the second annual report that we will be required to file with the SEC, Section 404 requires an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. However, for so long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404. Once we are no longer an emerging growth company or, if prior to such date, we opt to no longer take advantage of the applicable exemption, we will be required to include an opinion from our independent registered public accounting firm on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

To date, we have never conducted a review of our internal control for the purpose of providing the reports required by these rules. During the course of our review and testing, we may identify deficiencies and be unable to remediate them before we must provide the required reports. Furthermore, if we have a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated. We or our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, which could harm our operating results, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and cause the trading price of our stock to fall. In addition, as a public company we will be required to file accurate and timely quarterly and annual reports with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In order to report our results of operations and financial statements on an accurate and timely basis, we will depend on CROs to provide timely and accurate notice of their costs to us. Any failure to report our financial results on an accurate and timely basis could result in sanctions, lawsuits, delisting of our shares from The NASDAQ Global Market or other adverse consequences that would materially harm to our business.

Unfavorable global economic or political conditions could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy and in the global financial markets. Furthermore, the market for aesthetic medical procedures may be particularly vulnerable to unfavorable economic conditions. In particular, we do not currently plan to pursue coverage and reimbursement for procedures using SNA-001, if cleared, for acne or other clinical indications and, as a result, demand for this product will be tied to discretionary spending levels of our targeted patient population. A global

34

Table of Contents

financial crisis or a global or regional political disruption could cause extreme volatility in the capital and credit markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn or political disruption could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for our lead product candidates or any future product candidates, if approved, and our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy or political disruption could also strain our manufacturers or suppliers, possibly resulting in supply disruption, or cause our customers to delay making payments for our services. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the political or economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.

We or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely affected by earthquakes or other natural disasters and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.

Our corporate headquarters and other facilities are located in the Northern Los Angeles Area, which in the past has experienced both severe earthquakes and wildfires. We do not carry earthquake insurance. Earthquakes, wildfires or other natural disasters could severely disrupt our operations, and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters, that damaged critical infrastructure, such as our enterprise financial systems or manufacturing resource planning and enterprise quality systems, or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible, for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place currently are limited and are unlikely to prove adequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which, particularly when taken together with our lack of earthquake insurance, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Furthermore, integral parties in our supply chain are similarly vulnerable to natural disasters or other sudden, unforeseen and severe adverse events. If such an event were to affect our supply chain, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Significant disruptions of information technology systems or breaches of data security could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We collect and maintain information in digital form that is necessary to conduct our business, and we are increasingly dependent on information technology systems and infrastructure to operate our business. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store and transmit large amounts of confidential information, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information. It is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. We have established physical, electronic, and organizational measures to safeguard and secure our systems to prevent a data compromise, and rely on commercially available systems, software, tools, and monitoring to provide security for our information technology systems and the processing, transmission and storage of digital information. We have also outsourced elements of our information technology infrastructure, and as a result a number of third-party vendors may or could have access to our confidential information. Our internal information technology systems and infrastructure, and those of our current and any future collaborators, contractors and consultants and other third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, malware, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the Internet, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization.

The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity

35

Table of Contents

and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. In addition, the prevalent use of mobile devices that access confidential information increases the risk of data security breaches, which could lead to the loss of confidential information or other intellectual property. The costs to us to mitigate network security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and while we have implemented security measures to protect our data security and information technology systems, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful, and these problems could result in unexpected interruptions, delays, cessation of service and other harm to our business and our competitive position. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our product development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Moreover, if a computer security breach affects our systems or results in the unauthorized release of personally identifiable information, our reputation could be materially damaged. In addition, such a breach may require notification to governmental agencies, the media or individuals pursuant to various federal and state privacy and security laws, if applicable, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Clinical Health Act of 2009, and its implementing rules and regulations, as well as regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission and state breach notification laws. We would also be exposed to a risk of loss or litigation and potential liability, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, consultants, commercial collaborators, service providers and other vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, consultants, any future commercial collaborators, service providers and other vendors may engage in misconduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or other unauthorized activities that violate the laws and regulations of the FDA and other similar regulatory bodies, including those laws that require the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to such regulatory bodies; manufacturing standards; U.S. federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse, data privacy laws and other similar non-U.S. laws; or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, the creation of fraudulent data in our nonclinical studies or clinical trials, or illegal misappropriation of product, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third-parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. In addition, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and financial results, including, without limitation, the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgements, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other U.S. healthcare programs, individual imprisonment, other sanctions, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

Our business involves the use of hazardous materials and we and our third-party manufacturers and suppliers must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive and restrict how we do business.

Our research and development activities and our third-party manufacturers’ and suppliers’ activities involve the controlled storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials owned by us, including the components of our

36

Table of Contents

product and product candidates and other hazardous compounds. We and our manufacturers and suppliers are subject to laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. In some cases, these hazardous materials and various wastes resulting from their use are stored at our and our manufacturers’ facilities pending their use and disposal. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination, which could cause an interruption of our commercialization efforts, research and development efforts and business operations, environmental damage resulting in costly clean-up and liabilities under applicable laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. Although we believe that the safety procedures utilized by our third-party manufacturers for handling and disposing of these materials generally comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, we cannot guarantee that this is the case or eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. In such an event, we may be held liable for any resulting damages and such liability could exceed our resources and state or federal or other applicable authorities may curtail our use of certain materials and/or interrupt our business operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent. We cannot predict the impact of such changes and cannot be certain of our future compliance. We do not currently carry biological or hazardous waste insurance coverage.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

Our Topical by Design and Topical Photoparticle Therapy technologies and any future products that we commercialize could be alleged to infringe patent rights and other proprietary rights of third parties, which may require costly litigation and, if we are not successful, could cause us to pay substantial damages and/or limit our ability to commercialize our products.

Our commercial success depends on our ability to develop, manufacture and market our Topical by Design and Topical Photoparticle Therapy technologies and use our proprietary technology without infringing the patents and other proprietary rights of third parties. Intellectual property disputes can be costly to defend and may cause our business, operating results and financial condition to suffer. We operate in an industry with extensive intellectual property litigation. As the biopharmaceutical and dermatological product industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that there may be patents issued to third parties that relate to our products and technology of which we are not aware or that we may need to challenge to continue our operations as currently contemplated.

Whether merited or not, we may face allegations that we have infringed the trademarks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties, including patents held by our competitors or by non-practicing entities. We may also face allegations that our employees have misappropriated the intellectual property rights of their former employers or other third parties. Litigation may make it necessary to defend ourselves by determining the scope, enforceability and validity of third-party proprietary rights, or to establish our proprietary rights. Regardless of whether claims that we are infringing patents or other intellectual property rights have merit, the claims can be time consuming, divert management attention and financial resources and are costly to evaluate and defend. Results of any such litigation are difficult to predict and may require us to stop treating certain conditions, obtain licenses or modify our products and features while we develop non-infringing substitutes, or may result in significant settlement costs. For example, litigation can involve substantial damages for infringement (and if the court finds that the infringement was willful, we could be ordered to pay treble damages and the patent owner’s attorneys’ fees), and the court could prohibit us from selling or licensing our products unless the third party licenses rights to us, which it is not required to do at a commercially reasonable price or at all. If a license is available from a third party, we may have to pay substantial royalties, upfront fees or grant cross-licenses to intellectual property rights for our products. We may also have to redesign our products so they do not infringe third-party intellectual property rights, which may not be possible at all or may require substantial monetary expenditures and time, during which our products may not be available for manufacture, use, or sale.

In addition, patent applications in the United States and many international jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after the filing of certain priority documents (or, in some cases, are not published until

37

Table of Contents

they issue as patents) and publications in the scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries. Thus, we cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications or made public disclosures relating to our technology or our contemplated technology. A third party may have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications covering our products or technology similar to ours. Any such patent application may have priority over our patent applications or patents, which could further require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies. If another party has filed a U.S. patent application on inventions similar to ours, depending on whether the timing of the filing date falls under certain patent laws, we may have to participate in a priority contest (such as an interference proceeding) declared by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to determine priority of invention in the United States. For example, in October 2015, Patent Interference No. 106,037 was declared by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, or the PTAB, between our U.S. Patent No. 8,821,941, which is directed to treating hair follicles with plasmonic particles, and U.S. Patent Application No. 13/789,575, which lists Massachusetts General Hospital, or GHC, as assignee. Although the PTAB entered judgment against GHC in October 2016, GHC has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The costs of this and other proceedings could be substantial, and it is possible that such efforts would be unsuccessful if it is determined that the other party had independently arrived at the same or similar invention prior to our own invention, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position with respect to such inventions.

From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business with respect to intellectual property. Although we are not currently subject to any claims from third parties asserting infringement of their intellectual property rights, in the future, we may receive claims from third parties asserting infringement of their intellectual property rights. Future litigation may be necessary to establish our intellectual property rights or to defend ourselves by determining the scope, enforceability and validity of third-party intellectual property rights. There can be no assurance with respect to the outcome of any current or future litigation brought by or against us, and the outcome of any such litigation could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Litigation is inherently unpredictable and outcomes are uncertain. Further, as the costs and outcome of these types of claims and proceedings can vary significantly, it is difficult to estimate potential losses that may occur. Accordingly, we are unable at this time to estimate the effects of these potential future lawsuits on our financial condition, operations or cash flows.

Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. 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 material adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Finally, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations.

With respect to adverse proceedings in which we are currently involved (see “Business—Legal Proceedings”), we plan to vigorously protect our intellectual property rights. However as with all adverse proceedings, regardless of the merits of third-party claims, such proceedings are time-consuming and costly to litigate or settle, and may divert managerial attention and resources away from our business objectives. Successful pending claims against us could result in monetary liability and/or prevent us from operating our business, or portions of our business. Resolution of claims may require us to obtain rights to third-party intellectual property rights, which may be expensive to procure, or we may be required to cease using certain intellectual property altogether. These and other risks are inherent to adverse proceedings involving intellectual property.

38

Table of Contents

If we are unable to obtain, maintain and enforce intellectual property protection directed to our Topical by Design and/or Topical Photoparticle Therapy technology and any future technologies that we develop, others may be able to make, use, or sell products substantially the same as ours, which could adversely affect our ability to compete in the market.

We have not pursued or maintained, and may not pursue or maintain in the future, patent protection for our products in every country or territory in which we may sell our products. In addition, we cannot be sure that any of our pending patent applications or pending trademark applications will issue or that, if issued, they will issue in a form that will be advantageous to us. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, international patent offices or judicial bodies may deny or significantly narrow claims made under our patent applications and our issued patents may be successfully challenged, may be designed around, or may otherwise be of insufficient scope to provide us with protection for our commercial products. Further, the USPTO, international trademark offices or judicial bodies may deny our trademark applications and, even if published or registered, these trademarks may not effectively protect our brand and goodwill. Like patents, trademarks also may be successfully opposed or challenged.

We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use or unauthorized reverse engineering of our technology. Moreover, third parties may independently develop technologies that are competitive with ours and such competitive technologies may or may not infringe our intellectual property. The enforcement of our intellectual property rights also depends on the success of our legal actions against these infringers in the respective country or forum, but these actions may not be successful. As with all granted intellectual property, such intellectual property may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, may not provide specific protection and/or may not prove to be enforceable in actions against specific alleged infringers.

The market for biopharmaceuticals and dermatological treatments is highly competitive and subject to rapid technological change. Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to maintain a competitive position in the development and protection of technologies and products for use in these fields and upon our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights in connection therewith. We seek to obtain and maintain patents and other intellectual property rights to restrict the ability of others to market products that misappropriate our technology and/or infringe our intellectual property to unfairly and illegally compete with our products. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights, our competitive position and our business could be harmed, as third parties may be able to make, use, or sell products that are substantially the same as ours without incurring the sizeable development and licensing costs that we have incurred, which would adversely affect our ability to compete in the market. With respect to our Topical Photopartical Technology, under our exclusive supply and license agreement with nanoComposix, we are solely responsible for the prosecution of the licensed patent rights throughout the world, at our expense, and we have the first right to enforce within our licensed field and defend the licensed patent rights throughout the world, at our expense.

We use a combination of patents, trademarks, know-how, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technology. However, these protections may not be adequate and may not provide us with any competitive advantage. For example, patents may not issue from any of our currently pending or any future patent applications, and our issued patents and any future patents that may issue may not survive legal challenges to their scope, validity or enforceability, or provide significant protection for us.

If we or one of our current or future collaborators were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our lead product candidates or future product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that our patent is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar claims before the USPTO, even outside the context of

39

Table of Contents

litigation. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates. Such a loss of patent protection would have a material adverse impact on our business.

Even if our patents are determined by a court to be valid and enforceable, they may not be interpreted sufficiently broadly to prevent others from marketing products similar to ours or designing around our patents. For example, third parties may be able to make product that are similar to ours but that are not covered by the claims of our patents. Third parties may assert that we or our licensors were not the first to make the inventions covered by our issued patents or pending patent applications. The claims of our issued patents or patent applications when issued may not cover our proposed commercial technologies or the future products that we develop. We may not have freedom to commercialize unimpeded by the patent rights of others. Third parties may have dominating, blocking, or other patents relevant to our technology of which we are not aware. There may be prior public disclosures or art that could be deemed to invalidate one or more of our patent claims. Further, we may not develop additional proprietary technologies in the future, and, if we do, they may not be patentable.

Patent law can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important principles remain unresolved. In the United States and in many international jurisdictions, policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in patents can be inconsistent. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit have made, and will likely continue to make, changes in how the patent laws of the United States are interpreted. Similarly, international courts have made, and will likely continue to make, changes in how the patent laws in their respective jurisdictions are interpreted. We cannot predict future changes in the interpretation of patent laws or changes to patent laws that might be enacted into law by U.S. and international legislative bodies. Those changes may materially affect our patents, our ability to obtain patents or the patents and patent applications of our licensors.

Patent reform legislation in the United States could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents. For example, on September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or Leahy-Smith Act, was signed into law. The Leahy-Smith Act included a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted, redefine prior art, may affect patent litigation, and switch the U.S. patent system from a “first-to-invent” system to a “first-to-file” system. Under a “first-to-file” system, assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application generally will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether another inventor had made the invention earlier. The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently developed new regulations and procedures to govern administration of the Leahy-Smith Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the Leahy-Smith Act, and in particular, the first-to-file provisions, only became effective on March 16, 2013. The Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

In addition, we have a number of international patents and patent applications, and expect to continue to pursue patent protection in many of the significant markets in which we intend to do business. The laws of some international jurisdictions may not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as laws in the United States, and many companies have encountered significant difficulties in obtaining, protecting, and defending such rights in international jurisdictions. If we encounter such difficulties or we are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting our intellectual property rights in international jurisdictions, our business prospects could be substantially harmed. Varying filing dates in international countries may also permit intervening third parties to allege priority to certain technology.

Patent terms may be shortened or lengthened by, for example, terminal disclaimers, patent term adjustments, supplemental protection certificates, and patent term extensions. Patent term extensions and supplemental

40

Table of Contents

protection certificates, and the like, may be impacted by the regulatory process and may not significantly lengthen patent term. Non-payment or delay in payment of patent fees or annuities, delay in patent filings or delay in extension filing (including any patent term extension or adjustment filing), whether intentional or unintentional, may also result in the loss of patent rights important to our business. Certain countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to other parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against other parties, including government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of any patents.

In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we rely on confidentiality agreements to protect confidential information and proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our product candidate discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors and contractors. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our confidential information or proprietary technology and processes. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and other confidential information by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in these individuals, organizations and systems, agreements or security measures may be breached and detecting the disclosure or misappropriation of confidential information and enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated confidential information is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. Further, we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our confidential information may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors, in which case 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. We may in the future rely on trade secret protection, which would be subject to the risks identified above with respect to confidential information.

Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. From time to time, we review our competitors’ products, and may in the future seek to enforce our patents or other rights against potential infringement. However, the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. Our competitors may also independently develop similar technology. Any inability to meaningfully protect our intellectual property could result in competitors offering products that incorporate our product or service features, which could reduce demand for our products. In addition, we may need to defend our patents from third-party challenges, such as (but not limited to) interferences, derivation proceedings, re-examination proceedings, post-grant review, inter partes review, third-party submissions, oppositions, nullity actions, or other patent proceedings. We may need to initiate infringement claims or litigation. Adverse proceedings such as litigation can be expensive, time consuming and may divert the efforts of our technical and managerial personnel, which could in turn harm our business, whether or not we receive a determination favorable to us. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court or other judicial body may decide that the patent we seek to enforce is invalid or unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that the patent in question does not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly. Some of our competitors may be able to devote significantly more resources to intellectual property litigation, and may have significantly broader patent portfolios to assert against us if we assert our rights against them. Further, because of the substantial discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be disclosed or otherwise compromised during litigation.

We may not be able to correctly estimate or control our future operating expenses in relation to obtaining intellectual property, enforcing intellectual property and/or defending intellectual property, which could affect

41

Table of Contents

operating expenses. Our operating expenses may fluctuate significantly in the future as a result of a variety of factors, including the costs of preparing, filing, prosecuting, defending, and enforcing patent and trademark claims and other intellectual property-related costs, including adverse proceedings (such as litigation) costs.

With respect to our Topical by Design technology, if we do not obtain rights to commercialize certain compounds, there is a risk that such rights will be exploited by another entity. As with all licenses to third parties in specific fields of use, there is a risk of impermissible exploitation by such third parties outside the licensed field.

With respect to our Topical Photoparticle Therapy technology, if the nanoComposix agreement is terminated or narrowed, we could lose intellectual property rights that may be material to our Topical Photoparticle Therapy products. This agreement may be terminated by nanoComposix for our nonpayment or material breach, in either case, after the opportunity to cure and final determination in arbitration, or for our failure to receive FDA regulatory approval to sell a licensed product by August 2022, or for our insolvency or bankruptcy, or if we or our affiliate or future sublicensee initiates or voluntarily joins as a party to any legal action that challenges the validity or enforceability of the nanoComposix licensed patent rights, or nanoComposix’s title thereto, or by joint written agreement. We may enter into additional licenses and agreements in the future and, as with all such arrangements, if we do not comply with obligations, we may suffer adverse consequences. Likewise, we are party to several agreements that although do not currently have a material impact on intellectual property, may become material if certain obligations are not fulfilled by any of the contracting parties.

Our intellectual property agreements with third parties may be subject to disagreements over contract interpretation, which could narrow the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology or increase our financial or other obligations to our licensors.

Certain provisions in our intellectual property agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could affect the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or affect 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.

In addition, while it is our policy to 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. Our assignment agreements may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.

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

We may also be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or ownership. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and distraction to management and other employees.

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

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on product candidates, including all of the licensed rights under our exclusive supply and license agreement with nanoComposix, in all countries throughout the world would be

42

Table of Contents

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 further, may export otherwise 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 and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biopharmaceuticals, 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 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.

If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.

Our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic or conflict with third-party rights. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition by potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. In addition, third parties may file first for our trademarks in certain countries. If they succeeded in registering such trademarks, and if we were not successful in challenging such third-party rights, we may not be able to use these trademarks to market our products in those countries. In such cases, over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then our marketing abilities may be impacted.

We have not yet registered trademarks for a commercial trade name for our lead product candidates in the United States or foreign jurisdictions and failure to secure such registrations could adversely affect our business.

We have not yet registered trademarks for a commercial trade name for our lead product candidates in the United States or any foreign jurisdiction, if approved. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections. Although we are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the USPTO and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. Moreover, any name we propose to use with our product candidates in the United States must be approved by the FDA, regardless of whether we have registered it, or applied to register it, as a trademark. The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of potential for confusion with other product names. If the FDA objects to any of our proposed proprietary product names, we may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable substitute name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA.

43

Table of Contents

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information and know-how, the value of our technology and products could be adversely affected.

We may not be able to protect our proprietary information and technology adequately. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our proprietary information, technology, and know-how, our employees, consultants, contractors and outside scientific advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our information to competitors. Enforcing a claim that a third party illegally obtained and is using any of our proprietary information, technology or know-how is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States are sometimes less willing to protect proprietary information, technology, and know-how. We rely, in part, on non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and other parties to protect our proprietary information, technology, and know-how. These agreements may be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. Moreover, others may independently develop similar or equivalent proprietary information, and third parties may otherwise gain access to our proprietary knowledge.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

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

The time required to obtain approval or other marketing authorizations by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval policies, regulations, or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. We have not obtained regulatory approval for any product candidate and it is possible that none of our existing product candidates or any product candidates we may seek to develop in the future will ever obtain regulatory approval. Neither we nor any future collaborator is permitted to market SNA-120, SNA-125 or any future drug product candidates in the United States until we receive regulatory approval of an NDA from the FDA, nor can we or any future collaborator market SNA-001 or any future product candidates under the 510(k) clearance process in the United States until we receive clearance or marketing authorization from the FDA.

Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize SNA-120, SNA-125 and any other drug product candidate in the United States or abroad, we or our collaborators must demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or foreign regulatory agencies, that such product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. Results from nonclinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we believe the nonclinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. The FDA may also require us to conduct additional nonclinical studies or clinical trials for our product candidates either prior to or post-approval, or it may object to elements of our clinical development program. In addition, the FDA typically refers applications for novel drugs, like SNA-120 and potentially other of our future product candidates, to an advisory committee comprised of outside experts. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of the advisory committee, but it considers such recommendation when making its decision.

If our pivotal trials for SNA-001 are successful, we expect to pursue FDA clearance of SNA-001 for the treatment of acne and the reduction of light-pigmented hair under the FDA’s 510(k) premarket notification process. Before we can market SNA-001 for these indications in the United States, we are required to obtain clearance from the FDA under Section 510(k) of the FDCA. In the 510(k) clearance process, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a device legally on the market, known as a “predicate” device, with respect to intended use, technology and safety and effectiveness, in order to clear the proposed device for marketing. Clinical data is sometimes required to support substantial equivalence. Under certain conditions, a medical device is required to be received under pre-market approval, or PMA, application

44

Table of Contents

from the FDA. The PMA pathway requires an applicant to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the device based, in part, on extensive data, including, but not limited to, technical, nonclinical, clinical trial, manufacturing and labeling data. The PMA process is typically required for devices that are deemed to pose the greatest risk, such as life-sustaining, life-supporting or implantable devices. However, some devices are automatically subject to the PMA pathway regardless of the level of risk they pose because they have not previously been classified into a lower risk class by the FDA. Manufacturers of these devices may request that FDA review such devices in accordance with the de novo classification procedure, which allows a manufacturer whose novel device would otherwise require the submission and approval of a PMA prior to marketing to request down-classification of the device on the basis that the device presents low or moderate risk. If the FDA agrees with the down classification based on a de novo submission, the FDA will authorize the device for marketing. This device type can then be used as a predicate device for future 510(k) submissions. The process of obtaining regulatory clearances or approvals, or completing the de novo classification process, to market a medical device can be costly and time consuming, and we may not be able to successfully obtain pre-market reviews on a timely basis, if at all.

If the FDA requires us to go through a lengthier, more rigorous examination for our products than we expect, our product introductions or modifications could be delayed or canceled, which could cause our sales to decline. In addition, the FDA may determine that SNA-001 or other future product candidates for which we pursue 510(k) clearance will require us to obtain approval through the PMA process, which is generally more costly and uncertain and can take from one to three years, or longer, from the time the application is submitted to the FDA until an approval is obtained. Further, even where a PMA is not required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain 510(k) clearances with respect to such product candidates or modifications to previously cleared products.

The FDA or any foreign regulatory bodies can delay, limit or deny approval or clearance of our product candidates or require us to conduct additional nonclinical or clinical testing or abandon a program for many reasons, including:

45

Table of Contents

Of the large number of products in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or foreign regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. The lengthy approval or marketing authorization process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval or marketing authorization to market our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval of an FDA or foreign marketing application for our product candidates, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency may grant approval or other marketing authorization contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials, including post-market clinical trials, and/or the implementation of a REMS, in the case of SNA-120, SNA-125 and any other drug product candidates, which may be required to ensure safe use of the drug after approval. The FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency also may approve or authorize for marketing a product candidate for a more limited indication or patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agency may not approve or authorize the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of a product candidate. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval or other marketing authorization would delay or prevent commercialization of that product candidate and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.

Moreover, obtaining FDA clearance under the FDA’s 510(k) clearance process can be expensive and uncertain, and generally takes from several months to several years, and generally requires detailed and comprehensive scientific and clinical data. Notwithstanding the expense, these efforts may never result in marketing authorization. Even if we were to obtain the requisite marketing authorization, it may not be for the uses we believe are important or commercially attractive, in which case we would not be permitted to market our product for those uses.

In order to market any product in the European Economic Area (which is composed of the 28 Member States of the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), or EEA, and many other foreign jurisdictions, separate regulatory approvals are required. In the EEA, medicinal products, such as SNA-120 and SNA-125, can only be commercialized after obtaining a Marketing Authorization, or MA. Before granting the MA, the EMA or the competent authorities of the Member States of the EEA make an assessment of the risk-benefit balance of the product on the basis of scientific criteria concerning its quality, safety and efficacy.

Our medical device product candidates must comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 93/42/EEC). Compliance with these requirements is a prerequisite to be able to affix the Conformité Européene, or CE, mark to such products, without which they cannot be sold or marketed in the EEA. To demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements for such product candidates, we must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its classification. Except for low-risk medical devices (Class I with no measuring function and which are not sterile), where the manufacturer can issue an EC Declaration of Conformity based on a self-assessment of the conformity of its product candidates with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive, a conformity assessment procedure requires the intervention of an organization accredited by a Member State of the EEA to conduct conformity assessments, or a Notified Body. Depending on the relevant conformity assessment procedure, the Notified Body would typically audit and examine the technical file and the quality system for the manufacture, design and final inspection of our devices. The Notified Body issues a CE Certificate of Conformity following successful completion of a conformity assessment procedure conducted in relation to the medical device and its manufacturer and their conformity with the essential requirements. This certificate entitles the manufacturer to affix the CE mark to its medical devices after having prepared and signed a related EC Declaration of Conformity. As a general rule, demonstration of conformity of medical devices and their manufacturers with the essential requirements must be based, among other things, on the evaluation of clinical data supporting the safety and performance of the products during normal conditions of use. Specifically, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the device achieves its intended performance during normal conditions of use, that the known and foreseeable risks, and any adverse events, are minimized and acceptable when weighed

46

Table of Contents

against the benefits of its intended performance, and that any claims made about the performance and safety of the device (e.g., product labeling and instructions for use) are supported by suitable evidence. If we are unable to demonstrate conformity of SNA-001 and our manufacturers with these requirements, or otherwise fail to remain in compliance with applicable European laws and directives, we would be unable to affix (or continue to affix) the CE mark to SNA-001, which would prevent us from selling SNA-001 within the EEA.

Further, based on our preliminary discussions with our Notified Body, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, SNA-001, when intended for the removal of light-pigmented hair, may currently not fall under the EU Medical Devices Directive but under EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, or the EU Cosmetics Products Regulation. As a result, SNA-001, when intended for removal of light-pigmented hair, may need to comply with the requirements of the EU Cosmetics Products Regulation, which are generally not more burdensome than those imposed by the Medical Devices Directive. However, this may change with the application of the new EU Medical Devices Regulation, which was adopted on April 5, 2017. The EU Medical Devices Regulation explicitly provides that high intensity electromagnetic radiation (e.g., infra-red, visible light and ultra-violet) emitting equipment intended for use on the human body, including coherent and non-coherent sources, monochromatic and broad spectrum, such as lasers and intense pulsed light equipment, for skin resurfacing, tattoo or hair removal or other skin treatment, falls under its scope. The EU Medical Devices Regulation will however not become fully applicable until three years from its entry into force, and it is not yet clear whether the inclusion within its scope of high intensity electromagnetic radiation emitting equipment for hair removal would result in SNA-001 (which is a topical product applied in combination with commercially available lasers) falling under the EU Medical Devices Regulation when intended for removal of light-pigmented hair.

The approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional clinical testing, and the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and approval by one or more foreign regulatory authorities does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or by the FDA. However, a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one country may have a negative effect on the regulatory process in others. The foreign regulatory approval process may include all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. We may not be able to file for regulatory approvals or to do so on a timely basis, and even if we do file we may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in any market.

In addition, the FDA and other regulatory authorities may change their policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay approval or clearance or other marketing authorizations of our future products under development on a timely basis. Such policy or regulatory changes could impose additional requirements upon us that could delay our ability to obtain approvals or marketing authorizations, increase the costs of compliance or restrict our ability to maintain any marketing authorizations we may have obtained. For example, as part of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act enacted in 2012, Congress enacted several “Medical Device Regulatory Improvements” and miscellaneous reforms, which are intended to clarify and improve medical device regulation both pre- and post-clearance and approval.

Modifications to our product candidates cleared under the 510(k) clearance process, if any, may require new 510(k) clearances or other marketing authorizations, and if we make modifications to such products without obtaining requisite marketing authorization, we may be required to cease marketing or recall the modified products until clearances or other marketing authorizations are obtained.

Any modification to a 510(k)-cleared product or a device authorized for marketing that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change in its intended use, design or manufacture, requires a new 510(k) clearance or, possibly, approval of a PMA. The FDA requires every manufacturer to make this determination in the first instance, but the FDA may review any manufacturer’s

47

Table of Contents

decision. The FDA may not agree with our decisions regarding whether new clearances or approvals are necessary. We may make modifications or add features to any of our product candidates that are cleared under the 510(k) clearance process in the future that we believe do not require a new 510(k) clearance or approval of a PMA. If the FDA disagrees with our determination and requires us to submit new 510(k) notifications or PMA applications for modifications to our products for which we have concluded that new clearances or approvals are unnecessary, we may be required to cease marketing or to recall the modified product until we obtain clearance or approval, and we may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties. In addition, the FDA may not approve or clear our products for the indications that are necessary or desirable for successful commercialization or could require clinical trials to support any modifications. Any delay or failure in obtaining required clearances or approvals for such changes would adversely affect our ability to introduce new or enhanced products in a timely manner, which in turn would harm our future growth. Any of these actions would harm our operating results.

We intend to request a special protocol assessment, from the FDA relating to our planned Phase 3 program for SNA-120, and we cannot guarantee that the FDA will issue an agreement on the SPA. Even if we do obtain FDA’s agreement, an SPA would not guarantee approval of SNA-120 or any other particular outcome from regulatory review.

If we successfully complete our planned Phase 2b trial of SNA-120, we intend to request agreement from the FDA under a special protocol assessment, or SPA, for our planned Phase 3 clinical trials of SNA-120 in patients with pruritus associated with psoriasis vulgaris. The FDA’s SPA process is designed to facilitate the FDA’s review and approval of drugs by allowing the FDA to evaluate the proposed design and size of certain clinical trials that are intended to form the primary basis for determining a drug product’s efficacy. Upon specific request by a clinical trial sponsor, the FDA will evaluate the protocol and respond to a sponsor’s questions regarding, among other things, primary efficacy endpoints, trial conduct and data analysis, within 45 days of receipt of the request. The FDA ultimately assesses whether the protocol design and planned analysis of the trial are acceptable to support regulatory approval of the product candidate with respect to the effectiveness of the indication studied. All agreements and disagreements between the FDA and the sponsor regarding an SPA must be clearly documented in an SPA letter or the minutes of a meeting between the sponsor and the FDA.

However, an SPA agreement does not guarantee approval of a product candidate, even if the trial is conducted in accordance with the protocol. Moreover, even if the FDA agrees to the design, execution, and analysis proposed in protocols reviewed under the SPA process, the FDA may revoke or alter its agreement in certain circumstances. In particular, an SPA agreement is not binding on the FDA if public health concerns emerge that were unrecognized at the time of the SPA agreement, other new scientific concerns regarding product safety or efficacy arise, the sponsor fails to comply with the agreed upon trial protocols, or the relevant data, assumptions or information provided by the sponsor in a request for the SPA change or are found to be false or omit relevant facts. In addition, even after an SPA agreement is finalized, the SPA agreement may be modified, and such modification will be deemed binding on the FDA review division, except under the circumstances described above, if the FDA and the sponsor agree in writing to modify the protocol and such modification is intended to improve the study. The FDA retains significant latitude and discretion in interpreting the terms of the SPA agreement and the data and results from any study that is the subject of the SPA agreement.

There is no assurance that the FDA will agree with the design and size of any Phase 3 clinical program for which we request an SPA. Even if we do obtain agreement on an SPA, we cannot assure you that our planned Phase 3 clinical trial will succeed, will be deemed binding by the FDA under an SPA, if granted, or will result in any FDA approval for SNA-120. Moreover, if the FDA revokes or alters its agreement under an SPA, or interprets the data collected from the clinical trial differently than we do, the FDA may not deem the data sufficient to support an application for regulatory approval, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

48

Table of Contents

Even if we receive regulatory approval of our product candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our product candidates.

Any regulatory approvals or other marketing authorizations we obtain for our product candidates may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or the conditions of approval or marketing authorization, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-market testing and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The FDA may also require a REMS as a condition of approval of our drug product candidates, such as SNA-120 and SNA-125, which could include requirements for a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority authorizes our product candidates for marketing, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import, export and recordkeeping for our product candidates will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with cGMPs (including the QSR in the case of any of our product candidates cleared under the 510(k) clearance process), and GCP requirements for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our product candidates, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:

The FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. For example, in December 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act, or Cures Act, was signed into law. The Cures Act, among other things, is intended to modernize the regulation of drugs and devices and to spur innovation, but its ultimate implementation is unclear. 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 and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. For example, certain policies of the Trump administration may impact our business and industry. Namely, the Trump administration has taken several executive actions, including the issuance of a number of Executive Orders, that could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the FDA’s ability to engage in routine regulatory and oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing applications. Notably, on January 30, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order, applicable to all executive agencies, including the FDA, that requires that for each notice of proposed rulemaking or final regulation to be issued in fiscal year 2017, the agency shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed, unless prohibited by law. These requirements are referred to as the “two-for-one” provisions. This Executive Order includes a budget neutrality provision that requires the total incremental cost of all new

49

Table of Contents

regulations in the 2017 fiscal year, including repealed regulations, to be no greater than zero, except in limited circumstances. For fiscal years 2018 and beyond, the Executive Order requires agencies to identify regulations to offset any incremental cost of a new regulation and approximate the total costs or savings associated with each new regulation or repealed regulation. In interim guidance issued by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, on February 2, 2017, the administration indicates that the “two-for-one” provisions may apply not only to agency regulations, but also to significant agency guidance documents. In addition, on February 24, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order directing each affected agency to designate an agency official as a “Regulatory Reform Officer” and establish a “Regulatory Reform Task Force” to implement the two-for-one provisions and other previously issued executive orders relating to the review of federal regulations, however it is difficult to predict how these requirements will be implemented, and the extent to which they will impact the FDA’s ability to exercise its regulatory authority. If these executive actions impose constraints on the FDA’s ability to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively impacted.

Our product candidates, if authorized for marketing, may cause or contribute to adverse medical events that we are required to report to the FDA, and if we fail to do so, we would be subject to sanctions that could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. The discovery of serious safety issues with our product candidates, or a recall of our products either voluntarily or at the direction of the FDA or another governmental authority, if such products are marketed, could have a negative impact on us.

With respect to any of our product candidates cleared under the 510(k) clearance process, we will be subject to the FDA’s medical device reporting regulations and similar foreign regulations, which require us to report to the FDA when we receive or become aware of information that reasonably suggests that one or more of our products may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or malfunctioned in a way that, if the malfunction were to recur, it could cause or contribute to a death or serious injury. The timing of our obligation to report is triggered by the date we become aware of the adverse event as well as the nature of the event. We may fail to report adverse events of which we become aware within the prescribed timeframe. There are similar reporting requirements for our drug product candidates, if and when they are approved. We may also fail to recognize that we have become aware of a reportable adverse event, especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of the product. If we fail to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA could take action, including warning letters, untitled letters, administrative actions, criminal prosecution, imposition of civil monetary penalties, revocation of our device clearance, seizure of our products or delay in clearance of future products.

The FDA and foreign regulatory bodies have the authority to require the recall of commercialized products in the event of material deficiencies or defects in design or manufacture of a product or in the event that a product poses an unacceptable risk to health. We may also choose to voluntarily recall a product if any material deficiency is found. A government-mandated or voluntary recall by us could occur as a result of an unacceptable risk to health, component failures, malfunctions, manufacturing defects, labeling or design deficiencies, packaging defects or other deficiencies or failures to comply with applicable regulations. Product defects or other errors may occur in the future. Recalls involving our product candidates, if and when they are cleared or approved or otherwise authorized for marketing, could be particularly harmful to our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Depending on the corrective action we take to redress a device product’s deficiencies or defects, the FDA may require, or we may decide, that we will need to obtain new approvals, clearances, or other marketing authorizations for the device before we may market or distribute the corrected device. Seeking such authorizations may delay our ability to replace the recalled devices in a timely manner. Moreover, if we do not adequately address problems associated with our devices, we may face additional regulatory enforcement action, including FDA warning letters, product seizure, injunctions, administrative penalties, or civil or criminal fines.

Companies are required to maintain certain records of recalls and corrections, even if they are not reportable to the FDA. If we obtain marketing authorizations and market our medical device product candidates, we may

50

Table of Contents

initiate voluntary withdrawals or corrections for our products in the future that we determine do not require notification of the FDA. If the FDA disagrees with our determinations, it could require us to report those actions as recalls and we may be subject to enforcement action. A future recall announcement could harm our reputation with customers, potentially lead to product liability claims against us and negatively affect our sales.

We may be subject to healthcare laws and regulations relating to our business, and could face substantial penalties if we are determined not to have fully complied with such laws, which would have an adverse impact on our business.

Our business operations and current and future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, customers and patients, may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Such laws include:

51

Table of Contents

Efforts to ensure that our current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities may conclude that our business practices, including our consulting and advisory board arrangements with physicians and other healthcare providers, some of whom receive stock options as compensation for services provided, do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable healthcare laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these or any other health regulatory laws that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other U.S. healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired. If any of the above occur, it could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

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

In the U.S. and some non-U.S. jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could, among other things, prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval.

For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, collectively the Affordable Care Act, was enacted in the United States to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for healthcare and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. The law has continued the downward pressure on the pricing of medical items and services, especially under the Medicare

52

Table of Contents

program, and increased the industry’s regulatory burdens and operating costs. Among the provisions of the Affordable Care Act of importance to our potential product candidates are the following:

Since its enactment, there have been judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to the Affordable Care Act in the future. The new Presidential Administration and U.S. Congress will likely continue to seek to modify, repeal, or otherwise invalidate all, or certain provisions of, the Affordable Care Act. It is uncertain the extent to which any such changes may impact our business or financial condition.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. These changes include the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, among other things, resulted in reductions to Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year and will remain in effect through 2025; the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years; and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which, among other things, ended the use of the sustainable growth rate formula and provides for a 0.5% update to physician payment rates for each calendar year through 2019, after which there will be a 0% annual update each year through 2025. More recently, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for pharmaceutical products.

53

Table of Contents

Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product and medical device pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and medical devices to purchase and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs.

We expect that the Affordable Care Act, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria, new payment methodologies and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved or cleared product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, our product candidates may lose any regulatory approval that may have been obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock and This Offering

Our stock price may be volatile and you may not be able to resell shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid.

The trading price of our common stock following this offering could be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include those discussed in this “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus and others such as:

54

Table of Contents

In addition, the stock markets in general, and the markets for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology stocks in particular, have experienced extreme volatility that may have been unrelated to the operating performance of the issuer. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price or liquidity of our common stock. In the past, when the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the issuer. If any of our stockholders were to bring such a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit and the attention of our management would be diverted from the operation of our business.

An active, liquid and orderly market for our common stock may not develop, and you may not be able to resell your common stock at or above the public offering price.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for shares of our common stock, and an active public market for our shares may not develop or be sustained after this offering. We and the representatives of the underwriters will determine the initial public offering price of our common stock through negotiation. This price will not necessarily reflect the price at which investors in the market will be willing to buy and sell our shares following this offering. In addition, an active trading market may not develop following the consummation of this offering or, if it is developed, may not be sustained. Further, certain of our directors and executive officers, friends and family of our directors or officers, and certain of our other non-executive officer employees have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to $2.5 million of shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price in a directed share program. To the extent these directors and officers purchase shares in this offering, fewer shares may be actively traded in the public market because these stockholders will be restricted from selling the shares by restrictions under applicable securities laws and the lock-up agreements described in the “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” and “Underwriting” sections of this prospectus, which would reduce the liquidity of the market for our common stock. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other businesses, applications, or technologies using our shares as consideration.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no or few securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our stock would be negatively impacted. In the event we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding us, our business model, our intellectual property or our stock performance, or if our clinical trials and operating results fail to meet the expectations of analysts, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

55

Table of Contents

We are an “emerging growth company” and as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

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

The initial public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock before giving effect to this offering. Accordingly, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate substantial dilution of approximately $12.05 per share, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, and our pro forma net tangible book value as of March 31, 2017. In addition, following this offering, purchasers in this offering will have contributed approximately 43% of the total gross consideration paid by stockholders to us to purchase shares of our common stock, through March 31, 2017, but will own only approximately 22% of the shares of common stock outstanding immediately after this offering. Furthermore, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares, or outstanding options and warrants are exercised, you could experience further dilution. For a further description of the dilution that you will experience immediately after this offering, see the section titled “Dilution.”

If we sell shares of our common stock in future financings, stockholders may experience immediate dilution and, as a result, our stock price may decline.

We may from time to time issue additional shares of common stock at a discount from the current trading price of our common stock. As a result, our stockholders would experience immediate dilution upon the purchase of any shares of our common stock sold at such discount. In addition, as opportunities present themselves, we may enter into financing or similar arrangements in the future, including the issuance of debt securities, preferred stock or common stock. If we issue common stock or securities convertible into common stock, our common stockholders would experience additional dilution and, as a result, our stock price may decline.

Our principal stockholders and management own a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.

Prior to this offering as of June 30, 2017, our executive officers, directors, holders of 5% or more of our capital stock and their respective affiliates beneficially owned approximately 35.9% of our voting stock and, upon the closing of this offering, that same group will hold approximately 27.8% of our outstanding voting stock (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and no exercise of outstanding options). In addition, certain of our stockholders, including entities affiliated with holders of 5% or more of our capital stock

56

Table of Contents

and certain of our directors, have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to $22.5 million of shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price and on the same terms as the other purchasers in this offering. Certain of our directors and executive officers, friends and family of our directors or officers and certain of our other non-executive officer employees have also indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to $2.5 million of shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price in a directed share program. If such directors and officers or affiliated investors purchase all shares they have indicated interests in purchasing, our executive officers, directors, holders of 5% or more of our capital stock and their respective affiliates will beneficially own approximately 36.2% of our outstanding voting stock upon the closing of this offering (based on the assumed initial public offering price of $15.00 per share, the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares and no exercise of outstanding options). Therefore, even after this offering these stockholders will have the ability to influence us through this ownership position. These stockholders may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale of assets, or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may feel are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could cause our stock price to fall.

If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market after the lock-up and other legal restrictions on resale discussed in this prospectus lapse, the trading price of our common stock could decline. Based upon the number of shares outstanding as of June 30, 2017, upon the closing of this offering, we will have outstanding a total of 19,888,258 shares of common stock, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option. Of these shares, approximately 4,333,333 shares of our common stock, plus any shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares (or 4,166,666 shares if all the shares offered in the directed share program are purchased by the participants therein), will be freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market immediately following this offering.

The lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering will expire 180 days from the date of this prospectus. After the lock-up agreements expire, as of June 30, 2017, up to approximately 15.5 million additional shares of common stock will be eligible for sale in the public market, approximately 5.5 million of which shares are held by directors, executive officers and other affiliates and will be subject to Rule 144 under the Securities Act. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Cowen and Company, LLC may, however, in their sole discretion, permit our officers, directors and other stockholders who are subject to these lock-up agreements to sell shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up agreements.

In addition, as of June 30, 2017, approximately 2.5 million shares of common stock that are either subject to outstanding options or reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting schedules, the lock-up agreements and Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act. If these additional shares of common stock are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

After this offering, the holders of approximately 13.9 million shares of our common stock, or approximately 69.9% of our total outstanding common stock based upon the number of shares outstanding as of June 30, 2017, will be entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares under the Securities Act, subject to vesting schedules and to the lock-up agreements described above. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in the shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, except for shares purchased by affiliates. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

57

Table of Contents

We have broad discretion to determine how to use the funds raised in this offering, and may use them in ways that may not enhance our operating results or the price of our common stock.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering, and we could spend the proceeds from this offering in ways our stockholders may not agree with or that do not yield a favorable return, if at all. We currently expect to use substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering to fund the clinical development of SNA-120 through top-line results in our Phase 2b trial, preclinical and clinical studies for SNA-125 through receipt of proof of concept data in each of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, our ongoing pivotal clinical trials for SNA-001 through receipt of top-line results, internal research and development expenses and for working capital and general corporate purposes. However, our use of these proceeds may differ substantially from our current plans. If we do not invest or apply the proceeds of this offering in ways that improve our operating results, we may fail to achieve expected financial results, which could cause our stock price to decline.

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

We have incurred substantial losses during our history and do not expect to become profitable in the near future, and we may never achieve profitability. To the extent that we continue to generate taxable losses, unused losses will carry forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused losses expire. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research and development tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. We may have experienced ownership changes in the past and may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of this offering and/or subsequent shifts in our stock ownership (some of which shifts are outside our control). As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs to offset such taxable income could be subject to limitations. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply. As a result, even if we attain profitability, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOLs and other tax attributes.

Provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable and may lead to entrenchment of management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will be in effect immediately prior to the consummation of this offering will contain provisions that could delay or prevent changes in control or changes in our management without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions will include the following:

58

Table of Contents

In addition, these provisions would apply even if we were to receive an offer that some stockholders may consider beneficial.

We are also subject to the anti-takeover provisions contained in Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under Section 203, a corporation may not, in general, engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other exceptions, the board of directors has approved the transaction. For a description of our capital stock, see the section titled “Description of Capital Stock.”

Claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers, in each case to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.

In addition, as permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated bylaws to be effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering and our indemnification agreements that we have entered into with our directors and officers provide that:

59

Table of Contents

Our certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, any action to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock, and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.

We do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We currently intend to invest our future earnings, if any, to fund our growth. Therefore, you are not likely to receive any dividends on your common stock for the foreseeable future. Since we do not intend to pay dividends, your ability to receive a return on your investment will depend on any future appreciation in the market value of our common stock. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate or even maintain the price at which our holders have purchased it.

60

Table of Contents