ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Investing in the Company’s common stock involves a high degree of risk. Prospective investors should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included or referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before purchasing shares of the Company’s common stock. There are numerous and varied risks, known and unknown, that may prevent the Company from achieving its goals. The risks described below are not the only ones the Company will face. If any of these risks actually occur, the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operation may be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of the Company’s common stock could decline and investors in the Company’s common stock could lose all or part of their investment.

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Risks Related to Our Business

Substantial doubt exists as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

As described in Note 2 of our accompanying consolidated financial statements, our auditors have issued a going concern opinion regarding the Company. This means there is substantial doubt we can continue as an ongoing business for the next twelve months. Our financial statements have been prepared assuming we will continue as a going concern. We have experienced substantial and recurring losses from operations, which losses have caused an accumulated deficit of $95.0 million as of June 30, 2019. As of June 30, 2019, we had approximately $0.6 million in cash and current liabilities of $7.3 million, $3.7 million were payables to related parties with no immediate payment terms and $2.9 million was payable to one shareholder who is our former director and officer of the Company (see Note 9. Related Party Transactions and Note 10. Convertible Note Payable - Related Party). The Company’s net cash used in operating activities for the year ended June 30, 2019 was approximately $6.3 million, and current projections indicate that the Company will have continued negative cash flows from operating activities for the foreseeable future.

We have been funding our business principally through sales of equity securities, and we expect to continue to fund our business through the sale of additional equity securities. The current primary potential source of cash available to us is proceeds from the exercise of warrants to purchase shares of our Series B preferred stock, which warrants were issued in October 2018 and May 2019. In addition, we may receive payments upon the achievement of milestones pursuant to our license agreement with Alfasigma or similar license agreements in the future. There can be no assurance of the exercise of warrants or the receipt of milestone payments in the future.

Our ability to successfully raise sufficient funds through the sale of equity securities, when needed, is uncertain and subject to market conditions generally, the market for our common stock and other risks. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months. If we are unable to meet our financial obligations, we could be forced to cease all operations, in which event investors may lose their entire investment in the Company. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

We need to raise substantial additional capital in the future to fund our operations and we may be unable to raise such funds when needed and on acceptable terms, which could prevent us from fully implementing our business, operating and development plans.

The Company has a history of losses, primarily due to being a mid-stage developmental pharmaceutical company. The Company intends on financing its future development activities largely from a variety of sources, including the sale of equity securities and seeking relationships with partners to help fund future clinical trial costs. However, there is no assurance these plans will be realized and that any additional financing will be available to us on satisfactory terms and conditions, if at all. In the event that we are unable to raise additional funds, we may be required to delay, reduce or severely curtail our operations or otherwise impede our ongoing efforts to develop our drug candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and long-term prospects.

We currently have an approximate $0.8 million cash balance in the bank as of the date of this filing, but that is insufficient to complete the development and commercialization of any of our proposed products. We expect to incur costs of approximately $11.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year ending June 30, 2020 to operate our business in accordance with our business plans and budgets.

If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders will experience dilution. Debt financing, if available, would result in increased fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms, such as liquidation and other preferences, which are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us.

Should the financing we require to sustain our working capital needs be unavailable or prohibitively expensive when we require it, it may be necessary to significantly reduce our current rate of spending through reductions in staff and delaying, scaling back or stopping certain research and development programs, including costly Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, and our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected and we may be unable to continue our operations. As of the date of this report, we have already delayed incurring additional expenses for Kevetrin and completing bridging toxicology work for oral dosing. In the event that we cannot obtain acceptable financing, we would be unable to complete preclinical development projects, and further clinical trials for Brilacidin and Kevetrin. This will delay:

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The amount of capital we may require will depend on many factors, including the:

Our fixed expenses, such as rent and other contractual commitments, may increase in the future, as we may:

We have no products approved for commercial sale, have never generated any revenues, and may never achieve revenues or profitability.

We currently have no products approved for commercial sale and, to date, we have not generated any revenues. Our ability to generate revenue depends heavily on:

If we do not successfully develop and commercialize at least one of our compounds, we will not achieve revenues or profitability in the foreseeable future, if at all. If we are unable to generate revenues or achieve profitability, we may be unable to continue our operations.

In our existing or any future potential collaborations or partnerships, we will likely not be able to control all aspects of the development and commercialization of our compounds. This lack of control could subject us to additional risks that could harm our business.

Collaborations or license agreements involving our compounds, including our current license agreement with Alfasigma S.p.A. and any future collaboration or partnering arrangement with other pharmaceutical companies, are subject to numerous risks, which may include:

	·	partners have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to collaborations;
	·	partners may not pursue development and commercialization of our compounds or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical study results, changes in their strategic focus due to the acquisition of competitive products, availability of funding, or other external factors, such as a business combination that diverts resources or creates competing priorities;
	·	partners may delay clinical studies, provide insufficient funding for a clinical study program, stop a clinical study, abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical studies, or require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing;
	·	partners could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our compounds;

 

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	·	a partner with marketing, manufacturing, and distribution rights to one or more compounds may not commit sufficient resources to or otherwise not perform satisfactorily in carrying out these activities;
	·	we could grant exclusive rights to our partners that would prevent us from collaborating with others;
	·	partners may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our intellectual property or proprietary information in a way that gives rise to actual or threatened litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential liability;
	·	partners may not aggressively or adequately pursue litigation concerning our compounds or may settle such litigation on unfavorable terms, as they may have different economic interests than ours, and such decisions could negatively impact any royalties we may receive under our license agreements;
	·	disputes may arise between us and a partner that causes the delay or termination of the research, development, or commercialization of our current or future compounds or that results in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources;
	·	agreements may be terminated, possibly at-will, without penalty, and, if terminated, may result in a need for additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable compounds;
	·	partners may own or co-own intellectual property covering our products that results from our collaborating with them, and in such cases, we would not have the exclusive right to commercialize such intellectual property; and
	·	a partner’s sales and marketing activities or other operations may not be in compliance with applicable laws resulting in civil or criminal proceedings.

 

We depend on our license agreement with Alfasigma for the development and commercialization of Brilacidin for localized treatment of ulcerative proctitis/ulcerative proctosigmoiditis (UP/UPS).

On July 18, 2019, we entered into a license agreement with Alfasigma, under which we granted Alfasigma the worldwide right to develop, manufacture and commercialize locally-administered Brilacidin for the treatment of ulcerative proctitis/ulcerative proctosigmoiditis (UP/UPS). Pursuant to the terms of the license agreement, Alfasigma is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts (as defined in the license agreement) to develop, manufacture and commercialize Brilacidin for UP/UPS, and to achieve specified developmental milestones.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Alfasigma will make payments of up to $24.0 million to the Company based upon the achievement of certain milestones. In addition, Alfasigma will pay a royalty to the Company equal to six percent of net sales of Brilacidin for UP/UPS, subject to adjustment as provided in the license agreement.

The right to potential future payments under the license agreement represents a significant portion of the value of the license agreement to us. We cannot be certain that we will receive any future payments under the license agreement, which would adversely affect the trading price of our common stock and our business prospects.

Additionally, if Alfasigma were to breach or terminate the license agreement, we may not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for Brilacidin for UP/UPS and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize Brilacidin for UP/UPS. We may not be able to seek and obtain a viable, alternative collaborator to partner for the development and commercialization of the licensed products on similar terms or at all.

We have limited experience in drug development and may not be able to successfully develop any drugs.

We have limited experience in drug development and may not be able to successfully develop any drugs. Our ability to achieve revenues and profitability in our business will depend, among other things, on our ability to:

We have limited experience conducting clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approvals, and we may not be successful in some or all of these activities. We have not previously conducted a Phase 3 or later stage clinical trial such as the Phase 3 clinical trials planned for our most advanced drug candidate. We expect to spend significant amounts to recruit and retain highly quality personnel with clinical development experience.

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We have no experience as a company in the sales, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products and do not currently have a sales and marketing organization. To the extent we are unable to, or determine not to develop these resources internally, we may be forced to rely on third parties for these capabilities, which could subject us to costs and to delays that are outside our control. If we are unable to establish adequate capabilities independently or with others, we may be unable to generate product revenues for certain candidates. If we are unable to achieve revenues and profitability, then we will be forced to cease operations, which could cause you to lose all of your investment.

Development of pharmaceutical products is a risky and time-consuming process subject to a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. We are subject to regulatory authority permissions and approvals, most importantly the FDA. Many of our drug candidates are at early and mid-stages of development. Consequently, we can provide no assurance of the successful and timely development of new drugs, and the failure to do so could cause us to cease operations.

The drug discovery and development process is highly uncertain and we have not developed, and may never develop, a drug candidate that ultimately leads to a commercially viable drug. Our drug candidates are in early and mid-stages of development, and our most advanced drug candidate has completed Phase 2 testing. Further development and extensive testing will be required to determine their technical feasibility and commercial viability.

Conducting clinical trials is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process that requires an appropriate number of trial sites and patients to support the product label claims being sought. The length of time, number of trial sites and number of patients required for clinical trials vary substantially according to their type, complexity, novelty and the drug candidate’s intended use, and we may spend several years completing certain trials. The time within which we can complete our clinical trials depends in large part on the ability to enroll eligible patients who meet the enrollment criteria and who are in proximity to the trial sites. We face competition with other clinical trials for eligible patients. As a result, there may be limited availability of eligible patients, which can result in increased development costs, delays in regulatory approvals and associated delays in drug candidates reaching the market. We experienced these issues in our psoriasis and oral mucositis clinical trials.

At any time, we, the FDA or an institutional review board (“IRB”), may temporarily or permanently stop a clinical trial, for a variety of reasons. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the clinical development process that could delay or prevent our drug candidates from being approved, including:

As our product candidates advance to later stage clinical trials, it is customary that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing, formulation and other processes, and methods of administration, may be altered to optimize the candidates and processes for scale-up necessary for later stage clinical trials and potential approval and commercialization. These changes may not produce the intended optimization, including production of drug substance and drug product of a quality and in a quantity sufficient for Phase 3 clinical stage development or for commercialization, which may cause delays in the initiation or completion of clinical trials and greater costs. We may also need to conduct “bridging studies” to demonstrate comparability between newly manufactured drug substance and/or drug product for commercialization relative to previously manufactured drug substance and/or drug product for clinical trials. Demonstrating comparability may require us to incur additional costs or delay initiation or completion of clinical trials and, if unsuccessful, could require us to complete additional preclinical studies or clinical trials.

We learned during our completed Kevetrin Phase 1 study Kevetrin IV was almost completely out of plasma within 24 hours. Therefore, little drug remains for any substantial period of time afterwards. Having the patient receive multiple IV infusions per week is a difficult course of treatment. Therefore, an oral formulations for Kevetrin is needed. There is no assurance we will be successful in developing an oral formulation.

We used Brilacidin in a water base, administered by enema, in our ulcerative proctitis study. However, a commercial product for Inflammatory Bowel Disease will need a different formulation (e.g. Brilacidin in capsule or foam). Additional formulation development is needed. There is no assurance we will be successful in developing new formulations for possible commercialization.

If we fail to adequately manage the increasing number, size and complexity of clinical trials, the clinical trials and corresponding regulatory approvals may be delayed or we or our partners may fail to gain approval for our drug candidates altogether. Even if we successfully conduct clinical trials, we may not obtain favorable clinical trial results and may not be able to obtain regulatory approval on this basis. If we are unable to market and sell our drug candidates or are unable to obtain approvals in the time frame needed to execute our product strategies, our business and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.

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Our success will depend on our ability to achieve scientific and technological advances and to translate such advances into reliable, commercially competitive drugs on a timely basis. The length of time required to complete clinical studies, submit an application for marketing approval, and obtain approval can vary considerably from one product to another, and may be difficult to predict or control. Drugs that we may develop are not likely to be commercially available for several years, if ever. The proposed development schedules for our drug candidates may be affected by a variety of factors, including technological difficulties, proprietary technology of others, and changes in government regulation, many of which will not be within our control.

Any delay in the development, introduction or marketing of our drug candidates could result either in such drugs being marketed at a time when their cost and performance characteristics would not be competitive in the marketplace or in the shortening of their commercial lives. In light of the long-term nature of our projects, the unproven technology involved and the other factors described elsewhere in “Risk Factors”, we may not be able to complete successfully the development or marketing of any of our drug candidates.

We may fail to successfully develop and commercialize our drug candidates for multiple reasons, including because they:

Drug development failure can occur at any stage of clinical trials and as a result of many factors and there can be no assurance that we will reach our anticipated clinical targets. Promising results in preclinical development or early clinical trials may not be predictive of results obtained in later clinical trials. Many pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after obtaining promising results in earlier preclinical studies and clinical trials. Clinical results are susceptible to varying interpretations that may delay, limit, or prevent regulatory approvals.

Even if we complete our clinical trials, we do not know what the long-term effects of exposure to our drug candidates will be. Furthermore, our drug candidates may be used in combination with other treatments and there can be no assurance that such use will not lead to unique safety issues. Failure to complete clinical trials or to prove that our drug candidates are safe and effective would have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue and could require us to reduce the scope of or discontinue our operations, which could cause you to lose all of your investment.

At any time, we may decide to discontinue the development of, or to not commercialize, a drug candidate, such as our decision in December 2018 to discontinue the Prurisol psoriasis program. If we terminate a program in which we have invested significant resources, we will not receive any return on our investment and we will have missed the opportunity to allocate those resources to potentially more productive uses.

We have limited experience in conducting or supervising clinical trials and must outsource all clinical trials, which exposes us to risks which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

We have limited experience in conducting and supervising clinical trials that must be performed to obtain data to submit in applications for approval by the FDA. Because we have limited experience in conducting or supervising clinical trials, we outsource a significant amount of the work relating to our clinical trials to third parties. We therefore have less control over the conduct of our clinical trials, the timing and completion of the trials, the required reporting of adverse events, and the management of data developed through the trials than would be the case if we were relying entirely upon our own staff. We also have more limited control over compliance with procedures and protocols used to complete clinical trials. If these contractors fail to meet applicable regulatory standards, the testing of our drugs would be adversely affected, causing a delay in our ability to engage in revenue-generating operations that could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Communicating with outside parties can also be challenging, potentially leading to mistakes, as well as difficulties in coordinating activities. Outside parties may have staffing difficulties, may undergo changes in priorities or may become financially distressed, adversely affecting their willingness or ability to conduct our trials. We may experience unexpected cost increases that are beyond our control. Problems with the timeliness or quality of the work of a contract research organization may lead us to seek to terminate the relationship and use an alternative service provider. However, making this change may be costly and may delay our trials and contractual restrictions may make such a change difficult or impossible. Additionally, it may be impossible to find a replacement organization that can conduct our trials in an acceptable manner and at an acceptable cost.

Success in early clinical trials may not be predictive or indicative of results in current ongoing clinical trials or potential future clinical trials. Likewise, preliminary data from clinical trials should be considered carefully and with caution since the final data may be materially different from the preliminary data, particularly as more patient data become available.

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A number of new drugs and biologics have shown promising results in preclinical studies and initial clinical trials, but subsequently have failed to establish sufficient safety and efficacy data to obtain necessary regulatory approvals to initiate commercial sale. There is typically an extremely high rate of attrition from the failure of product candidates proceeding through clinical trials. Data obtained from preclinical and clinical activities are subject to varying interpretations, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired benefit-risk profile despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. As a result, data from our preclinical studies and Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of our drug candidates Brilacidin and Kevetrin, as well as the results of the past or future internal data reviews, should not be relied upon as predictive or indicative of future clinical results. The results we have previously obtained, as well as any future results, may not predict the future therapeutic benefit of our drug candidates.

In addition, from time-to-time, preliminary or interim data from clinical trials, such as relating to the Brilacidin Phase 2, open-label, Proof-of-Concept (PoC) clinical trial, or potential future clinical trials, may be reported or announced by us or the clinical investigators and medical institutions with which we work. Such data are preliminary and the data from any final analysis may be materially different. Even if final safety and/or efficacy data are positive, significant additional clinical testing will be necessary to advance the future development of our drug candidates. Preliminary or interim results may also not be reproduced in any potential future clinical trials. Accordingly, preliminary or interim data should be considered carefully and with caution.

We are subject to risks inherent in conducting clinical trials. Non-compliance with the FDA’s good clinical practices by clinical investigators, clinical sites, or data management services could delay or prevent us from developing or commercializing our drug candidates, which could cause us to cease operations.

Agreements with clinical investigators and medical institutions for clinical testing and with other third parties for data management services place substantial responsibilities on these parties, which could result in delays in, or termination of, our clinical trials if these parties fail to perform as expected. For example, if any of our clinical trial sites fail to comply with FDA-approved good clinical practices, we may be unable to use the data gathered at those sites. If these clinical investigators, medical institutions or other third parties do not carry out their contractual duties or obligations or fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to their failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our drug candidates.

We or regulators may suspend or terminate our clinical trials for a number of reasons. We may voluntarily suspend or terminate our clinical trials if at any time we believe that they present an unacceptable risk to the patients enrolled in our clinical trials. In addition, regulatory agencies may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical trials at any time if they believe that the clinical trials are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements or that they present an unacceptable safety risk to the patients enrolled in our clinical trials. In addition, clinical trials may have independent monitoring boards composed of experts in the field. These boards may also have the authority to suspend or terminate clinical trials.

Our clinical trial operations are and will be subject to regulatory inspections at any time. If regulatory inspectors conclude that we or our clinical trial sites are not in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements for conducting clinical trials, we may receive reports of observations or warning letters detailing deficiencies, and we will be required to implement corrective actions. If regulatory agencies deem our responses to be inadequate, or are dissatisfied with the corrective actions that we or our clinical trial sites have implemented, our clinical trials may be temporarily or permanently discontinued, we may be fined, we or our investigators may be precluded from conducting any ongoing or any future clinical trials, the government may refuse to approve our marketing applications or allow us to manufacture or market our drug candidates or we may be criminally prosecuted. If we are unable to complete clinical trials and have our products approved due to our failure to comply with regulatory requirements, we will be unable to commence revenue-generating operations, which could force us to cease operations.

Delays in the commencement or completion of clinical testing could result in increased costs to us and delay or limit our ability to generate revenues.

Delays in the commencement or completion of clinical testing of our products or products could significantly affect our product development costs and our ability to generate revenue. We do not know whether the FDA will agree with the trial designs for ongoing and planned clinical trials or whether planned clinical trials will begin on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. The commencement and completion of clinical trials can be delayed for a number of reasons, including delays related to our ability to do the following:

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Clinical trials may also be delayed as a result of ambiguous or negative interim results. In addition, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us or our partner, the FDA, an IRB, a clinical trial site with respect to that site, or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including:

Additionally, we may need to amend clinical trial protocols for a variety of reasons, including changes in regulatory requirements and guidance. Such amendments may require us to, for example, resubmit our clinical trial protocols to IRBs for reexamination, which may impact the costs, timing or successful completion of a clinical trial. We may decide to terminate a clinical study for commercial reasons including increased market availability of generic treatments. If we experience delays in completion of, or if we terminate, any of our clinical trials, the commercial prospects for our product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate product revenues will be delayed and/or reduced. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate.

We must comply with significant and complex government regulations, compliance with which may delay or prevent the commercialization of our drug candidates, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

The R&D, manufacture and marketing of drug candidates are subject to regulation, primarily by the FDA in the United States, and by comparable authorities in other countries. These national agencies and other federal, state, local and foreign entities regulate, among other things, R&D activities (including testing in animals and in humans) and the testing, manufacturing, handling, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion of the products that we are developing. Noncompliance with applicable requirements can result in various adverse consequences, including approval delays or refusals to approve drug licenses or other applications, suspension or termination of clinical investigations, revocation of approvals previously granted, fines, criminal prosecution, recalls or seizures of products, injunctions against shipping drugs and total or partial suspension of production and/or refusal to allow a company to enter into governmental supply contracts.

The process of obtaining FDA approval for a drug has historically been costly and time consuming. Current FDA requirements for a new human drug or biological product to be marketed in the United States include: (i) the successful conclusion of pre-clinical laboratory and animal tests, if appropriate, to gain preliminary information on the product’s safety; (ii) filing with the FDA of an IND application to conduct human clinical trials for drugs or biologics; (iii) the successful completion of adequate and well-controlled human clinical investigations to establish the safety and efficacy of the product for its recommended use; and (iv) filing by a company and acceptance and approval by the FDA of a New Drug Application (“NDA”), for a drug product or a biological license application (“BLA”), for a biological product to allow commercial distribution of the drug or biologic. A delay in one or more of the procedural steps outlined above could be harmful to the Company in terms of getting our drug candidates through clinical testing and to market.

The FDA reviews the results of the clinical trials and may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of clinical trials at any time if it believes the drug candidate exposes clinical subjects to an unacceptable health risk. Investigational drugs used in clinical studies must be produced in compliance with cGMP rules pursuant to FDA regulations.

Sales outside the United States of products that we may develop will also be subject to additional regulatory requirements governing human clinical trials and marketing for drugs and biological products and devices. The requirements vary widely from country to country, but typically the registration and approval process takes several years and requires significant resources.

We also are subject to the following risks and obligations, related to the approval of our products:

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If we do not have the requisite resources to comply with all applicable regulations, then we could be forced to cease operations, which could cause you to lose all of your investment.

We or third-party manufacturers we rely on may encounter failures or difficulties in manufacturing or formulating clinical development and commercial supplies of drugs, which could delay the clinical development or regulatory approval of our drug candidates, or their ultimate commercial production if approved.

Currently, third parties manufacture our drug candidates on our behalf. Third-party manufacturers may lack capacity to meet our needs, go out of business or fail to perform. In addition, supplies of raw materials needed for manufacturing or formulation of clinical supplies may not be available or in short supply. Furthermore, should we obtain FDA or EMA approval for any of our drug candidates, we expect to rely, at least to some extent, on third-party manufacturers for commercial production. Our dependence on others for the manufacture of our drug candidates may adversely affect our ability to develop and deliver such drug candidates on a timely and competitive basis.

Any performance failure on the part of a third-party manufacturer could delay clinical development, regulatory approval or, ultimately, sales of our drug candidates. Our third-party manufacturers may encounter difficulties involving production yields, regulatory compliance, lot release, quality control and quality assurance, as well as shortages of qualified personnel. Approval of our drug candidates could be delayed, limited or denied if the FDA does not approve our or a third-party manufacturer’s processes or facilities. Moreover, the ability to adequately and timely manufacture and supply drug candidates is dependent on the uninterrupted and efficient operation of the manufacturing facilities, which is impacted by many manufacturing variables including:

In addition, our third-party manufacturers may encounter delays and problems in manufacturing our drug candidates or drugs for a variety of reasons, including accidents during operation, failure of equipment, delays in receiving materials, natural or other disasters, political or governmental changes, or other factors inherent in operating complex manufacturing facilities. Supply chain management is complex, and involves sourcing from a number of different companies and foreign countries. Commercially available starting materials, reagents and excipients may become scarce or more expensive to procure, and we may not be able to obtain favorable terms in agreements with contractors or subcontractors. Our third-party manufacturers may not be able to operate our respective manufacturing facilities in a cost-effective manner or in a time frame that is consistent with our expected future manufacturing needs. If we or our third-party manufacturers cease or interrupt production or if our third-party manufacturers and other service providers fail to supply materials, products or services to us for any reason, such interruption could delay progress on our programs, or interrupt the commercial supply, with the potential for additional costs and lost revenues. If this were to occur, we may also need to seek alternative means to fulfill our manufacturing needs.

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We may not be able to enter into agreements for the manufacture of our drug candidates with manufacturers whose facilities and procedures comply with applicable law. Manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspection by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign authorities to ensure strict compliance with cGMP and other applicable government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. We do not have control over a third-party manufacturer’s compliance with these regulations and standards. If one of our manufacturers fails to maintain compliance, we or they could be subject to enforcement, the production of our drug candidates could be interrupted or suspended, and/or our product could be recalled or withdrawn, among other consequences. Any of these events could result in delays, additional costs and potentially lost revenues.

We can provide no assurance that our drug candidates will obtain regulatory approval or that the results of clinical studies will be favorable, and if we fail to obtain such approval or if clinical studies are not favorable, we could be forced to cease operations.

Our drug candidates Brilacidin and Kevetrin will require lengthy and costly studies in humans to obtain approval from the FDA before they can be marketed. We cannot predict with any certainty that the study results will be satisfactory to the FDA for approval to ultimately be granted. Preclinical and clinical trials may reveal that one or more products are ineffective or unsafe, in which event further development of such products could be seriously delayed or terminated.

Approval of a drug candidate as safe and effective for use in humans is never certain and regulatory agencies may delay or deny approval of drug candidates for commercialization. For example, even though our product candidate Brilacidin has received QIDP designation, such designation may not result in a faster development process, review, or approval than drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures; nor does such designation assure ultimate approval by the FDA or related exclusivity benefits. Regulatory agencies also may delay or deny approval based on additional government regulation or administrative action, changes in regulatory policy during the period of clinical trials in humans and regulatory review, or the availability of alternative treatments.

Delays in obtaining, or failure to obtain, FDA or any other necessary regulatory approvals of any proposed drugs would have an adverse effect on the drug’s potential commercial success and on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, it is possible that a proposed drug may be found to be ineffective or unsafe due to conditions or facts that arise after development has been completed and regulatory approvals have been obtained. In this event, we may be required to withdraw such drug from the market. To the extent that our success will depend on any regulatory approvals from government authorities outside of the United States that perform roles similar to that of the FDA, uncertainties similar to those stated above will also exist.

Even if we obtain regulatory approvals, our marketed drug candidates will be subject to ongoing regulation. If we fail to comply with U.S. and foreign regulations, we could be subject to adverse consequences, including loss of our approvals to market these drugs, and our business would be seriously harmed.

Following any initial regulatory approval of any of our drug candidates, we will also be subject to continuing regulation of the manufacture, labeling, storage, recordkeeping, reporting, distribution, advertising, promotion, marketing, sale, import, and export of those drugs. Such regulation includes review of adverse experiences and the results of any clinical trials completed after our drug candidates are made commercially available, including any post marketing requirements that were required as a condition of approval. The contract manufacturers that make any of our drug candidates will also be subject to periodic review and inspection by the FDA. If our products, if approved, or the manufacturing facilities for our products fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency may suspend any ongoing clinical trials; issue warning letters or untitled letters; suspend or withdraw regulatory approval; refuse to approve pending applications or supplements to applications; suspend or impose restrictions on operations; seize or detain products, prohibit the export or import of products, or require us to initiate a product recall; or seek other monetary or injunctive remedies, or impose civil or criminal penalties. We do not have, and currently do not intend to develop, the ability to manufacture material for our clinical trials or on a commercial scale. Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured drugs ourselves, including reliance on the third-party manufacturer for regulatory compliance.

Our drug promotion and advertising also would be subject to regulatory requirements and continuing FDA review. Our marketing of these drugs also may be heavily scrutinized by the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, state attorneys general, members of Congress and the public. Our promotional activities will be regulated not only by the FDCA and FDA regulations, but also by federal and state laws pertaining to health care “fraud and abuse,” such as:

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Many states have similar laws applicable to items or services reimbursed by commercial insurers. Violations of fraud and abuse laws can result in costly litigation, fines and/or imprisonment, exclusion from participation in federal health care programs, and burdensome reporting and compliance obligations.

Compliance with ongoing regulation consumes substantial financial and management resources and may expose us to the potential for other adverse circumstances. For example, approval for a drug may be conditioned on costly post-marketing follow-up studies. Based on these studies, if a regulatory authority does not believe that the drug demonstrates an appropriate benefit-risk profile to patients, it could limit the indications for which a drug may be sold or revoke the drug’s marketing approval. In addition, identification of certain side effects after a drug is on the market may result in the subsequent withdrawal of approval, reformulation of a drug, additional preclinical and clinical trials, changes in labeling or distribution. Alternatively, we may be required by the FDA to develop and implement a REMS to ensure the safe use of our products. REMS may include costly risk management measures such as enhanced safety surveillance, restricted distribution and use, patient education, enhanced labeling, special packaging or labeling, expedited reporting of certain adverse events, pre-approval of promotional materials and restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising. Any of these events could delay or prevent us from generating revenue, or limit the revenue, from the commercialization of these drugs and/or cause us to incur significant additional costs.

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of a particular product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects. If we are required to withdraw all or more of our drugs from the market as a result of actions or inactions on our part or that of a third party, we may be unable to continue revenue-generating operations, which could cause you to lose all of your investment.

All of our Polymedix drug product candidates are licensed from or based upon licenses from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon our purchase of the Polymedix Assets we assumed all contractual rights and obligations of the licenses. If any of these license agreements are terminated, our ability to advance our Polymedix product candidates or develop new product candidates will be materially adversely affected which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

We now depend, and will continue to depend, on our Polymedix licenses and potentially on other licensing arrangements and/or strategic relationships with third parties for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of our Polymedix product candidates. If any of our licenses or relationships are terminated or breached, we may:

If we experience any of the foregoing, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business and could force us to cease operations which could cause you to lose all of your investment.

We or our third-party manufacturers may fail to comply with manufacturing regulations.

All facilities and manufacturing processes used in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, and drug products for clinical use in the U.S. must be operated in conformity with cGMP as established by the FDA. Similar requirements in other countries exist for manufacture of drug products for clinical use. These requirements include, among other things, quality control, quality assurance and the maintenance of records and documentation. Before we can commercialize a drug, we must obtain regulatory approval of our cGMP manufacturing facility and process, if any, or the cGMP manufacturing facility and process of the third party or parties with whom we may outsource our manufacturing activities.

In connection with any application for commercial approval, and if any drug candidate is approved by the FDA or other regulatory agencies for commercial sale, a significant scale-up in manufacturing may require additional validation studies. If we are unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for a drug candidate, the regulatory approval or commercial launch of that drug candidate may be delayed, or there may be a shortage of supply, which could limit our ability to develop or commercialize the drug.

Our manufacturing facilities, if any in the future, and the manufacturing facilities of our third-party manufacturers will be subject to inspection by the FDA and other state, local and foreign regulatory authorities, before and after product approval. We cannot guarantee that we, or any potential third-party manufacturer of our products, will be able to comply with the cGMP regulations or other applicable manufacturing regulations.

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Failure on our or our third party manufacturers’ part to comply with applicable regulations and specific requirements or specifications of other countries could result in the termination of ongoing research, disqualification of data for submission to regulatory authorities, delays or denials of new product approvals, warning letters, fines, consent decrees restricting or suspending manufacturing operations, injunctions, civil penalties, recall or seizure of products and criminal prosecution. Any of these consequences could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Controls we or our third-party service providers have in place to ensure compliance with laws may not be effective to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

The development of our investigational products and our general operations are subject to extensive regulation in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Although we have developed and instituted controls to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, we cannot assure you that we, our employees, our consultants or our contractors will operate at all times in full compliance with all potentially applicable U.S. federal and state regulations and/or laws or all potentially applicable foreign law and/or regulations. Further, we have a limited ability to monitor and control the activities of third-party service providers, suppliers and manufacturers to ensure compliance by such parties with all applicable regulations and/or laws. We may be subject to direct liabilities or be required to indemnify such parties against certain liabilities arising out of any failure by them to comply with such regulations and/or laws. If we or our employees, consultants or contractors fail to comply with any of these regulations and/or laws a range of consequences could result, including, but not limited to, the termination of clinical trials, the failure to obtain approval of a product candidate, restrictions on our products or manufacturing processes, withdrawal of our products from the market, significant fines, exclusion from government healthcare programs or other sanctions or litigation that could adversely affect our results of operations.

The Company is exposed to product liability, clinical and preclinical liability risks which could place a substantial financial burden upon the Company should it be sued.

The Company could be exposed to potential product liability and other liability risks that are inherent in the testing, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products. In addition, the use in the Company’s clinical trials of its investigational products and the potential subsequent sale of these products by the Company or its potential collaborators may cause the Company to bear some or all of the associated product liability risks. A successful liability claim or series of claims brought against the Company could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company has $5,000,000 per occurrence / $10,000,000 in aggregate in liability insurance for our clinical trials. The Company cannot assure that such insurance will provide adequate coverage against the Company’s potential liabilities. Claims or losses in excess of any product liability insurance coverage obtained by the Company could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information. Disclosure of our trade secrets or proprietary information could compromise any competitive advantage that we have, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

We depend upon confidentiality and non-use agreements with our officers, employees, consultants, and subcontractors to maintain the proprietary nature of the technology. These measures may not afford us sufficient or complete protection, and may not afford an adequate remedy in the event of an unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. In addition, others may independently develop technology similar to ours, otherwise avoiding the confidentiality agreements, or produce patents that would materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be unable to obtain or protect intellectual property rights relating to our products, and we may be liable for infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Our ability to compete effectively will depend on our ability to maintain the proprietary nature of our compounds and the proprietary compounds of others with which we have entered into licensing agreements. We have filed patent applications and expect to file a number of additional patent applications in the coming years. There can be no assurance that any of these patent applications will ultimately result in the issuance of a patent with respect to the proprietary compounds owned by us or licensed to us. The patent position of pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies, including ours, is generally uncertain and involves complex legal and factual considerations. The standards that the United States Patent and Trademark Office use to grant patents are not always applied predictably or uniformly and can change. There is also no uniform, worldwide policy regarding the subject matter and scope of claims granted or allowable in pharmaceutical or biotechnology patents. Accordingly, we do not know the degree of future protection for our proprietary rights or the breadth of claims that will be allowed in any patents issued to us or to others. Further, we rely on a combination of trade secrets, know-how, technology and nondisclosure, and other contractual agreements and technical measures to protect our rights in the proprietary compounds. If any trade secret, know-how or other proprietary information and/or compounds not protected by a patent were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

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We do not believe that any of the drug candidates we are currently developing infringe upon the rights of any third parties nor are they infringed upon by third parties; however, there can be no assurance that our proprietary compounds will not be found in the future to infringe upon the rights of others or be infringed upon by others. In such a case, others may assert infringement claims against us, and should we be found to infringe upon their patents, or otherwise impermissibly utilize their intellectual property, we might be forced to pay damages, potentially including treble damages, if we are found to have willfully infringed on such parties’ patent rights. In addition to any damages we might have to pay, we may be required to obtain licenses from the holders of this intellectual property, enter into royalty agreements, or redesign our drug candidates so as not to utilize this intellectual property, each of which may prove to be uneconomical or otherwise impossible. Conversely, we may not always be able to successfully pursue our claims against others that infringe upon our proprietary compounds. Thus, the proprietary nature of our technology or technology licensed by us may not provide adequate protection against competitors.

Moreover, the cost to us of any litigation or other proceeding relating to our patents and other intellectual property rights, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial, and the litigation would divert our management’s efforts. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could limit our ability to continue our operations.

Our potential collaborative relationships with third parties could cause us to expend significant resources and incur substantial business risk with no assurance of financial return, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

We may have to rely substantially upon strategic collaborations for marketing and the commercialization of our drug candidates, and we may rely even more on strategic collaborations for R&D of our other drug candidates. Our business will depend on our ability to sell drugs to both government agencies and to the general pharmaceutical market. We may have to sell our drugs through strategic partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies. If we are unable to establish or manage such strategic collaborations on terms favorable to us in the future, our revenue and drug development may be limited. To date, we have not yet marketed or sold any of our drug candidates.

If we determine to enter into R&D collaborations during the early phases of drug development, our success will in part depend on the performance of our research collaborators. We will not directly control the amount or timing of resources devoted by our research collaborators to activities related to our drug candidates. Our research collaborators may not commit sufficient resources to our programs. If any research collaborator fails to commit sufficient resources, our preclinical or clinical development programs related to this collaboration could be delayed or terminated. Also, our collaborators may pursue existing or other development-stage products or alternative technologies in preference to those being developed in collaboration with us. Finally, if we fail to make required milestone or royalty payments to our collaborators, or to observe other obligations in our agreements with them, our collaborators may have the right to terminate those agreements.

Management of our relationships with our collaborators will require:

Establishing strategic collaborations is difficult and time-consuming. Our discussion with potential collaborators may not lead to the establishment of collaborations on favorable terms, if at all. Potential collaborators may reject collaborations based upon their assessment of our financial, regulatory or intellectual property position. Even if we successfully establish new collaborations, these relationships may never result in the successful development or commercialization of our drug candidates or the generation of sales revenue. To the extent that we enter into collaborative arrangements, our drug revenues are likely to be lower than if we directly marketed and sold any drugs that we may develop.

We may not be able to attract and retain highly skilled personnel or consultants, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Our ability to attract and retain highly skilled personnel or consultants is critical to our operations and expansion. We face competition for these types of personnel from other pharmaceutical companies and more established organizations, many of which have significantly larger operations and greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel or consultants on a timely basis, on competitive terms, or at all. If we are not successful in attracting and retaining these personnel or consultants, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be materially adversely affected.

We depend upon our senior management and their loss or unavailability could put us at a competitive disadvantage.

We depend upon the efforts and abilities of our senior management team Leo Ehrlich and Dr. Arthur Bertolino. Leo Ehrlich, the Company’s Chief Executive and Financial Officer presently has no employment agreement with the Company. The loss of a member of the senior management team could have an adverse impact on our business. Competition for senior management is intense, and we may not be successful in attracting and retaining key personnel to replace such loss of a member of the senior management team, the inability of which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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The biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapid technological developments and a high degree of competition. We may be unable to compete with enterprises equipped with more substantial resources than us, which could cause us to cease operations.

The biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapid technological developments and a high degree of competition based primarily on scientific and technological factors. These factors include the availability of patent and other protection for technology and products, the ability to commercialize technological developments and the ability to obtain government approval for testing, manufacturing and marketing.

We compete with biopharmaceutical firms in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, as well as a growing number of large pharmaceutical companies that are applying biotechnology to their operations. Many biopharmaceutical companies have focused their development efforts in the human therapeutics area, including cancer. Many major pharmaceutical companies have developed or acquired internal biotechnology capabilities or made commercial arrangements with other biopharmaceutical companies. These companies, as well as academic institutions, government agencies and private research organizations, also compete with us in recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientific personnel and consultants. Our ability to compete successfully with other companies in the pharmaceutical field will also depend to a considerable degree on the continuing availability of capital on terms and conditions acceptable to us.

We are aware of numerous products under development or manufactured by competitors that are used for the prevention or treatment of certain diseases we have targeted for drug development. Various companies are developing biopharmaceutical products that potentially directly compete with our drug candidates even though their approach to such treatment is different.

For example, with respect to Kevetrin, our lead compound for cancer, there are many drugs approved to treat various cancers and many more in the publicly disclosed pipeline. Our success depends on our ability to identify tumor types where Kevetrin has an advantage over existing therapies and those in the publicly disclosed pipeline. The same is true for our compound, Brilacidin. Numerous drugs are already FDA approved for the treatment of IBD and ABSSSI. Although there is presently no drug approved for the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis for head and neck cancers, there are numerous clinical trials in progress and Kepivance is approved for limited use patients with hematologic malignancies.

Our competition will be determined in part by the potential indications for which our investigational drugs are developed and ultimately approved by regulatory authorities. Additionally, the timing of the market introduction of some of our potential drugs or of competitors’ products may be an important competitive factor. Accordingly, the relative speed with which we can develop drugs; complete pre-clinical testing, clinical trials, and approval processes; and supply commercial quantities to market are likely to be important competitive factors. We expect that competition among drugs approved for sale will be based on various factors, including product efficacy, safety, reliability, availability, price and patent protection.

The successful development of biopharmaceuticals is highly uncertain. A variety of factors, including, but not limited to, unfavorable pre-clinical study results or failure to obtain regulatory approvals, could cause us to abandon development of our drug candidates, which could also cause us to cease operations and you may lose your entire investment.

Risks Related to the Securities Markets and Investments in Our Class A Common Stock

Our Series B preferred stock converts into shares of Class A common stock at a discount to the market price of our Class A common stock. As a result, our common stockholders will experience substantial additional dilution when shares of our Series B preferred stock are converted into common stock.

Our Series B preferred stock may be converted at any time at the holder’s option into shares of our common stock at a conversion price equal of the lower of (i) $0.31625 per share and (ii) 85% of the lowest volume weighted average sale prices of our Class A common stock as reported on Bloomberg L.P. on a trading day during the ten trading days prior to and ending on, and including, the conversion date. In addition, the conversion price may be decreased following certain triggering events. Our Series B preferred stock, of which 1,196 shares and warrants to purchase an additional 7,720 shares were outstanding as of June 30, 2019, has substantially similar provisions. As a result, the number of shares of Class A common stock that the holders of our Series B preferred stock will receive upon conversion will increase as our Class A common stock price decreases, and there is no floor to the conversion price, and our common stockholders will experience substantial dilution as shares of our Series B preferred stock are converted into our common stock. Any dilution or potential dilution may cause our stockholders to sell their shares, which may contribute to a downward movement in the stock price of our common stock.

In addition to potential dilution associated with future fundraising transactions, we currently have significant numbers of securities outstanding that are exercisable for our common stock, which will result in significant additional dilution and downward pressure on our stock price.

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As of June 30, 2019, there were 202.4 million shares of our Class A common stock outstanding and 0.9 million shares of our Class B common stock outstanding. In addition, as of June 30, 2019, there were outstanding stock options, warrants and a convertible note representing the potential issuance of approximately an additional 36.3 million shares of our common stock, and 1,196 shares of our Series B preferred stock convertible into approximately 8.3 million shares of our Class A common stock and warrants to purchase an additional 7,720 shares of our Series B preferred stock convertible into approximately 51.6 million shares of our Class A common stock, in each case assuming a conversion price of $0.1615 per share, 85% of the closing price of our Class A common stock on June 28, 2019. The issuance of these shares in the future would result in significant dilution to our current stockholders and could adversely affect the price of our common stock and the terms on which we could raise additional capital. In addition, the issuance and subsequent trading of shares could cause the supply of our common stock available for purchase in the market to exceed the purchase demand for our common stock. Such supply in excess of demand could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Because our common stock is quoted on the OTC your ability to sell your shares in the secondary trading market may be limited.

Our Class A Common Stock is currently quoted on the OTC. Consequently, the liquidity of our Class A Common Stock is impaired, not only in the number of shares that are bought and sold, but also through delays in the timing of transactions, and coverage by security analysts and the news media, if any, of our Company. As a result, prices for shares of our Class A Common Stock may be lower than might otherwise prevail if our Class A Common Stock were listed on a national securities exchange.

Because our Class A Common Stock is considered “penny stock” you may have difficulty selling them in the secondary trading market.

Federal regulations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) regulate the trading of so-called “penny stocks,” which are generally defined as any security not listed on a national securities exchange, priced at less than $5.00 per share and offered by an issuer with limited net tangible assets and revenues. Since our Class A Common Stock currently is quoted on the OTC at less than $5.00 per share, our shares are “penny stocks” and may not be traded unless a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the risks associated therewith is delivered to a potential purchaser prior to any trade.

In addition, because our Class A Common Stock is not listed on any national securities exchange and currently is quoted at and trades at less than $5.00 per share, trading in our Class A Common Stock is subject to Rule 15g-9 under the Exchange Act. Under this rule, broker-dealers must take certain steps prior to selling a “penny stock,” which steps include:

If these penny stock rules are not followed by the broker-dealer, the investor has no obligation to purchase the shares. The application of these comprehensive rules will make it more difficult for broker-dealers to sell our Class A Common Stock and our stockholders, therefore, may have difficulty in selling their shares in the secondary trading market.

Our stock price may be volatile and your investment in our Class A Common Stock could suffer a decline in value.

As of June 30, 2019, the last closing price of our Class A Common Stock, as quoted on the OTC, was $0.19 per share. The price may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include:

Short sellers of our stock may be manipulative and may drive down the market price of our common stock.

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Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed or intends to borrow from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities at a later date to return to the lender. A short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities, as the short seller expects to pay less in the covering purchase than it received in the sale. It is therefore in the short seller’s interest for the price of the stock to decline, and some short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, opinions or characterizations regarding the relevant issuer, often involving deliberate misrepresentations of the issuer’s business prospects and similar matters calculated to create negative market momentum. Penny stocks which do not trade on an exchange, such as our common stock, are particularly susceptible to short sales.

As a public entity in a highly digital world, we have been and in the future may be the subject of so-called “fake news,” a type of yellow journalism constructed to look legitimate while consisting of intentional misinformation and misrepresentations deliberately propagated by profiteering short sellers seeking to gain an illegal market advantage by spreading false information concerning the Company’s name, compounds, intellectual property, personnel, and affiliates. In the past, the publication of intentional misinformation concerning the Company by a disclosed short seller has been associated with the selling of shares of our common stock in the market on a large scale, resulting in a precipitous decline in the market price per share of our common stock. In addition, the publication of intentional misinformation may also result in lawsuits, the uncertainty and expense of which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and reputation. While we maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, certain costs, such as those below a retention amount, are not covered by our insurance policies. In addition, our insurance carriers could refuse to cover some or all of these claims in whole or in part.

While utilizing all available tools to defend the Company and its assets against fake news, there is limited regulatory control, making fake news an ongoing concern for any public company. While we move forward in our business development strategies in good faith, there are no assurances that we will not face more fake news or similar tactics by bad actors in the future, and the market price of our common stock may decline as a result of their actions or the action of other short sellers.

Our directors and executive officers own or control a sufficient number of shares of our common stock to control our Company, which could discourage or prevent a takeover, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders.

At June 30, 2019, our directors and executive officers own or control approximately 10% of the outstanding voting power of our common stock, excluding common stock issuable upon the exercise of options or conversion of other instruments. Mr. Leo Ehrlich, our CEO and Chairman, also holds an option to purchase 17,090,910 shares of our Class B common stock, each share of which carries ten votes, compared to one vote for each share of our Class A common stock. If Mr. Ehrlich were to exercise this option, our directors and executive officers own or control approximately 50% of the outstanding voting power of our common stock. Accordingly, our directors and executive officers, individually and as a group, may be able to influence the outcome of stockholder votes, involving votes concerning the election of directors, the adoption or amendment of provisions in our Articles of Incorporation and bylaws and the approval of certain mergers or other similar transactions, such as sales of substantially all of our assets. Such control by existing stockholders could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our Company.

We do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future and, therefore, any return on your investment in our Class A Common Stock must come from increases in the fair market value and trading price of the Class A Common Stock.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our Class A Common Stock and do not intend to pay cash dividends on our Class A Common Stock in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, for reinvestment in the development and expansion of our business. Any credit agreements, which we may enter into with institutional lenders, may restrict our ability to pay dividends. Whether we pay cash dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and any other factors that the board of directors decides is relevant. Therefore, any return on your investment in our Class A Common Stock must come from increases in the fair market value and trading price of the Class A Common Stock.

We may issue additional equity shares to fund the Company’s operational requirements which would dilute your share ownership.

The Company’s continued viability depends on its ability to raise capital. Changes in economic, regulatory or competitive conditions may lead to cost increases. Management may also determine that it is in the best interest of the Company to develop new services or products. In any such case additional financing is required for the Company to meet its operational requirements. There can be no assurances that the Company will be able to obtain such financing on terms acceptable to the Company and at times required by the Company, if at all. In such event, the Company may be required to materially alter its business plan or curtail all or a part of its operational plans.