The selected consolidated financial data for the fiscal years set forth in the table below have been derived from our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto. We derived the selected data under the caption “Consolidated Statements of Profit and Loss” for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 and the selected data under the caption “Consolidated Statements of Financial Position” as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRS. The selected data under the caption “Consolidated Statements of Profit and Loss” for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 and the selected data under the caption “Consolidated Statements of Financial Position” as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 have been derived from audited financial statements not included in this annual report. The selected financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, and are qualified entirely by reference to such consolidated financial statements. All figures presented are in U.S. dollars. On December 31, 2017, we changed the financial statements presentation currency from NIS and convenient translation to U.S. dollars to presentation currency of U.S. dollars. As a result, the December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 Consolidated Statements of Financial Position and the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Consolidated Statements of Profit and Loss were represented in U.S. dollars. We omitted the presentation of selected financial data for our 2014 fiscal year because such financial data cannot be presented in U.S. dollars without unreasonable effort or expense. Effective October 1, 2018, we changed our functional currency from NIS to U.S. dollars. The change in functional currency is accounted from that date.

(*) Presented according to the change in our functional currency from NIS to U.S. dollars, effective October 1, 2018. The change in functional currency is accounted for that date. Accordingly, comparative profit or loss figures have been translated into U.S. dollars using average exchange rates for the reporting periods.

(*) Presented according to the change in our functional currency from NIS to U.S. dollars, effective October 1, 2018. The change in functional currency is accounted from that date. Accordingly, comparative profit or loss figures and financial position have been translated into U.S. dollars using average exchange rates for the reporting periods.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information in this annual report on Form 20-F. The risks described below are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business operations. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business and financial condition could suffer and the price of our ADSs could decline.

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

We are a specialty clinical - stage pharmaceutical company and have a limited operating history on which to assess the prospects for our business, have incurred significant losses since the date of our inception, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses until we are able to successfully commercialize our product candidates.

Since our inception in 2004, we have been operating as a specialty pharmaceutical company and have a limited operating history on which to assess the prospects for our business, have incurred significant losses, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. We have only focused our business on developing a portfolio of approved drugs based on cannabinoid molecules since August 2015.

 We have historically incurred substantial net losses; including net losses of approximately $8.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and net losses of approximately $6.2 million in 2017. As of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $46.9 million and approximately $38.4 million, respectively.

We have devoted substantially all of our financial resources to develop our product candidates. We have financed our operations primarily through the issuance of equity securities. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part, on completing the development of our product candidates, the demand for our product candidates, the rate of our future expenditures and our ability to obtain funding through the issuance of our securities, strategic collaborations or grants. Pharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk and we have only focused our business on the development of cannabinoid molecules since August 2015. We are in the late stages of preclinical and at the early stages of clinical development for our product candidates, we have not yet commenced pivotal clinical studies for any product candidate, and it may be several years, if ever, before we complete pivotal clinical studies and have a product candidate approved for commercialization. Even if we obtain regulatory approval to market a product candidate, our future revenue will depend upon the size of the markets for which our product candidates may receive approval and our ability to achieve sufficient market acceptance, pricing, reimbursement from third-party payors and adequate market share for our product candidates in those markets.

We expect to continue to incur significant losses until we are able to commercialize our product candidates, which we may not be successful in achieving. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:

We have invested a significant amount in Therapix Healthcare Resources Inc., or THR, in which we hold approximately 80% of the issued and outstanding share capital, during 2018 and 2019, which has commenced liquidation of its assets, and which could adversely impact our reputation or divert management’s attention in the event of any material litigation or issues that prolong the liquidation and dissolution process.

In addition, we have invested an aggregate of approximately $2.31 million in THR during 2018 and 2019, through convertible loans. Due in part to significant losses incurred by THR, as well as its failure to maintain required licenses to operate its facilities, THR has commenced liquidation of its assets. The liquidation of THR’s remaining assets, or potential claims that may arise from the liquidation and dissolution of THR may adversely affect our reputation or divert management’s attention in the event of any material litigation or in the event that the liquidation process is prolonged. At this time, neither we nor THR are able to estimate reliably the timing and results of the proposed liquidation or of any consequences that may occur as a result thereof.

We have not generated any revenue from the sale of our current product candidates and may never be profitable.

We have not yet commercialized any of our product candidates and have not generated any revenue since the date of our inception. We do not know whether or when we will become profitable. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends on our ability to successfully complete the development of, and to commercialize, our product candidates and on the demand for our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with strategic collaboration partners, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory and marketing approvals necessary to commercialize, one or more of our product candidates. Our ability to generate future revenue from product candidate sales depends heavily on our success in many areas, including but not limited to:

Even if one or more of the product candidates that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or the EMA, or other regulatory agencies, domestic or foreign, to perform clinical, nonclinical or other types of studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. In cases where we are successful in obtaining regulatory approvals to market one or more of our product candidates, our revenue will be dependent, in part, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval, the accepted price for the product candidate, the ability to get reimbursement at an acceptable price and whether we own the commercial rights for that territory. If the number of our addressable patients is not as significant as we estimate, the indication approved by regulatory authorities is narrower than we expect, or the reasonably expected population for treatment is narrowed by competition, physician choice or treatment guidelines, we may not generate significant revenue from sales of such product candidates, even if approved. Additionally, if we are not able to generate revenue from the sale of any approved product candidates, we may be forced to cease operations. 

We expect that we will need to raise substantial additional funding before we can expect to become profitable from sales of our product candidates. This additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed may force us to delay, limit or terminate our product candidate development efforts or other operations.  

As of December 31, 2018, our cash and cash equivalents were approximately $1.48 million, a negative working capital of approximately $1.97 million and an accumulated deficit of approximately $46.85 million. Based upon our currently expected level of operating expenditures, we expect that our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund operations at least through October 31, 2019. We expect that we will require substantial additional capital to commercialize our product candidates. In addition, our operating plans may change as a result of many factors that may currently be unknown to us, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned. Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including but not limited to: 

Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates. In addition, we cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Moreover, the terms of any financing may adversely affect the holdings or the rights of holders of our securities and the issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs to decline. The incurrence of indebtedness could result in increased fixed payment obligations, and we may be required to agree to certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. We could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or otherwise at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable, and we may be required to relinquish rights to some of our technologies or product candidates or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects. Even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans, we may seek additional capital if market conditions are favorable or if we have specific strategic considerations.

If we are unable to obtain funding on a timely basis, we may be required to significantly curtail, delay or discontinue one or more of our research or development programs or the commercialization of any product candidates or be unable to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, as desired, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Raising additional capital would cause dilution to our existing shareholders, and may affect the rights of existing shareholders.

We may seek additional capital through a combination of private and public equity offerings, debt financings and collaborations and strategic and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of the ADSs.

The report of our independent registered public accounting firm contains an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which could prevent us from obtaining new financing on reasonable terms or at all.

The report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our audited consolidated financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2018, contains an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to the carrying amounts and classifications of assets and liabilities that might result from the outcome of the uncertainty regarding our ability to continue as a going concern. This going concern opinion could materially limit our ability to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or debt securities or otherwise. Further reports on our consolidated financial statements may include an explanatory paragraph with respect to our ability to continue as a going concern. Until we can generate significant recurring revenues, we expect to satisfy our future cash needs through debt or equity financing. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. If funds are not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate research or development plans for, or commercialization efforts with respect to our products. This may raise substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Risks Related to the Discovery and Development of Our Product Candidates

We are heavily dependent on the success of our product candidates, which are in the late stages of pre-clinical development or early stages of clinical development. We cannot give any assurance that any of our product candidates will receive regulatory approval, which is necessary before they can be commercialized.

To date, we have invested substantially all of our efforts and financial resources to design and develop our product candidates, including conducting preclinical studies and providing general and administrative support for these operations. Our future success is dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and then successfully commercialize one or more product candidates. We currently generate no revenue from sales of any product candidate, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product candidate.

Each of our product candidates is in the late stages of pre-clinical development or early stages of development and will require additional clinical development (and in some cases additional preclinical development), management of nonclinical, clinical and manufacturing activities, regulatory approval, obtaining adequate manufacturing supply, building of a commercial organization and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenue from product candidate sales. It may be years before a pivotal study is initiated, if at all. Any clinical trials in the United States will require the approval of an Investigational New Drug, or IND, application by the FDA, and we cannot assure that we will obtain such approval in a timely manner, or at all. We are not permitted to market or promote any of our product candidates before we receive regulatory approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for any of our product candidates. 

We as a company have never submitted marketing applications to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. We cannot be certain that any of our product candidates will be successful in clinical studies or receive regulatory approval or what regulatory pathway the regulatory authorities shall designate for our product candidates. Further, our product candidates may not receive regulatory approval even if they are successful in clinical studies. If we do not receive regulatory approvals for our product candidates, we may not be able to continue our operations.

We generally plan to seek regulatory approval to commercialize our product candidates in the United States, the European Union and in additional foreign countries. To obtain regulatory approvals we must comply with the numerous and varying regulatory requirements of such countries regarding safety, efficacy, chemistry, manufacturing and controls, clinical studies, commercial sales, pricing and distribution of our product candidates. Even if we are successful in obtaining approval in one jurisdiction, we cannot ensure that we will obtain approval in any other jurisdictions. If we are unable to obtain approval for our product candidates in multiple jurisdictions, our revenue and results of operations would be negatively affected.

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

The time required to obtain approval by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable, typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical studies and depends upon numerous factors. 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, which may cause delays in the approval or the decision not to approve an application. 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.

Applications for our product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including but not limited to the following:

This lengthy approval process, as well as the unpredictability of the results of clinical studies, may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market any of our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

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

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical study process. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical studies of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical studies. Product candidates that have shown promising results in early-stage clinical studies may still suffer significant setbacks in subsequent advanced clinical studies. There is a high failure rate for drugs proceeding through clinical studies, and product candidates in later stages of clinical studies may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed satisfactorily through preclinical studies and initial clinical studies. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical studies due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier studies. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. We do not know whether any Phase I, Phase II, Phase III or other clinical studies we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety sufficient to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates.

We may find it difficult to enroll patients in our clinical studies. Difficulty in enrolling patients could delay or prevent clinical studies of our product candidates.

Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in clinical studies of our product candidates is critical to our success. The timing of our clinical studies depends in part on the speed at which we can recruit patients to participate in testing our product candidates, and we may experience delays in our clinical studies if we encounter difficulties in enrollment.

Some of the conditions for which we plan to evaluate our current product candidates are for rare diseases. For example, based on a study conducted by the CDC in 2011-2012, we estimate that approximately 138,000 children suffer from Tourette syndrome in the United States. Accordingly, there is a limited patient pool from which to draw for clinical studies. Further, the eligibility criteria of our clinical studies will further limit the pool of available study participants as we will require that patients have specific characteristics that we can measure or to assure their disease is either severe enough or not too advanced to include them in a study. 

Additionally, the process of finding patients may prove costly. We also may not be able to identify, recruit and enroll a sufficient number of patients to complete our clinical studies because of the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study, the availability and efficacy of competing therapies and clinical studies, the proximity and availability of clinical study sites for prospective patients and the patient referral practices of physicians. If patients are unwilling to participate in our studies for any reason, the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting studies and obtaining regulatory approval of potential product candidates will be delayed.

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

If the FDA does not conclude that our product candidates satisfy the requirements for the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory approval pathway, or if the requirements for our product candidates under Section 505(b)(2) are not as we expect, the approval pathway would likely take significantly longer, cost significantly more and entail significantly greater complications and risks than anticipated and in either case may not be successful.

We intend to seek FDA approval through the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for our product candidates. The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, also known as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments, added Section 505(b)(2) to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, as amended, or the FDC Act, or Section 505(b)(2). Section 505(b)(2) permits the filing of an NDA where at least some of the information required for approval comes from studies not conducted by or for the applicant and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference.

If the FDA does not allow us to pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway as anticipated, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials, provide additional data and information and meet additional standards for regulatory approval. If this were to occur, the time and financial resources required to obtain FDA approval, and complications and risks associated with FDA approval, would substantially increase. We may need to obtain additional funding, which could result in significant dilution to the ownership interests of our then existing shareholders to the extent we issue equity securities or convertible debt. We cannot assure you that we would be able to obtain such additional financing on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Moreover, inability to pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway could result in new competitive product candidates reaching the market faster than our product candidates, which could materially adversely impact our competitive position and prospects. Even if we are allowed to pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, we cannot assure you that our product candidates will receive the requisite approvals for commercialization.

In addition, notwithstanding the approval of a number of product candidates by the FDA under Section 505(b)(2) over the last few years, some pharmaceutical companies and others have objected to the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2). For example, several companies have previously petitioned the FDA regarding the constitutionality of allowing others to rely upon FDA findings that are based on their proprietary data. If the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2) is successfully challenged, the FDA may be required to change its 505(b)(2) policies and practices, which could require that we generate full data regarding safety and effectiveness for previously approved active ingredients and delay or even prevent the FDA from approving any NDA that we submit under Section 505(b)(2). In addition, the pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive, and Section 505(b)(2) NDAs are subject to special requirements designed to protect the patent rights of sponsors of previously approved drugs that are referenced in a Section 505(b)(2) NDA. These requirements may give rise to patent litigation and mandatory delays in approval of our potential future NDAs for up to 30 months depending on the outcome of any litigation. It is not uncommon for a manufacturer of an approved product to file a citizen petition with the FDA seeking to delay approval of, or impose additional approval requirements for, pending competing products. If successful, such petitions can significantly delay, or even prevent, the approval of the new product. However, even if the FDA ultimately denies such a petition, the FDA may substantially delay approval while it considers and responds to the petition. In addition, even if we are able to utilize the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for our product candidates, there is no guarantee this would ultimately lead to faster product development or earlier approval. Moreover, even if these product candidates are approved under the Section 505(b)(2) pathway, as the case may be, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the products may be marketed or to other conditions of approval or may contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the products. Our product candidates are at early stages of development and are subject to uncertainty over what we must do on our development program in order to secure approval under Section 505(b)(2).

We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical studies, or we may fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities.

Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of our product candidates, we must conduct extensive clinical studies to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product candidates in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, time consuming and uncertain as to outcome. We cannot guarantee that any clinical studies will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. A failure of one or more clinical studies can occur at any stage of testing, and our future clinical studies may not be successful. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include but are not limited to:

Any inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue. We may also be required to conduct additional safety, efficacy and comparability studies before we will be allowed to start clinical studies with our repurposed drugs. Clinical study delays could also shorten any periods during which our product candidates have patent protection and may allow our competitors to bring product candidates to market before we do, which could impair our ability to obtain orphan exclusivity and successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations. 

In respect of our product candidates targeting rare indications, orphan drug exclusivity may afford limited protection, and if another party obtains orphan drug exclusivity for the drugs and indications we are targeting, we may be precluded from commercializing our product candidates in those indications during that period of exclusivity .  

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

In the United States, the first NDA applicant with an orphan drug designation for a particular active moiety to treat a specific disease or condition that receives FDA approval is entitled to a seven-year exclusive marketing period in the United States for that product candidate, for that indication. In the European Union, orphan drug designation also entitles a party to financial incentives such as reduction of fees or fee waivers and 10 years of market exclusivity is granted following drug approval. This period may be reduced to six years if the orphan drug designation criteria are no longer met, including where it is shown that the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity. 

In June 2016, we submitted a request for orphan drug designation to the FDA for THX-110 for the treatment of Tourette syndrome. In a letter dated September 29, 2016, the FDA informed us that our request could not be granted at such time, and is being held in abeyance until and subject to us providing additional information pertaining to the overall prevalence of Tourette syndrome in both children and adults, and further clinical data to support our scientific rationale for our request for orphan drug designation within 12 months. In September 2017, we responded to such FDA letter within the designated time frame, and provided the FDA with our articulated and reasoned responses including documentation and clinical data that supports it. On December 26, 2017, we received the FDA’s response to our response. The FDA accepted that there is adequate scientific rationale for the treatment of Tourette syndrome with THX-110 mainly through the preliminary results of ongoing clinical trials, suggesting that THX-110 may provide benefit in treating Tourette syndrome. However, the FDA stated that it was unable to grant our request and indicated that we did not provide adequate prevalence estimates, and any evidence to support our statement that only moderate to severe Tourette's patients would require pharmacological treatment. We further responded in January 2018 by providing the requested information. We are currently waiting for the FDA’s response. There is no assurance that we will successfully obtain orphan drug designation for Tourette syndrome, any future rare indications or orphan exclusivity upon approval of any of our product candidates that have already obtained designation.

Even if we do obtain orphan exclusivity for any product candidate, the exclusive marketing rights may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the drug. Moreover, a drug product candidate with an active moiety that is a different cannabinoid from that in our drug candidate or, under limited circumstances, the same drug product candidate, may be approved by the FDA for the same indication during the period of marketing exclusivity. The limited circumstances include a showing that the second drug is clinically superior to the drug with marketing exclusivity through a demonstration of superior safety or efficacy or that it makes a major contribution to patient care. In addition, if a competitor obtains approval and marketing exclusivity for a drug product candidate with an active moiety that is the same as that in a product candidate we are pursuing for the same indication, approval of our product candidate would be blocked during the period of marketing exclusivity unless we could demonstrate that our product candidate is clinically superior to the approved product candidate. In addition, if a competitor obtains approval and marketing exclusivity for a drug product candidate with an active moiety that is the same as that in a product candidate we are pursuing for a different orphan indication, this may negatively impact the market opportunity for our product candidate. 

There have been legal challenges to aspects of the FDA’s regulations and policies concerning the exclusivity provisions of the Orphan Drug Act, and future challenges could lead to changes that affect the protections afforded our product candidates in ways that are difficult to predict. In a recent successful legal challenge, a court invalidated the FDA’s denial of orphan exclusivity to a drug on the grounds that the drug was not proven to be clinically superior to a previously approved product candidate containing the same ingredient for the same orphan use. In response to the decision, the FDA released a policy statement stating that the court’s decision is limited just to the facts of that particular case and that the FDA will continue to require the sponsor of a designated drug that is the “same” as a previously approved drug to demonstrate that its drug is clinically superior to that drug upon approval in order to be eligible for orphan drug exclusivity, or in some cases, to even be eligible for marketing approval. In the future, there is the potential for additional legal challenges to the FDA’s orphan drug regulations and policies, and it is uncertain how such challenges might affect our business.

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

We develop our product candidates to treat rare diseases, a space where medications are usually sold at high prices compared with other medications. However, our product candidates are repurposed drugs, which means, among other things, that they contain drug substances available in pharmacies for the purpose of treating indications that are different from the indications for which we plan to use. Accordingly, even if regulatory authorities approve our product candidates, the market may not be receptive to, and it may be difficult for us to achieve, a per-patient per-year price high enough to allow us to realize a return on our investment.

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, if any.

The use of dronabinol has been associated with seizures, paranoia, rapid heart rate and unusual thoughts and behaviors. Undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical studies and could result in a more restrictive marketing label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable foreign authorities. Potential side effects of our cannabinoid-based treatments may include: asthenia, palpitations, tachycardia, vasodilation/facial flush, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, amnesia, anxiety/nervousness, ataxia, confusion, depersonalization, dizziness, euphoria, hallucinations, paranoid reaction, somnolence and abnormal thinking. Results of our studies may identify unacceptable severity and prevalence of these or other side effects. In such an event, our studies could be suspended or terminated, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of or deny or withdraw approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications.

Drug-related side effects could affect patient recruitment, the ability of enrolled patients to complete the study or result in potential product candidate liability claims.

Additionally, if one or more of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such product candidates, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including but not limited to:

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

Even if we obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, our product candidates will remain subject to regulatory scrutiny.

If our product candidates are approved, they will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing studies and submission of safety, efficacy and other post-market information, including both federal and state requirements in the United States. In addition, manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive FDA requirements, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, regulations and Quality System Regulation, or QSR. As such, we and our contract manufacturers will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMP, QSR and adherence to commitments made in any NDA. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control.

Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our product candidates may also be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product candidate may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. We will also be required to report certain adverse reactions and production problems, if any, to the FDA, and to comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion for our product candidates. Promotional communications with respect to prescription drugs are subject to a variety of legal and regulatory restrictions and must be consistent with the information in the product candidate’s approved label. As such, we may not promote our product candidates for indications or uses for which they do not have FDA approval. The holder of an approved NDA must also submit new or supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product candidate, product candidate labeling or manufacturing process. We could also be asked to conduct post-marketing clinical studies to verify the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in general or in specific patient subsets. If original marketing approval were obtained via the accelerated approval pathway, we could be required to conduct a successful post-marketing clinical study to confirm clinical benefit for our product candidates. An unsuccessful post-marketing study or failure to complete such a study could result in the withdrawal of marketing approval. Furthermore, any new legislation addressing drug safety issues could result in delays in product candidate development or commercialization or increased costs to assure compliance. Foreign regulatory authorities impose similar requirements.

If a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product candidate, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product candidate is manufactured, or disagrees with the promotion, marketing or labeling of a product candidate, such regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product candidate or us, including requiring withdrawal of the product candidate from the market. If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency or enforcement authority may, among other things:

Any government investigation of alleged violations of law could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity. Any failure to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may significantly and adversely affect our ability to commercialize and generate revenue from our product candidates. If regulatory sanctions are applied or if regulatory approval is withdrawn, the value of our company and our operating results will be adversely affected.

We are subject to numerous complex regulations and failure to comply with these regulations, or the cost of compliance with these regulations, may harm our business.

The research, testing, development, manufacturing, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, recordkeeping, promotion, advertising, marketing, distribution, possession and use of our product candidates, among other things, are subject to regulation by numerous governmental authorities in the United States and elsewhere. The FDA regulates drugs under the FDC Act, and implementing regulations. Noncompliance with any applicable regulatory requirements can result in refusal to approve product candidates for marketing, warning letters, product candidate recalls or seizure of product candidates, total or partial suspension of production, prohibitions or limitations on the commercial sale of product candidates or refusal to allow the entering into of federal and state supply contracts, fines, civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution. Additionally, the FDA and comparable governmental authorities have the authority to withdraw product candidate approvals that have been previously granted. Moreover, the regulatory requirements relating to our product candidates may change from time to time and it is impossible to predict what the impact of any such changes may be.

We are developing product candidates that are controlled substances as defined in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or CSA, which establishes, among other things, certain registration, production quotas, security, recordkeeping, reporting, import, export and other requirements administered by the Drug Enforcement Administration, or the DEA. The active ingredient in our product candidates is dronabinol, which is a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning that any drug containing it cannot be marketed before it is rescheduled by the DEA as a Schedule II, III, IV or V substance. See Item 4.B. “Business Overview—Government Regulation—Controlled Substances” for additional information.

The manufacture, shipment, storage, sale and use, among other things, of controlled substances that are pharmaceutical product candidates are subject to a high degree of regulation. The DEA also conducts periodic inspections of registered establishments that handle controlled substances. Facilities that conduct research, manufacture, distribute, import or export controlled substances must be registered to perform these activities and have the security, control and inventory mechanisms required by the DEA to prevent drug loss and diversion. Failure to maintain compliance, particularly non-compliance resulting in loss or diversion, can result in regulatory action that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. The DEA may seek civil penalties, refuse to renew necessary registrations, or initiate proceedings to suspend or revoke those registrations. In certain circumstances, violations could lead to criminal proceedings.

Individual states also have controlled substances laws. Though state controlled substances laws often mirror federal law, because the states are separate jurisdictions, they may separately schedule our product candidates as well. While some states automatically schedule a drug when the DEA does so, other states schedule drugs through rulemaking or a legislative action. State scheduling may delay commercial sale of any product candidate for which we obtain federal regulatory approval and adverse scheduling could have a material adverse effect on the commercial attractiveness of such product candidate. We or our partners must also obtain separate state registrations, permits or licenses in order to be able to obtain, handle, and distribute controlled substances for clinical trials or commercial sale, and failure to meet applicable regulatory requirements could lead to enforcement and sanctions from the states in addition to those from the DEA or otherwise arising under federal law.

Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties

We rely on third parties to conduct our preclinical and clinical studies and perform other tasks for us. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or comply with regulatory requirements, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates and our business could be substantially harmed.

We have relied upon and plan to continue to rely upon third-party CROs to monitor and manage data for our ongoing preclinical and clinical programs. (Target Health, Inc., FGK Clinical Research GmbH, or FGK, and others). We rely on these parties for execution of our preclinical and clinical studies, and control only certain aspects of their activities. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. We and our CROs and other vendors are required to comply with current cGMP, GCP, QSR and Good Laboratory Practices, or GLP, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA, the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the European Economic Area, and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for all of our product candidates in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these regulations through periodic inspections of study sponsors, principal investigators, study sites and other contractors. If we or any of our CROs or vendors fail to comply with applicable regulations, the clinical data generated in our clinical studies may be deemed unreliable and the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical studies before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical studies comply with GCP regulations. In addition, our clinical studies must be conducted with product candidates which are produced under cGMP regulations. Our failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical studies, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or do so on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, our CROs are not our employees, and except for remedies available to us under our agreements with such CROs, we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our on-going clinical, nonclinical and preclinical programs. If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols, regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our clinical studies may be extended, delayed or terminated and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our product candidates. CROs may also generate higher costs than anticipated. As a result, our results of operations and the commercial prospects for our product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenue could be delayed.

Switching or adding additional CROs involves additional cost and requires management time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new CRO commences work. As a result, delays may occur, which could materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. Though we carefully manage our relationships with our CROs, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter similar challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.  

We will rely on third parties to manufacture our active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, and formulations. Our business could be harmed if those third parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of our needed supplies, or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.

We do not have the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture the API formulations, and we lack the resources and the capability to manufacture any of our product candidates on a clinical or commercial scale. We plan to rely on third parties for such supplies. There are a limited number of manufacturers who have the ability to produce our API and there may be a need to identify alternate manufacturers to prevent a possible disruption of our clinical studies. Any significant delay or discontinuity in the supply of these components could considerably delay completion of our clinical studies, product candidate testing and potential regulatory approval of our product candidates, which could harm our business and results of operations.

We and our collaborators and contract manufacturers are subject to significant regulation with respect to manufacturing our product candidates. The manufacturing facilities on which we rely may not continue to meet regulatory requirements and have limited capacity.

All entities involved in the preparation of therapeutics for clinical studies or commercial sale, including our existing contract manufacturers for our product candidates, are subject to extensive regulation. Components of a finished therapeutic product approved for commercial sale or a product candidate used in late-stage clinical studies must be manufactured in accordance with cGMP. These regulations govern manufacturing processes and procedures (including record keeping) and the implementation and operation of quality systems to control and assure the quality of investigational product candidates and products approved for sale. Poor control of production processes can lead to the introduction of contaminants or to inadvertent changes in the properties or stability of our product candidates that may not be detectable in final product testing. We, our collaborators or our contract manufacturers must supply all necessary documentation in support of an NDA, or Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, on a timely basis and must adhere to GLP and cGMP QSR regulations enforced by the FDA and other regulatory agencies through their facilities inspection program. Some of our contract manufacturers have never produced a commercially approved pharmaceutical product and therefore have not obtained the requisite regulatory authority approvals to do so. The facilities and quality systems of some or all of our collaborators and third-party contractors must pass a pre-approval inspection for compliance with the applicable regulations as a condition of regulatory approval of our product candidates or any of our other potential product candidates. In addition, the regulatory authorities may, at any time, audit or inspect a manufacturing facility involved with the preparation of our product candidates or our other potential product candidates or the associated quality systems for compliance with the regulations applicable to the activities being conducted. We do not control the manufacturing process of, and are completely dependent on, our contract manufacturing partners for compliance with the regulatory requirements. If these facilities do not pass a pre-approval plant inspection, regulatory approval of the product candidates may not be granted or may be substantially delayed until any violations are corrected to the satisfaction of the regulatory authority, if ever.

The regulatory authorities also may, at any time following approval of a product candidate for sale, if ever, audit the manufacturing facilities of our collaborators and third-party contractors. If any such inspection or audit identifies a failure to comply with applicable regulations or if a violation of our product candidate specifications or applicable regulations occurs independent of such an inspection or audit, we or the relevant regulatory authority may require remedial measures that may be costly and/or time consuming for us or a third party to implement, and that may include the temporary or permanent suspension of a clinical study or commercial sales, or the temporary or permanent closure of a facility. Any such remedial measures imposed upon us or third parties with whom we contract could materially harm our business.

If we, our collaborators, or any of our third-party manufacturers fail to maintain regulatory compliance, the FDA or other applicable regulatory authority can impose regulatory sanctions including, among other things, refusal to approve a pending application for a new drug product, withdrawal of an approval or suspension of production. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially harmed.

Additionally, if supply from one approved manufacturer is interrupted, an alternative manufacturer would need to be qualified through an NDA or MAA amendment, or equivalent foreign regulatory filing, which could result in further delay. The regulatory agencies may also require additional studies if a new manufacturer is relied upon for commercial production. Switching manufacturers may involve substantial costs and is likely to result in a delay in our desired clinical and commercial timelines.

These factors could cause us to incur higher costs and could cause the delay or termination of clinical studies, regulatory submissions, required approvals or commercialization of our product candidates. Furthermore, if our suppliers fail to meet contractual requirements and we are unable to secure one or more replacement suppliers capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost, our clinical studies may be delayed or we could lose potential revenue.

Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.

Because we rely on third parties to develop and manufacture our product candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. We seek to protect our proprietary technology in part by entering into confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, material transfer agreements, collaborative research agreements, consulting agreements or other similar agreements with our collaborators, advisors, employees and consultants prior to beginning research or disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third parties to use or disclose our confidential information, such as trade secrets. Despite the contractual provisions employed when working with third parties, the need to share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Given that our proprietary position is based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, a competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure would impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Related to Commercialization of Our Product Candidates

If the market opportunities for our product candidates are smaller than we believe they are, our revenue may be adversely affected, and our business may suffer.

Our projections of both the number of people who have our target diseases, as well as the subset of people with these diseases who have the potential to benefit from treatment with our product candidates, are based on our beliefs and estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including the scientific literature, surveys of clinics, patient foundations or market research and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. The number of patients may turn out to be lower than expected. The effort to identify patients with diseases we seek to treat is in early stages, and we cannot accurately predict the number of patients for whom treatment might be possible. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for each of our product candidates may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with our product candidates, and new patients may become increasingly difficult to identify or gain access to, which would adversely affect our results of operations and our business.

We face intense competition and rapid technological change and the possibility that our competitors may discover, develop or commercialize therapies that are similar, more advanced or more effective than ours, which may adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates.

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are highly competitive. There are many pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, public and private universities and research organizations actively engaged in the research and development of products that may be similar to our product candidates.

The first THC-based pharmaceutical, a pill sold under the commercial name of Marinol (scientific name: dronabinol), was developed by a company called Unimed Pharmaceuticals, with funding provided by the National Cancer Institute. In 1985, Marinol received FDA approval as a treatment for chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting. Today, Marinol is marketed by AbbVie, Inc. Since the introduction of Marinol into the market, other pharmaceuticals containing THC have also been developed. These include generic oral capsules of dronabinol, such as those marketed by SVC Pharma LP and Akorn Inc., Insys Therapeutic Inc.’s Syndros, an orally administered liquid formulation of dronabinol, Meda AB’s Cesamet (nabilone), a synthetic derivative of THC, and Sativex (nabiximols), a whole cannabis extract administered as an oral spray. Furthermore, we are aware of multiple companies that are working in the cannabis therapeutic area and are pursuing regulatory approval for their product candidates. For example, GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, or GW, which markets Sativex, a botanical cannabinoid oral mucosal for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis is seeking FDA approval in the United States, and is developing Epidiolex, a liquid formulation of highly purified cannabidiol extract, as a treatment for Dravet’s Syndrome, Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, and various childhood epilepsy syndromes. In addition, GW develops a cannabidivarin, or CBDV, based therapy for autism spectrum disorders and therapy for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, glioblastoma and schizophrenia. Insys Therapeutics, Inc. is also seeking FDA approval for an orally-administered liquid formulation of its synthetic cannabidiol compound as a treatment for Dravet’s Syndrome, Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, and other childhood epilepsy syndromes and Prader-Willi syndrome. Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Zynerba, is developing a transdermal formulation of cannabidiol for Fragile X and certain refractory epilepsies. In addition, Zynerba is currently developing a transdermal formulation of pro-drug, which is a medication or compound that, after administration, is metabolized (i.e., converted within the body) into a pharmacologically active drug, of THC for neuropsychiatric disorders including Tourette syndrome. Nemus Bioscience, Inc., or Nemus, is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of cannabis therapeutics. Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings is seeking FDA approval for their synthetic cannabinoid for systemic sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, dermatomyositis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

More established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their greater size, cash flows and institutional experience. Compared to us, many of our competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical and human resources. As a result of these factors, our competitors may have an advantage in marketing their approved products and may obtain regulatory approval of their product candidates before we are able to, which may limit our ability to develop or commercialize our product candidates. Our competitors may also develop drugs that are safer, more effective, more widely used and less expensive than ours, and may also be more successful than us in manufacturing and marketing their products. These advantages could materially impact our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates successfully.  

Our product candidates may also compete with medical and recreational marijuana, in markets where the recreational and/or medical use of marijuana is legal. There is support in the United States for further legalization of marijuana. In markets where recreational and/or medical marijuana is not legal, our product candidates may compete with marijuana purchased in the illegal drug market. We cannot assess the extent to which patients may utilize marijuana obtained illegally for the treatment of the indications for which we are developing our product candidates.

Even if we successfully develop our product candidates, and obtain marketing approval for them, other treatments or therapeutics may be preferred and we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates or in bringing them to market.

Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and other resources, such as larger research and development staff and experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations. Additional mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries may result in even more resources being concentrated in our competitors. As a result, these companies may obtain regulatory approval more rapidly than we are able to and may be more effective in selling and marketing their products as well. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large, established companies. Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in these industries. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing on an exclusive basis, products that are more effective or less costly than any product candidate that we may develop, or achieve earlier patent protection, regulatory approval, product commercialization and market penetration than we do. Additionally, technologies developed by our competitors may render our potential product candidates uneconomical or obsolete, and we may not be successful in marketing our product candidates against competitors.

We currently have no marketing and sales organization. If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates, we may be unable to generate any revenue.

Although our employees may have sold other similar products in the past while employed at other companies, we as a company have no experience selling and marketing our product candidates and we currently have no marketing or sales organization. To successfully commercialize any products that may result from our development programs, we will need to develop these capabilities, either on our own or with others. If our product candidates receive regulatory approval, we intend to establish a sales and marketing organization with technical expertise and supporting distribution capabilities to commercialize our product candidates in major markets, which will be expensive, difficult and time consuming. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities would adversely impact the commercialization of our products.

Further, given our lack of prior experience in marketing and selling pharmaceutical products, our initial estimate of the size of the required sales force may be materially more or less than the size of the sales force actually required to effectively commercialize our product candidates. As such, we may be required to hire substantially more sales representatives to adequately support the commercialization of our product candidates or we may incur excess costs as a result of hiring more sales representatives than necessary. With respect to certain geographical markets, we may enter into collaborations with other entities to utilize their local marketing and distribution capabilities, but we may be unable to enter into such agreements on favorable terms, if at all. If our future collaborators do not commit sufficient resources to commercialize our future products, if any, and we are unable to develop the necessary marketing capabilities on our own, we will be unable to generate sufficient product revenue to sustain our business. We may be competing with companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without an internal team or the support of a third party to perform marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.

The commercial success of any current or future product candidate will depend upon the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community.

Even with the requisite approvals from the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, the commercial success of our product candidates will depend in part on the medical community, patients and third-party payors accepting our product candidates as medically useful, cost-effective and safe. Any product that we bring to the market may not gain market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. The degree of market acceptance of any of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

Even if a potential product displays a favorable efficacy and safety profile in preclinical and clinical studies, market acceptance of the product will not be fully known until after it is launched. Our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of the product candidates may require significant resources and may never be successful. If our product candidates are approved but fail to achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community, we will not be able to generate sufficient revenue to become or remain profitable.

The insurance coverage and reimbursement status of newly-approved products is uncertain. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for new or current products could limit our ability to market those products and decrease our ability to generate revenue.

The pricing, coverage and reimbursement of our product candidates, if approved, must be adequate to support our commercial infrastructure. Our per-patient prices must be sufficient to recover our development and manufacturing costs and potentially achieve profitability. Accordingly, the availability and adequacy of coverage and reimbursement by governmental and private payors are essential for most patients to be able to afford expensive treatments such as ours, assuming approval. Sales of our product candidates will depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of our product candidates will be paid for by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or reimbursed by government authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors. If coverage and reimbursement are not available, or are available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain pricing sufficient to realize a return on our investment.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, the principal decisions about coverage and reimbursement for new drugs are typically made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (formerly the Health Care Financing Administration), or CMS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as CMS decides whether and to what extent a new drug will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare. Private payors tend to follow the coverage reimbursement policies established by CMS to a substantial degree. It is difficult to predict what CMS will decide with respect to reimbursement for products such as ours.

Outside the United States, international operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in Europe, Canada and other countries has and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of our product candidates. In many countries, the prices of medical products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. In general, the prices of medicines under such systems are substantially lower than in the United States. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for medicinal products, but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our product candidates. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our products may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.

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

Healthcare legislative reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In the United States, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively, the Affordable Care Act, was passed. The Affordable Care Act is a sweeping law intended 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 the health insurance industry, impose new taxes and fees on the healthcare industry and impose additional health policy reforms. This law revises the definition of “average manufacturer price” for reporting purposes, which could increase the amount of Medicaid drug rebates to states once the provision is effective. Further, the law imposes a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products. Substantial new provisions affecting compliance have also been enacted, which may require us to modify our business practices with healthcare practitioners. While the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of most elements of the Affordable Care Act in 2012, other legal challenges are still pending final adjudication in several jurisdictions. In addition, Congress has also proposed a number of legislative initiatives, including possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act. At this time, it remains unclear whether there will be any changes made to the Affordable Care Act, whether to certain provisions or its entirety. We can provide no assurance that the Affordable Care Act, as currently enacted or as amended in the future, will not adversely affect our business and financial results, and we cannot predict how future federal or state legislative or administrative changes relating to healthcare reform will affect our business.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. In 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, created measures for spending reductions by Congress. A Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with recommending a targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, was unable to reach required goals, thereby triggering the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. This includes aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers up to 2% per fiscal year. In 2013, the 2% Medicare payment reductions went into effect. Both Congress and the U.S. President have already taken some actions that are intended to limit significantly the Affordable Care Act, and other proposals have been made and are being considered to further modify or even repeal the Affordable Care Act. While some of these actions already appear to be limiting the scope of the Affordable Care Act, it is not clear at this point whether the new proposals will be adopted (either in their current form or a modified form) in the future. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

If we are unable to obtain and maintain effective patent rights for our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets. If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets or know-how, such proprietary information may be used by others to compete against us.

Historically, we have relied on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our technologies and product candidates. Since 2015, we have also sought patent protection for certain of our product candidates. Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other intellectual property protection in the United States and in other countries with respect to our proprietary technology and new product candidates.

We have sought to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and in other countries, with respect to our novel technologies and product candidates, which are important to our business. Patent prosecution is expensive and time consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.

Not including patents and applications which we are in the process of being assigned we have a portfolio of two provisional patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, and one patent application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization, or PCT . We also have three patent applications in National Phase Stage in various national entities. We cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patent applications will issue, the breadth of any such patent or whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be threatened by third parties. Any successful opposition to our patents after issuance could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any new product candidates that we may develop. 

We have exclusively licensed: (i) one U.S. patent from Dekel Pharmaceuticals Ltd., or Dekel, and (ii) one U.S. patent family from Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd., or Yissum. We cannot assure you that we will ever enter into definitive license agreements with any third party licensor. See Item 4.B. “Business Overview—Intellectual Property—In-Licensed Patents and Patent Applications.” To the extent the licensed or future licensed patents are found to be invalid or unenforceable, we may be limited in our ability to compete and market our product candidates. Moreover, the terms of our licenses affect our ability to control the value of any of our product candidates. If we or any of the parties that control the enforcement of licensed patents elect not to enforce any or all of the licensed patents it could significantly undercut the value of any of our product candidates, which would materially adversely affect our future revenue, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, fluctuating currency rates may create inconsistencies in the royalty payments we are obligated to make under our licenses.

Also, there is no guarantee that the patent registration applications that were submitted by us with regard to our technologies will result in patent registration. In the event of failure to complete patent registration, our developments will not be proprietary, which might allow other entities to manufacture our product candidates and compete with them.

Further, there is no assurance that all potentially relevant prior art relating to our patent applications has been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent from issuing from a pending patent application. Even if patents do successfully issue, and even if such patents cover our product candidates, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability, or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, found unenforceable or invalidated. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patent applications and any future patents may not adequately protect our intellectual property, provide exclusivity for our new product candidates, or prevent others from designing around our claims. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

If we cannot obtain and maintain effective patent rights for our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business and results of operations would be harmed. 

We may not be able to identify infringements of our patents and accordingly the enforcement of our intellectual property rights may be difficult.

The drug substance in some of our product candidates is repurposed, which means that it is available in other pharmaceutical products for the purpose of treating indications that are different from the indications for our product candidates. It is possible that if we receive regulatory approval to market and sell our drug candidates, some patients that receive a prescription could be sold the same drug substance but not our product candidate. It would be difficult, if not impossible for us to identify such instances that may constitute an infringement of our patents. In addition, because the drug substance of some of our product candidates is repurposed, such substance may not be eligible for patent protection or data exclusivity.

If we are unable to maintain effective proprietary rights for our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.

In addition to the protection afforded by any patents currently owned and that may be granted, historically, we have relied on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes that are not easily known, knowable or easily ascertainable, and for which patent infringement is difficult to monitor and 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. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect. 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 also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, trade secrets and intellectual property by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Agreements or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets and intellectual property may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors.

We cannot provide any assurances that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed in violation of our confidentiality agreements or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Also, misappropriation or unauthorized and unavoidable disclosure of our trade secrets and intellectual property could impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets and intellectual property are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating any trade secret.

Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our product candidates, and we might be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties in order to develop or market our product candidates. Such litigation or licenses could be costly or not available on commercially reasonable terms.

It is inherently difficult to conclusively assess our freedom to operate without infringing on third party rights. Our competitive position may be adversely affected if existing patents or patents resulting from patent applications issued to third parties or other third party intellectual property rights are held to cover our product candidates or elements thereof, or our manufacturing or uses relevant to our development plans. In such cases, we may not be in a position to develop or commercialize product candidates or our product candidates unless we successfully pursue litigation to nullify or invalidate the third party intellectual property right concerned, or enter into a license agreement with the intellectual property right holder, if available on commercially reasonable terms. There may also be pending patent applications that if they result in issued patents, could be alleged to be infringed by our new product candidates. If such an infringement claim should be brought and be successful, we may be required to pay substantial damages, be forced to abandon our new product candidates or seek a license from any patent holders. No assurances can be given that a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third party patents or applications. For example, U.S. patent applications filed before November 29, 2000 and certain U.S. patent applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States remain confidential until patents issue. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our new product candidates or platform technology could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications which have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our platform technologies, our new product candidates or the use of our new product candidates. Third party intellectual property right holders may also actively bring infringement claims against us. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully settle or otherwise resolve such infringement claims. If we are unable to successfully settle future claims on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to engage in or continue costly, unpredictable and time-consuming litigation and may be prevented from or experience substantial delays in pursuing the development of and/or marketing our new product candidates. If we fail in any such dispute, in addition to being forced to pay damages, we may be temporarily or permanently prohibited from commercializing our new product candidates that are held to be infringing. We might, if possible, also be forced to redesign our new product candidates so that we no longer infringe the third party intellectual property rights. Any of these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business.

Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing new product candidates. As our industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties.

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, designs or methods of manufacture related to the use or manufacture of our product candidates. There may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our product candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents.

If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our formulations, processes for designs, or methods of use, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtain a license or until such patent expires or is finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing product candidates or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.

Patent policy and rule changes could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of any issued patents.

Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of any patents that may issue from our patent applications, or narrow the scope of our patent protection. The laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. We therefore cannot be certain that we were the first to file the invention claimed in our owned and licensed patent or pending applications, or that we or our licensor were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. Assuming all other requirements for patentability are met, in the United States prior to March 15, 2013, the first to make the claimed invention without undue delay in filing, is entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application is entitled to the patent. After March 15, 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, the United States has moved to a first to file system. The Leahy-Smith Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the way patent applications will be prosecuted and may also affect patent litigation. In general, 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 any issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

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

Competitors may infringe our intellectual property. If we were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our new product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidate 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. Under the Leahy-Smith Act, the validity of U.S. patents may also be challenged in post-grant proceedings before the USPTO. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable.

Derivation proceedings initiated by third parties or brought by us may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions and/or their scope with respect to our patent or patent applications or those of our licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our new product candidates to market.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our Ordinary Shares.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our intellectual property.

We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in, or right to compensation, with respect to our current patent and patent applications, future patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. For example, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our product candidates. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or claiming the right to compensation. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

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

Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents on product candidates, as well as monitoring their infringement in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries 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.

Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and may also 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 product candidates. Future patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions, whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our future 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 monitor and 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.    

Actual or perceived conflicts of interest may exist with respect to intellectual property rights that we license from an entity controlled by Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz, our interim Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.

In May 2015, we entered into a license agreement, which became effective in August 2015, with Dekel, an Israeli private company controlled by Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz, the Chairman of our Board of Directors and interim Chief Executive Officer, under which we were granted an irrevocable, worldwide, exclusive, royalty-bearing license to certain of Dekel’s technology. See Item 7.B. “Related Party Transactions—Dekel License Agreement.”

We do not have any agreement with Dr. Shmulewitz to present us with business opportunities he may wish to pursue, subject only to his duties under Israeli law, and we do not have proprietary rights to Dr. Shmulewitz’ inventions that are not included under the consulting and services agreement we entered into with him (pertaining solely to the field of immunomodulators including cannabinoids to treat chronic pain and inflammation).

When negotiating and entering into the agreement with Dekel, Dr. Shmulewitz faced an actual conflict of interest between achieving the most favorable terms for Dekel, as holder of controlling interest in Dekel, and owing fiduciary duties to us, as a member of our Board of Directors and interim Chief Executive Officer. Due to this conflict, we may not have obtained as favorable terms for this license as with an unrelated party. Under applicable Israeli law, fiduciary duties include a duty of care and a duty of loyalty. The approval of transactions with interested parties under the Israeli Companies Law, or the Companies Law, included audit committee, board of directors’ approvals and under the relevant circumstances that applied then, also shareholders’ approval, which were obtained prior to the entering into the transaction. See Item 6 C. “Board Practices—Approval of Related Party Transactions under Israeli Law.”

If there is a dispute between us and Dekel, Dr. Shmulewitz will have a conflict of interest because he may, at the time of a prospective dispute, simultaneously have a financial interest in and owe a fiduciary duty to Dekel and simultaneously have a financial interest in and owe a fiduciary duty to us. If a contractual dispute arises between us and Dekel under the license agreement, Dr. Shmulewitz may be in a position where he would benefit if Dekel prevails, to the detriment of our business or our investors, due to his controlling interest in Dekel. We cannot assure you that any conflicts will be resolved in our favor, and as a result, our business could be impeded or materially harmed.  Furthermore, any future transactions that we enter into with Dekel may be considered as related party transactions under Israeli law, and in many instances may require the approval of our shareholders. Seeking shareholder approval can be a lengthy and costly process, and we cannot be certain that our shareholders will approve any such transactions.

Risks Related to Our Business Operations

We manage our business through a small number of employees and key consultants. We depend on them even more than similarly-situated companies.

We have a total of nine full-time employees and three dedicated consultants that work for us on a part-time basis. In addition, any of our employees and consultants may leave our company at any time, subject to certain notice periods. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or any key employees or consultants would adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan and harm our operating results.

We do not currently carry “key person” insurance on the lives of members of management.

We will need to expand our organization and we may experience difficulties in recruiting needed additional employees and consultants, which could disrupt our operations.

As our development and commercialization plans and strategies develop and because we are so leanly staffed, we will need additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing, financial, legal and other resources. The competition for qualified personnel in the pharmaceutical field is intense. Due to this intense competition, we may be unable to attract and retain qualified personnel necessary for the development of our business or to recruit suitable replacement personnel.

Our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from our day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize product candidates and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth.

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify, license or discover additional product candidates.

Although a substantial amount of our effort will focus on the continued clinical testing, potential approval and commercialization of our existing product candidates, the success of our business also depends in part upon our ability to identify, license or discover additional product candidates. Our research programs or licensing efforts may fail to yield additional product candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, or we may not be able to identify, license or discover additional product candidates, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential programs or product candidates that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws and health information privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.

If we obtain FDA approval for any of our product candidates and begin commercializing those products in the United States, our operations may be directly or indirectly through our customers, subject to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act and physician sunshine laws and regulations. These laws may impact, among other things, our proposed sales, marketing and education programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:

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

If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from participation in government health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, imprisonment and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

International expansion of our business exposes us to business, regulatory, political, operational, financial and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States or Israel.

Other than our headquarters and other operations which are located in Israel (as further described below), we currently have limited international operations, but our business strategy incorporates potentially significant international expansion, particularly in anticipation of approval of our product candidates. We plan to maintain sales representatives and conduct physician and patient association outreach activities, as well as clinical trials, outside of the United States and Israel. Doing business internationally involves a number of risks, including but not limited to:

Any of these factors could significantly harm our future international expansion and operations and, consequently, our results of operations.

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

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

The use of any of our product candidates could result in product liability or similar claims that could be expensive, damage our reputation and harm our business.

Our business exposes us to an inherent risk of potential product liability or similar claims. The pharmaceutical industry has historically been litigious, and we face financial exposure to product liability or similar claims if the use of any of our products were to cause or contribute to injury or death. There is also the possibility that defects in the design or manufacture of any of our products might necessitate a product recall. Although we plan to maintain product liability insurance, the coverage limits of these policies may not be adequate to cover future claims. In the future, we may be unable to maintain product liability insurance on acceptable terms or at reasonable costs and such insurance may not provide us with adequate coverage against potential liabilities. A product liability claim, regardless of merit or ultimate outcome, or any product recall could result in substantial costs to us, damage to our reputation, customer dissatisfaction and frustration and a substantial diversion of management attention. A successful claim brought against us in excess of, or outside of, our insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information, expose us to liability and harm our reputation and business.

In the ordinary course of our business we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, personal information and our proprietary business information. The secure maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and domestically available monitoring to provide security for processing, transmitting and storing this sensitive data.

Hackers may attempt to penetrate our computer systems, and, if successful, misappropriate personal or confidential business information. In addition, an associate, contractor or other third-party with whom we do business may attempt to circumvent our security measures in order to obtain such information, and may purposefully or inadvertently cause a breach involving such information. While we continue to implement additional protective measures to reduce the risk of and detect cyber incidents, cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent, and the techniques used in such attacks change rapidly.

Also, our information technology networks and infrastructure may still be vulnerable to damage, disruptions or shutdowns due to attack by hackers or breaches, employee error or malfeasance, power outages, computer viruses, telecommunication or utility failures, systems failures, natural disasters or other catastrophic events. Any such compromise could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation and subject us to additional costs and liabilities, any of which could adversely affect our business.

Risks Related to the Ownership of Our ADSs

The market price of our securities may be highly volatile, and you may not be able to resell your ADSs at or above the price you paid. 

The market price of the ADSs is volatile. The ADS price are and will continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including the following:

In addition, companies trading in the stock market have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of the ADSs, regardless of our actual operating performance.

Sales of a substantial number of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares in the public market by our existing shareholders could cause our share price to fall.

Sales of a substantial number of the ADSs or Ordinary Shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of the ADSs or Ordinary Shares and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing market price of the ADSs or Ordinary Shares.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, will allow us to postpone the date by which we must comply with some of the laws and regulations intended to protect investors and to reduce the amount of information we provide in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, which could undermine investor confidence in our company and adversely affect the market price of the ADSs or Ordinary Shares.

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 requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including:

We intend to take advantage of these 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 date of our first sale of equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, (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 Ordinary Shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

We cannot predict if investors will find the ADSs or Ordinary Shares less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find the ADSs or Ordinary Shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for the ADSs or Ordinary Shares, and our market prices may be more volatile and may decline.

As a “foreign private issuer” we are permitted to and follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of otherwise applicable SEC and Nasdaq requirements, which may result in less protection than is accorded to investors under rules applicable to domestic U.S. issuers.

Our status as a foreign private issuer also exempts us from compliance with certain SEC laws and regulations and certain regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market, including the proxy rules, the short-swing profits recapture rules, and certain governance requirements such as independent director oversight of the nomination of directors and executive compensation. In addition, we will not be required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, to file current reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. domestic companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act and we will generally be exempt from filing quarterly reports with the SEC. Also, although the Companies Law requires us to disclose the annual compensation of our five most highly compensated senior officers on an individual basis, this disclosure is not as extensive as that required of a U.S. domestic issuer. Furthermore, as a foreign private issuer, we are also not subject to the requirements of Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) promulgated under the Exchange Act.

These exemptions and leniencies will reduce the frequency and scope of information and protections to which you are entitled as an investor.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation or financial condition. In addition, current and potential shareholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could have a material adverse effect on the price of the ADSs.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. We will be required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. Disclosing deficiencies or weaknesses in our internal control, failing to remediate these deficiencies or weaknesses in a timely fashion or failing to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on the price of the ADSs. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our operating results could be harmed.

We may be a “passive foreign investment company,” or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the current taxable year or may become one in any subsequent taxable year. There generally would be negative tax consequences for U.S. taxpayers that are holders of the ADSs or Ordinary Shares if we are or were to become a PFIC.

In general, we will be treated as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable year in which either (1) at least 75% of our gross income is “passive income” or (2) on average at least 50% of our assets by value produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income. Passive income for this purpose generally includes, among other things, certain dividends, interest, royalties, rents and gains from commodities and securities transactions and from the sale or exchange of property that gives rise to passive income. Passive income also includes amounts derived by reason of the temporary investment of funds, including those raised in a public offering. In determining whether a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC, a proportionate share of the income and assets of each corporation in which it owns, directly or indirectly, at least a 25% interest (by value) is taken into account. We believe that we may be deemed a PFIC for 2019. If we are a PFIC in any taxable year during which a U.S. taxpayer holds the ADSs or Ordinary Shares, such U.S. taxpayer would be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax rules. In particular, if the U.S. taxpayer did not make an election to treat us as a “qualified electing fund,” or QEF, or make a “mark-to-market” election, then “excess distributions” to the U.S. taxpayer, and any gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the ADSs or Ordinary Shares by the U.S. taxpayer: (1) would be allocated ratably over the U.S. taxpayer’s holding period for the ADSs or Ordinary Shares; (2) the amount allocated to the current taxable year and any period prior to the first day of the first taxable year in which we were a PFIC would be taxed as ordinary income; and (3) the amount allocated to each of the other taxable years would be subject to tax at the highest rate of tax in effect for the applicable class of taxpayer for that year, and an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit would be imposed with respect to the resulting tax attributable to each such other taxable year. In addition, if the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, determines that we are a PFIC for a year with respect to which we have determined that we were not a PFIC, it may be too late for a U.S. taxpayer to make a timely QEF or mark-to-market election. U.S. taxpayers that have held the ADSs or Ordinary Shares during a period when we were a PFIC will be subject to the foregoing rules, even if we cease to be a PFIC in subsequent years, subject to exceptions for U.S. taxpayer who made a timely QEF or mark-to-market election. A U.S. taxpayer can make a QEF election by completing the relevant portions of and filing IRS Form 8621 in accordance with the instructions thereto. We intend to make available to U.S. taxpayers upon request the information needed in order to complete IRS Form 8621 and to make and maintain a valid QEF election for any year in which we or any of our subsidiaries are a PFIC. U.S. taxpayers that hold the ADSs or Ordinary Shares are strongly urged to consult their tax advisors about the PFIC rules, including tax return filing requirements and the eligibility, manner, and consequences to them of making a QEF or mark-to-market election with respect to the ADSs or Ordinary Shares in the event that we are a PFIC. See “Item 10.E. Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Companies” for additional information.

We have not paid, and do not intend to pay, dividends on our Ordinary Shares and, therefore, unless our traded securities appreciate in value, our investors may not benefit from holding our securities.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our Ordinary Shares since inception. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends our Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Companies Law imposes certain restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends. As a result, investors in the ADSs or Ordinary Shares will not be able to benefit from owning these securities unless their market price becomes greater than the price paid by such investors and they are able to sell such securities. We cannot assure you that you will ever be able to resell our securities at a price in excess of the price paid.

You may not receive the same distributions or dividends as those we make to the holders of our Ordinary Shares, and, in some limited circumstances, you may not receive dividends or other distributions on our Ordinary Shares and you may not receive any value for them, if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to you.

The depositary for the ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on Ordinary Shares or other deposited securities underlying the ADSs, after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of Ordinary Shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, conversion into U.S. dollars from foreign currency that was part of a dividend made in respect of deposited Ordinary Shares may require the approval or license of, or a filing with, any government or agency thereof, which may be unobtainable. In these cases, the depositary may determine not to distribute such property and hold it as “deposited securities” or may seek to effect a substitute dividend or distribution, including net cash proceeds from the sale of the dividends that the depositary deems an equitable and practicable substitute. We have no obligation to register under U.S. securities laws any ADSs, Ordinary Shares, rights or other securities received through such distributions. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, Ordinary Shares, rights or anything else to holders of ADSs. In addition, the depositary may withhold from such dividends or distributions its fees and an amount on account of taxes or other governmental charges to the extent the depositary believes it is required to make such withholding. This means that you may not receive the same distributions or dividends as those we make to the holders of our Ordinary Shares, and, in some limited circumstances, you may not receive any value for such distributions or dividends if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may cause a material decline in the value of the ADSs.

Holders of ADSs must act through the depositary to exercise their rights as our shareholders .

Holders of the ADSs do not have the same rights of our shareholders and may only exercise the voting rights with respect to the underlying Ordinary Shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement for the ADSs. Under Israeli law, the minimum notice period required to convene a shareholders meeting is no less than 35 or 21 calendar days. When a shareholder meeting is convened, holders of the ADSs may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting to permit them to withdraw their Ordinary Shares to allow them to cast their vote with respect to any specific matter. In addition, the depositary and its agents may not be able to send voting instructions to holders of the ADSs or carry out their voting instructions in a timely manner. We will make all reasonable efforts to cause the depositary to extend voting rights to holders of the ADSs in a timely manner, but we cannot assure holders that they will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that they can instruct the depositary to vote their ADSs. Furthermore, the depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, holders of the ADSs may not be able to exercise their right to vote and they may lack recourse if their ADSs are not voted as they requested. In addition, in the capacity as a holder of ADSs, they will not be able to call a shareholders’ meeting.

You may be subject to limitations on transfer of your ADSs.

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deems it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason in accordance with the terms of the deposit agreement.

We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.

In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Litigation of this type could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could seriously hurt our business. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations or publish negative reports regarding our business or our shares, the share price and trading volume of our securities could decline.

The trading market for the ADSs or Ordinary Shares will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts and we cannot provide any assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If any of the analysts who may cover us adversely change their recommendation regarding our securities, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our securities would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the price or trading volume of our securities to decline.

ADSs holders may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to claims arising under the deposit agreement, which could result in less favorable results to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.  

The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our Ordinary Shares provides that owners and holders of ADSs irrevocably waive the right to a trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to the deposit agreement or the ADSs, including claims under federal securities laws, against us or the depositary to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. If this jury trial waiver provision is prohibited by applicable law, an action could nevertheless proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a jury trial waiver under the federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by a federal court. However, we believe that a jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement, by a court of the State of New York or a federal court, which have non-exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising under the deposit agreement, applying such law. In determining whether to enforce a jury trial waiver provision, New York courts and federal courts will consider whether the visibility of the jury trial waiver provision within the agreement is sufficiently prominent such that a party has knowingly waived any right to trial by jury. We believe that this is the case with respect to the deposit agreement and the ADSs. In addition, New York courts will not enforce a jury trial waiver provision in order to bar a viable setoff or counterclaim sounding in fraud or one which is based upon a creditor’s negligence in failing to liquidate collateral upon a guarantor’s demand, or in the case of an intentional tort claim (as opposed to a contract dispute), none of which we believe are applicable in the case of the deposit agreement or the ADSs. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with any provision of the federal securities laws. If you or any other holder or owner of ADSs brings a claim against us or the depositary in connection with matters arising under the deposit agreement or the ADSs, you or such other holder or owner may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to such claims, which may have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us and / or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us and / or the depositary under the deposit agreement, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may result in different results than a trial by jury would have had, including results that could be less favorable to the plaintiff(s) in any such action, depending on, among other things, the nature of the claims, the judge or justice hearing such claims, and the venue of the hearing.

Risks Related to Israeli Law and Our Operations in Israel

Our operations are subject to currency and interest rate fluctuations.

We incur expenses in U.S. dollars and NIS, but our financial statements are denominated in U.S. dollars. U.S. dollars is our functional currency and is the currency that represents the principal economic environment in which we operate. As a result, we are affected by foreign currency exchange fluctuations through both translation risk and transaction risk. As a result, we are exposed to the risk that the NIS may appreciate relative to the dollar, or, if the NIS instead devalues relative to the dollar, that the inflation rate in Israel may exceed such rate of devaluation of the NIS, or that the timing of such devaluation may lag behind inflation in Israel. In any such event, the dollar cost of our operations in Israel would increase and our dollar-denominated results of operations would be adversely affected.

Provisions of Israeli law and our articles of association may delay, prevent or otherwise impede a merger with, or an acquisition of, our company, which could prevent a change of control, even when the terms of such a transaction are favorable to us and our shareholders.

As a company incorporated under the law of the State of Israel, we are subject to Israeli law. Israeli corporate law regulates mergers, requires tender offers for acquisitions of shares above specified thresholds, requires special approvals for transactions involving directors, officers or significant shareholders and regulates other matters that may be relevant to such types of transactions. For example, a merger may not be consummated unless at least 50 days have passed from the date on which a merger proposal is filed by each merging company with the Israel Registrar of Companies and at least 30 days have passed from the date on which the shareholders of both merging companies have approved the merger. In addition, a majority of each class of securities of the target company must approve a merger. Moreover, a tender offer for all of a company’s issued and outstanding shares can only be completed if the acquirer receives positive responses from the holders of at least 95% of the issued share capital and a majority of the offerees that do not have a personal interest in the tender offer approves the tender offer, unless, following consummation of the tender offer, the acquirer would hold at least 98% of the company’s outstanding shares. Under the Israeli law, a potential bidder for the company’s shares, who would as a result of a purchase of shares hold either 25% of the voting rights in the company when no other party holds 25% or more, or 45% of the voting rights in the company where no other shareholders holds 45% of the voting rights, would be required to make a special purchase offer as set out in the provisions of the Israeli law. The Israeli law requires a special purchase offer to be submitted to shareholders for a pre-approval vote. A majority vote is required to accept the offer. An offeror who is regarded as a ‘controlling shareholder’ under Israeli law cannot vote on the resolution and the procedure includes a secondary vote of the non-voting shareholders and the shareholders who rejected the offer at pre-approval level. A special purchase offer may not be accepted unless shares that carry 5% of the voting rights in the target company are acquired. Furthermore, the shareholders may, at any time within six months following the completion of the tender offer, claim that the consideration for the acquisition of the shares does not reflect their fair market value, and petition an Israeli court to alter the consideration for the acquisition accordingly, other than those who indicated their acceptance of the tender offer in case the acquirer stipulated in its tender offer that a shareholder that accepts the offer may not seek such appraisal rights, and the acquirer or the company published all required information with respect to the tender offer prior to the tender offer’s response date. See “Description of Share Capital—Provisions Restricting Change in Control of Our Company—Acquisitions under Israeli Law” for additional information.

Israeli tax considerations also may make potential transactions unappealing to us or to our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel exempting such shareholders from Israeli tax. For example, Israeli tax law does not recognize tax-free share exchanges to the same extent as U.S. tax law. With respect to mergers, Israeli tax law allows for tax deferral in certain circumstances but makes the deferral contingent on the fulfillment of a number of conditions, including, in some cases, a holding period of two years from the date of the transaction during which sales and dispositions of shares of the participating companies may be subject to certain restrictions and additional terms. Moreover, with respect to certain share swap transactions, the tax deferral is limited in time, and when such time expires, the tax becomes payable even if no disposition of the shares has occurred. See “Item 10.E. Taxation—Israeli Tax Considerations and Government Programs” for additional information.

It may be difficult to enforce a judgment of a United States court against us and our officers and directors and the Israeli experts named in this annual report on Form 20-F in Israel or the United States, to assert United States securities laws claims in Israel or to serve process on our officers and directors and these experts.

We were incorporated in Israel and our corporate headquarters are located in Israel. All of our executive officers and directors and the Israeli experts named in this annual report on Form 20-F are located in Israel. All of our assets and most of the assets of these persons are located in Israel. Therefore, a judgment obtained against us, or any of these persons, including a judgment based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws, may not be collectible in the United States and may not necessarily be enforced by an Israeli court. It also may be difficult to affect service of process on these persons in the United States or to assert U.S. securities law claims in original actions instituted in Israel. Additionally, it may be difficult for an investor, or any other person or entity, to initiate an action with respect to United States securities laws in Israel. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a claim based on an alleged violation of United States securities laws reasoning that Israel is not the most appropriate forum in which to bring such a claim. In addition, even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that Israeli law and not United States law is applicable to the claim. If United States law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable United States law must be proven as a fact by expert witnesses, which can be a time consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law. There is little binding case law in Israel that addresses the matters described above. As a result of the difficulty associated with enforcing a judgment against us in Israel, you may not be able to collect any damages awarded by either a United States or foreign court.

Our headquarters and other significant operations are located in Israel, and, therefore, our results may be adversely affected by political, economic and military instability in Israel.

Our executive offices, corporate headquarters and principal research and development facilities are located in Israel. In addition, the vast majority of our officers and directors are residents of Israel. Accordingly, political, economic and military conditions in Israel and the surrounding region may directly affect our business. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries, the Hamas militant group and the Hezbollah. Any hostilities involving Israel or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners could adversely affect our operations and results of operations. Ongoing and revived hostilities or other Israeli political or economic factors, such as, an interruption of operations at the Tel Aviv airport, could prevent or delay our regular operation, product development and delivery of products. If continued or resumed, these hostilities may negatively affect business conditions in Israel in general and our business in particular. In the event that hostilities disrupt the ongoing operation of our facilities and our operations may be materially adversely affected. 

In addition, since 2010 political uprisings and conflicts in various countries in the Middle East, including Egypt and Syria, are affecting the political stability of those countries. It is not clear how this instability will develop and how it will affect the political and security situation in the Middle East. This instability has raised concerns regarding security in the region and the potential for armed conflict. In Syria, a country bordering Israel, a civil war is taking place. In addition, it is widely believed that Iran, which has previously threatened to attack Israel, has been stepping up its efforts to achieve nuclear capability. Iran is also believed to have a strong influence among extremist groups in the region, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Additionally, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, or ISIL, a violent jihadist group, is involved in hostilities in Iraq and Syria. The tension between Israel and Iran and/or these groups may escalate in the future and turn violent, which could affect the Israeli economy in general and us in particular. Any potential future conflict could also include missile strikes against parts of Israel, including our offices and facilities. Such instability may lead to deterioration in the political and trade relationships that exist between the State of Israel and certain other countries. Any armed conflicts, terrorist activities or political instability in the region could adversely affect business conditions, could harm our results of operations and could make it more difficult for us to raise capital. Parties with whom we do business may sometimes decline to invest in Israel or in Israeli companies, or decline to travel to Israel during periods of heightened unrest or tension, forcing us to make alternative arrangements when necessary in order to meet our business partners face to face. Several countries, principally in the Middle East, still restrict doing business with Israel and Israeli companies, and additional countries may impose restrictions on doing business with Israel and Israeli companies if hostilities in Israel or political instability in the region continues or increases. Similarly, Israeli companies are limited in conducting business with entities from several countries. For instance, the Israeli legislature passed a law forbidding any investments in entities that transact business with Iran. In addition, the political and security situation in Israel may result in parties with whom we have agreements involving performance in Israel claiming that they are not obligated to perform their commitments under those agreements pursuant to force majeure provisions in such agreements.

Our employees and consultants in Israel, including members of our senior management, may be obligated to perform one month, and in some cases longer periods, of military reserve duty until they reach the age of 40 (or older, for citizens who hold certain positions in the Israeli armed forces reserves) and, in the event of a military conflict or emergency circumstances, may be called to immediate and unlimited active duty. In the event of severe unrest or other conflict, individuals could be required to serve in the military for extended periods of time. In response to increases in terrorist activity, there have been periods of significant call-ups of military reservists. It is possible that there will be similar large-scale military reserve duty call-ups in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence of a significant number of our officers, directors, employees and consultants related to military service. Such disruption could materially adversely affect our business and operations. Additionally, the absence of a significant number of the employees of our Israeli suppliers and contractors related to military service or the absence for extended periods of one or more of their key employees for military service may disrupt their operations.

Our insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of an event associated with the security situation in the Middle East or for any resulting disruption in our operations. Although the Israeli government has in the past covered the reinstatement value of direct damages that were caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be maintained or, if maintained, will be sufficient to compensate us fully for damages incurred and the government may cease providing such coverage or the coverage might not suffice to cover potential damages. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business. Any armed conflicts or political instability in the region would likely negatively affect business conditions generally and could harm our results of operations and product development.

Further, in the past, the State of Israel and Israeli companies have been subjected to economic boycotts. Several countries still restrict business with the State of Israel and with Israeli companies. These restrictive laws and policies may have an adverse impact on our operating results, financial conditions or the expansion of our business. Similarly, Israeli corporations are limited in conducting business with entities from several countries.

Your rights and responsibilities as a holder of our securities will be governed by Israeli law, which differs in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S. companies.

The rights and responsibilities of the holders of our Ordinary Shares (and therefore indirectly and the ADSs) are governed by our articles of association and by Israeli law. These rights and responsibilities differ in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in typical U.S.-based corporations. In particular, a shareholder of an Israeli company has certain duties to act in good faith in a customary manner in exercising its rights and performing its obligations towards the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing its power in the company including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders on certain matters, such as an amendment to the company’s articles of association, an increase of the company’s authorized share capital, a merger of the company, and approval of related party transactions that require shareholder approval. A shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from discriminating against other shareholders. In addition, a controlling shareholder or a shareholder who knows that it possesses the power to determine the outcome of a shareholder vote or to appoint or prevent the appointment of an officer of the company has a duty to act in fairness towards the company with regard to such vote or appointment. However, Israeli law does not define the substance of this duty of fairness. There is limited case law available to assist us in understanding the nature of this duty or the implications of these provisions. These provisions may be interpreted to impose additional obligations on holders of our Ordinary Shares that are not typically imposed on shareholders of U.S. corporations.

We received Israeli government grants for certain of our past research and development activities and programs, some of which we sold or are in the process of selling. The terms of such grants may require us, in the future, to pay royalties and to satisfy specific conditions if and to the extent we receive future royalties or in order to complete the sale of such grant based technologies and programs. We may be required to pay penalties in addition to payment of the royalties.

Our research and development efforts with respect to some of our past activities, including our previous immunotherapy programs such as the BBS Technology, which was focused on developing an immunotherapeutic monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, which we sold in March 2015, and our Anti-CD3 technology directed toward the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, which in part was returned and re-assigned to Hadasit Medical Research Services & Development Ltd., or Hadassit, and in part is still in the process of being sold, were financed in part through royalty-bearing grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority, or the IIA, formerly known as the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy and Industry. As of December 31, 2018, we have received the aggregate amount of approximately $4.1 million from the IIA for the development of our abovementioned technologies. With respect to such grants, we are committed to pay certain royalties up to $1.1 million relating only to technologies in our possession and excluding any royalties for technologies that we sold to third parties. We are required to comply with the requirements of the Israeli Encouragement of Research, Development and Technological Innovation in the Industry Law, 5744-1984, as amended, and related regulations, or the Research Law, with respect to these past grants. The discretionary approval of an IIA committee would be required for any assignment and/or transfer to third parties inside or outside of Israel of know-how or transfer outside of Israel of manufacturing or manufacturing rights related to those aspects of such activities and programs (including selling it). The IIA may impose certain conditions on any arrangement under which it permits us to transfer or assign technology or development in or out of Israel. If we fail to comply with the Research Law, we may be required to refund certain grants previously received and/or to pay interest and penalties and we may become subject to criminal charges. None of our current projects in the field of cannabinoid therapeutics are supported by the IIA, yet if eligible, we may apply for such support in the future.

We are in the process of selling one of our past research and development activities which may not be completed due to factors not in our control, and we may be required to assume the sale activity or abandon it, subject to certain payments and liabilities.

In June 2016, we entered into a share transfer agreement with our former subsidiary, Orimmune Bio Ltd., or Orimmune, and Karma Link Ltd., or Karma Link, a private company incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel. According to the agreement, we sold our holdings in Orimmune to Karma Link and will assist the assignment of the antibody Anti-CD3 technology (which was in-licensed by us from Hadasit and certain internally developed assets and technology relating thereto).

However, since certain intellectual property related to the Anti-CD3 technology was developed with financing, in part, from the IIA, we have not been able to assign it to Orimmune, as we have not been able to obtain the consent of the IIA, see Item 4.B. “Business Overview—Intellectual Property—Sales of intellectual property assets” for additional information.

If we are not able to obtain the consent of the IIA, then we may be required to assume the sale activity or abandon it, subject to certain payments and liabilities.