PART I

This Annual Report on Form 10‑K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to them. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “predicts,” “potential,” “intend” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: our future operating expenses, our future losses, the success of our strategy as a royalty aggregator, extent to which our issued and pending patents may protect our products and technology, the potential of our existing product candidates to lead to the development of commercial products, our ability to receive potential milestone or royalty payments under license and collaboration agreements and the timing of receipt of those payments. These statements are based on assumptions that may not prove accurate. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to certain risks inherent in the biotechnology industry and for our licensees engaged in the development of new products in a regulated market. Among other things: our product candidates subject to our out-license agreements are still being developed, and our licensees’ may require substantial funds to continue development which may not be available; we may not be successful in entering into out-license agreements for our product candidates; if our therapeutic product candidates do not receive regulatory approval, our third-party licensees will not be able to manufacture and market them; products or technologies of other companies may render some or all of our product candidates noncompetitive or obsolete; we do not know whether there will be, or will continue to be, a viable market for the products in which we have an ownership or royalty interest; even once approved, a product may be subject to additional testing or significant marketing restrictions, its approval may be withdrawn or it may be voluntarily taken off the market; we and our licensees are subject to various state and federal healthcare related laws and regulations that may impact the commercialization of our product candidates and could subject us to significant fines and penalties; and certain of our technologies are in-licensed from third parties, so our capabilities using them are restricted and subject to additional risks. These and other risks, including those related to current economic and financial market conditions, are contained principally in Item 1, Business; Item 1A, Risk Factors; Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; and other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed in Item 1A, Risk Factors, as well as those discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.

Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and you should not place undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered in connection with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements after completion of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K to reflect later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All references to “portfolio” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are to milestone and/or royalty rights associated with a basket of drug products in development.

Our strategy is to expand our pipeline by acquiring additional potential milestone and royalty revenue streams on drug product candidates from third parties. Expanding our pipeline through these acquisitions can allow for further diversification across therapeutic areas and development stages. Our ideal target acquisitions are in pre-commercial stages of development, have an expected long duration of market exclusivity, high revenue potential, and are partnered with a large pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical enterprise.

Portfolio Highlights

The following table highlights key assets included in our portfolio of potential future milestone and royalty streams. This table does not include all assets because certain assets are subject to confidentiality agreements.

Acquisitions

Royalty Purchase Agreement with Agenus, Inc.

In September 2018, we entered into a Royalty Purchase Agreement (the “Agenus Royalty Purchase Agreement”) with Agenus, Inc. (“Agenus”). Under the Agenus Royalty Purchase Agreement, we purchased from Agenus the right to receive 33% of the future royalties due to Agenus from Incyte (net of certain royalties payable by Agenus to a third party) and 10% of all future developmental, regulatory and sales milestones on sales of six Incyte immuno-oncology assets. In addition, we purchased from Agenus the right to receive 33% of the future royalties due to Agenus from Merck and 10% of all future developmental, regulatory and sales milestones on sales of MK-4830, an immuno-oncology product currently in clinical development. Pursuant to the Agenus Royalty Purchase Agreement, our share in future potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones is up to $59.5 million and the royalties have no limit. Under the terms of the Agenus Royalty Purchase Agreement, we paid Agenus $15.0 million. We financed $7.5 million of the purchase price with a three-year term loan under our Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) dated May 7, 2018.

Royalty Purchase Agreement with Bioasis Technologies, Inc.

In February 2019, we entered into a Royalty Purchase Agreement with Bioasis Technologies, Inc. (the “Bioasis Royalty Agreement”) and certain affiliates (collectively “Bioasis”). Under the Bioasis Royalty Agreement, we purchased potential future milestone, royalty and option fee payment rights from Bioasis for product candidates that are being developed pursuant to a License Agreement between Bioasis and Prothena Biosciences Limited. Under the terms of the Bioasis Royalty Agreement, we paid Bioasis an upfront cash payment of $0.3 million and will be required to make contingent future cash payments of up to $0.2 million to Bioasis if and when the licensed product candidates reach certain development milestones. As of December 31, 2019, none of the development milestones had been achieved. In addition, we were granted an option to purchase a 1% royalty right on the next two license agreements entered into between Bioasis and third-party licensees subject to certain payments and conditions as well as a right of first negotiation on subsequent Bioasis license agreements with third parties.

Royalty Purchase Agreement with Aronora, Inc.

In April 2019, we entered into a Royalty Purchase Agreement with Aronora, Inc. (the “Aronora Royalty Purchase Agreement”), a private research and development company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Under the Aronora Royalty Purchase Agreement, we purchased from Aronora the rights to potential royalties and a portion of upfront, milestone, and option payments associated with five anti-thrombotic hematology drug products in development: three candidates subject to Aronora’s collaboration with Bayer Pharma AG (“Bayer”) (the “Bayer Products”) and two additional early stage candidates (the “non-Bayer Products”).

Under the terms of the Aronora Royalty Purchase Agreement, we made a $6.0 million upfront payment to Aronora when the transaction closed on June 26, 2019, and in September 2019 we made an additional $3.0 million payment for the three Bayer Products that were active as of September 1, 2019. Pursuant to the Aronora Royalty Purchase Agreement, if we receive $250.0 million in cumulative royalties on net sales per product, we will be required to pay associated tiered milestones payments to Aronora in an aggregate amount of up to $85.0 million per product. The tiered milestones will be paid based on various royalty tiers prior to reaching $250.0 million in cumulative royalties on net sales per product. We will retain royalties per product in excess of $250.0 million. We will receive, on average, low single-digit royalties on future sales of the Bayer Products and 10% of all future developmental, regulatory and sales milestones related to the Bayer Products. In addition, we purchased from Aronora the right to receive low-single digit percentage of net sales of the non-Bayer Products and 10% of all future payments, including upfront payments, option payments and developmental, regulatory and sales milestone payments on potential future sales of the non-Bayer Products. We financed $4.5 million of the purchase price with a three-year term loan under our Loan and Security Agreement with SVB dated May 7, 2018.

Royalty Purchase Agreement with Palobiofarma, S.L.

In September 2019, we entered into a Royalty Purchase Agreement (the “Palo Royalty Purchase Agreement”) with Palobiofarma, S.L, (“Palo”). Pursuant to the Palo Royalty Purchase Agreement, we acquired the rights to potential royalty payments in low single digit percentages of aggregate net sales associated with six drug candidates in various clinical development stages, targeting the adenosine pathway with potential applications in solid tumors, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, psoriasis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and other indications (the “Palo Licensed Products”) that are being developed by Palo. Novartis Pharma AG (“Novartis”) is a development partner on NIR178, one of the Palo Licensed Products, and NIR178 is being developed pursuant to a license agreement between Palo and Novartis. Under the terms of the Palo Royalty Purchase Agreement, we paid Palo $10.0 million for the rights to potential royalty payments on future sales of the Palo Licensed Products.  We financed $5.0 million of the purchase price with a three-year term loan under our Loan and Security Agreement with SVB dated May 7, 2018.

Selected Programs Underlying Our Core Pipeline

Historically, we have licensed or provided research and development collaboration services to world-class organizations, such as Novartis and Takeda, in pursuit of new antibody products under which we are eligible to receive potential future milestone payments and royalties. The following is a summary of material license and collaboration agreements that represent a significant component of our core pipeline.

Novartis – Anti-CD40 Antibody

In September 2015, we and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. (“NVDI”), further amended our 2008 Amended and Restated Research, Development and Commercialization Agreement, relating to various antibodies, including anti-CD40 antibodies. Under this agreement, NVDI is solely responsible for the development and commercialization of the antibodies and products containing the antibodies arising from this program. The parties agreed to reduce the royalty rates that we are eligible to receive on sales of NVDI’s clinical stage anti-CD40 antibodies (such as iscalimab). These royalties are tiered based on sales levels and now have percentage rates ranging from mid-single digit to low-teens.

Our right to royalty payments expires on the later of the expiration of any licensed patent covering each product or 10 years from the first commercial sale of each product in each country. Novartis is conducting clinical testing of iscalimab in several indications.

Novartis – Gevokizumab

In August 2017, we and Novartis entered into a license agreement (the “XOMA‑052 License Agreement”), under which we granted Novartis an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to gevokizumab (“VPM087”) (an early clinical stage product candidate) and related know-how and patents. Under the terms of the XOMA‑052 License Agreement, Novartis is solely responsible for the development and commercialization of VPM087 and products containing such antibody.

Under the XOMA‑052 License Agreement, we received total consideration of $30.0 million in 2017 for the license and rights granted to Novartis. Of the total consideration, $15.7 million was paid in cash and $14.3 million (equal to €12.0 million) was paid by Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. (“NIBR”), on our behalf, to settle our loan with Les Laboratories Servier (“Servier”). In addition, NIBR extended the maturity date on our debt to Novartis to September 30, 2022. We also received $5.0 million related to the sale of 539,131 shares of our common stock, at a price per share of $9.2742. Based on the achievement of pre-specified criteria, we are eligible to receive up to $438.0 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones. We are also eligible to receive royalties on sales of licensed products, which are tiered based on sales levels and have percentage rates ranging from mid-single digit to mid-teens. This program is in early clinical testing.

Unless terminated earlier, the XOMA‑052 License Agreement will remain in effect, on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis, until Novartis’ royalty obligations end. The XOMA‑052 License Agreement contains customary termination rights relating to material breach by either party. Novartis also has a unilateral right to terminate the XOMA‑052 License Agreement on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis or in its entirety with six months’ prior written notice.

Novartis – Anti-TGFβ Antibody

In September 2015, we and Novartis International Pharmaceutical Ltd. (“Novartis International”) entered into a license agreement (the “Anti-TGFβ Antibody License Agreement”) under which we granted Novartis International an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to our anti-TGFβ antibody program (“NIS793”). Novartis International is solely responsible for the development and commercialization of the antibodies and products containing the antibodies arising from this program.

Under the Anti-TGFβ Antibody License Agreement, we received a $37.0 million upfront fee, and are eligible to receive up to a total of $480.0 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones. We also are eligible to receive royalties on sales of licensed products, which are tiered based on sales levels and have percentage rates ranging from mid-single digit to low-teens. This program is currently in early clinical testing.

Takeda

In November 2006, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Takeda under which we agreed to discover and optimize therapeutic antibodies against multiple targets selected by Takeda.

Under the terms of this agreement, we may receive additional milestone payments aggregating up to $19.0 million relating to TAK-079 and low single-digit royalties on future sales of all products subject to this license. Our right to milestone payments expires on the later of the receipt of payment from Takeda of the last amount to be paid under the agreement or the cessation by Takeda of all research and development activities with respect to all program antibodies, collaboration targets or collaboration products. Our right to royalties expires on the later of 13.5 years from the first commercial sale of each royalty-bearing discovery product or the expiration of the last-to-expire licensed patent.

In February 2009, we expanded our existing collaboration to provide Takeda with access to multiple antibody technologies, including a suite of research and development technologies and integrated information and data management systems. We may receive milestones of up to $3.3 million per discovery product candidate and low single-digit royalties on future sales of all antibody products subject to this license. Our right to milestone payments expires on the later of the receipt of payment from Takeda of the last amount to be paid under the agreement or the cessation by Takeda of all research and development activities with respect to all program antibodies, collaboration targets or collaboration products. Our right to royalties expires on the later of 10 years from the first commercial sale of such royalty-bearing discovery product or the expiration of the last-to-expire licensed patent.

Rezolute

In December 2017, we entered into a license agreement with Rezolute, Inc. (formerly AntriaBio, Inc.) (“Rezolute”) pursuant to which we granted an exclusive global license to Rezolute to develop and commercialize X358 (now RZ358), a Phase 2 product candidate, for all indications. We and Rezolute also entered into a common stock purchase agreement.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Rezolute is responsible for all development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization activities associated with RZ358 and is required to make certain clinical, regulatory and annual net sales milestone payments to us of up to $232.0 million in the aggregate based on the achievement of pre-specified criteria. Rezolute is also obligated to pay us royalties ranging from the high single digits to the mid-teens based upon annual net sales of RZ358. Rezolute is obligated to take customary steps to advance RZ358, and to meet certain spending requirements on an annual basis for the program until a marketing approval application for RZ358 is accepted by the FDA. Rezolute’s obligation to pay royalties with respect to a particular RZ358 product and country will continue for the longer of the date of expiration of the last valid patent claim covering the product in that country, or twelve years from the date of the first commercial sale of the product in that country.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Rezolute is required to pay us a low single-digit royalty on sales of Rezolute’s other products from its existing programs, currently in preclinical and early clinical stages. Rezolute’s obligation to pay royalties with respect to a particular Rezolute product and country will continue for the longer of twelve years from the date of the first commercial sale of the product in that country or for so long as Rezolute or its licensee is selling such product in such country, provided that such royalty will terminate upon the termination of the licensee’s obligation to make payments to Rezolute based on sales of such product in such country.

We also granted Rezolute an option through June 1, 2019 for an exclusive license for their choice of one of our preclinical insulin receptor monoclonal antibody fragments, including X129. On June 1, 2019, such option expired unexercised. The license agreement contains customary termination rights relating to material breach by either party. Rezolute also has a unilateral right to terminate the license agreement in its entirety on ninety-days’ notice at any time.

Rezolute License Agreement - First Amendment

In March 2018, we and Rezolute amended the license agreement and common stock purchase agreement. Pursuant to the as-amended terms of the license agreement and common stock purchase agreement, Rezolute was required to pay us $6.0 million in cash, to issue us $8.5 million worth of its common stock, and to issue us 7,000,000 shares of its common stock, contingent on the completion of its financing activities. Further, in the event that Rezolute did not complete a financing that raised at least $20.0 million in aggregate gross proceeds (“Qualified Financing”) by March 31, 2019 (the “2019 Closing”), it would issue to us an additional number of shares of its common stock equal to $8.5 million divided by the weighted average of the closing bid and ask prices or the average closing prices of Rezolute’s common stock on the ten-day trading period prior to March 31, 2019. Finally, if Rezolute was unable to complete a Qualified Financing by March 31, 2020, it was obliged to pay us $15.0 million in order to maintain the license. Under the common stock purchase agreement, Rezolute granted us the right and option to sell the greater of (i) 5,000,000 shares of common stock or (ii) one third of the aggregate shares held by us upon failure by Rezolute to list its shares of its common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market or a similar national exchange on or prior to December 31, 2019.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, Rezolute closed a debt financing activity for gross proceeds of $4.0 million, which triggered the Initial Closing, and completed an Interim Financing Closing, as defined in the common stock purchase agreement. These financing activities resulted in receipt of 8,093,010 shares of Rezolute’s common stock and cash of $0.5 million. Under the amended license agreement, we were also entitled to receive $0.3 million of reimbursable technology transfer expenses from Rezolute.

Rezolute License Agreement - Second Amendment

In January 2019, we and Rezolute further amended the license agreement and common stock purchase agreement. The license agreement was amended to eliminate the requirement that equity securities be issued to us upon the closing of the Qualified Financing and to replace it with a requirement that Rezolute: (1) make five cash payments to us totaling $8.5 million following the closing of a Qualified Financing on or before specified staggered future dates through September 2020 (the “Future Cash Payments”); and (2) provide for early payment of the Future Cash Payments (only until the above referenced $8.5 million is reached) by making cash payments to us equal to 15% of the net proceeds of each future financing following the closing of the Qualified Financing, with such payments to be credited against any remaining unpaid Future Cash Payments in reverse order of their scheduled payment date. In accordance with the terms of the license agreement, we received an additional $5.5 million in cash upon the closing of the Qualified Financing in February 2019. In July and August 2019, Rezolute received additional cash through two common stock financing events, resulting in early payment of $3.4 million of unrecognized Future Cash Payments. In addition, we received the $1.5 million and $1.0 million payments due in September 2019 and December 2019, respectively, resulting in a total of $11.4 million in cash received from Rezolute for Qualified Financing and Future Cash Payments in the year ended December 31, 2019. As of December 31, 2019, we had an outstanding receivable of $2.6 million representing the current estimate of the Future Cash Payments expected to be received from Rezolute. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recognized $14.0 million as revenue from Rezolute.

The license agreement amendment also revised the amount Rezolute is required to expend on development of RZ358 and related licensed products and revised provisions with respect to Rezolute’s diligence efforts in conducting clinical studies. Lastly, the common stock purchase agreement was amended to remove certain provisions related to the issuance of equity to us in accordance with the new provisions regarding the Future Cash Payments in the license agreement. Specifically, the common stock purchase agreement was amended to provide XOMA the right to sell up to 5,000,000 shares of Rezolute common stock currently held by us, back to Rezolute if it fails to list its shares of common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market or a similar national exchange on or prior to December 31, 2019. Only 2,500,000 shares may be sold back to Rezolute during calendar year 2020. Any such shares may be sold back to Rezolute at the average of the closing bid and asked prices of its common stock quoted on its principal trading market on the date of such put option exercise. As of December 31, 2019, Rezolute failed to list its shares of common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market or a similar exchange.

Ology Bioservices

On November 4, 2015, we entered into an asset purchase agreement with Ology Bioservices, Inc. (“Ology Bioservices”) (formerly Nanotherapeutics Inc.) (the “Ology Bioservices Purchase Agreement”), under which Ology Bioservices agreed to acquire our biodefense business and related assets. Under the terms of this agreement, we are eligible to receive a 15% royalty on net sales of any future Ology Bioservices products covered by or involving the related patents or know-how. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we received $2.5 million owed to us under the agreement with Ology Bioservices which was recognized as other income in our consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. The scheduled payment concluded in 2018, but we are still eligible to receive royalties in the future.

Proprietary Product Candidates

We have a pipeline of unique monoclonal antibodies and technologies available to license to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to further their clinical development. A summary of these product candidates is provided below:

Technologies Available for Non-Exclusive License

We have a set of antibody discovery, optimization and development technologies available for licensing, including:

Sale of Future Revenue Streams

On December 21, 2016, we entered into two Royalty Interest Acquisition Agreements (together, the “Royalty Sale Agreements”) with HealthCare Royalty Partners II, L.P. (“HCRP”). Under the first Royalty Sale Agreement, we sold our right to receive milestone payments and royalties on future sales of products subject to a license agreement, dated August 18, 2005, between XOMA and Pfizer, Inc. (“Pfizer”) (formerly Wyeth) for an upfront cash payment of $6.5 million, plus potential additional payments totaling $4.0 million in the event three specified net sales milestones were met by Pfizer in 2017, 2018 and 2019. None of the sales milestones were achieved. Under the second Royalty Sale Agreement entered into in December 2016, we sold our right to receive royalties under an Amended and Restated License Agreement dated October 27, 2006 between XOMA and Shire Plc. (formerly Dyax, Corp.) for a cash payment of $11.5 million.

Debt Agreements

Novartis

In connection with the collaboration between XOMA and Novartis AG (then Chiron Corporation), a secured note agreement was executed in May 2005. The note agreement is secured by our interest in the collaboration and was due and payable in full on June 21, 2015. In June 2015, we and NVDI, who assumed the note agreement, agreed to extend the maturity date of our secured note agreement from June 21, 2015 to September 30, 2015, which was then subsequently extended to September 30, 2020. In September 2017, in connection with the XOMA‑052 License Agreement with Novartis, we and NIBR, who assumed the note agreement from NVDI, executed an amendment to the note agreement under which we further extended the maturity date of the note to September 30, 2022. As of December 31, 2019, the outstanding principal balance under this note agreement totaled $15.9 million.

Silicon Valley Bank Loan Agreement

In May 2018, we executed a Loan and Security Agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with SVB. Under the Loan Agreement, upon our request, SVB may make advances available to us of up to $20.0 million. We may borrow advances under the Term Loan from May 7, 2018 (the “Effective Date”) until the earlier of March 31, 2019 or an event of default.

In connection with the Loan Agreement, we issued a warrant to SVB, which is exercisable in whole or in part for up to an aggregate of 6,332 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $23.69 per share (the “Warrant”). The Warrant may be exercised on a cashless basis and is exercisable within 10 years from the date of issuance or upon the consummation of certain acquisitions of XOMA.

In March 2019, we and SVB amended the Loan Agreement to extend the draw period from March 31, 2019 to March 31, 2020. In connection with the amendment, we issued a second warrant to SVB, which is exercisable in whole or in part for up to an aggregate of 4,845 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $14.71 per share. As of December 31, 2019, both warrants are outstanding. In addition, both warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and are exercisable within 10 years from the date of issuance or upon the consummation of certain acquisitions of XOMA.

In September 2018, we borrowed $7.5 million under the Loan Agreement in connection with the Agenus royalty purchase agreement. In June and September 2019, we borrowed advances of $3.0 million and $1.5 million for the upfront payment and the contingent consideration under the Aronora royalty purchase agreement, respectively. In September 2019, we borrowed an additional $5.0 million in connection with the Palo Royalty Purchase Agreement. As of December 31, 2019, the outstanding principal balance of the debt under the Loan Agreement was $16.1 million.

Competition

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are subject to continuous and substantial technological change. Some of the drugs our licensees or royalty partners are developing may compete with existing therapies or other drugs in development by other companies. Furthermore, academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private organizations conducting research may seek patent protection with respect to potentially competing products or technologies and may establish collaborative arrangements with our competitors. There can be no assurance that developments by others will not render our, or our licensees’, products or technologies obsolete or uncompetitive.

Additionally, our recently-undertaken royalty aggregator model faces competition on at least two fronts. First, there are other companies, funds and other investment vehicles seeking to aggregate royalties or provide alternative financing to development-stage biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The competitive companies, funds and other investment vehicles may have a lower target rate of return, a lower cost of capital or access to greater amounts of capital and thereby may be able to acquire assets that we are also targeting for acquisitions. Second, existing or potential competitors to our partners’ and licensees’ products, particularly large pharmaceutical companies, may have greater financial, technical and human resources than our licensees. Accordingly, these competitors may be better equipped to develop, manufacture and market products. Many of these companies also have extensive experience in preclinical testing and human clinical trials, obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals and manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products.

For a discussion of the risks associated with competition, see below under “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Government Regulation

The research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products are subject to regulation by numerous governmental authorities in the United States and other countries. We and our partners and licensees, depending on specific activities performed, are subject to these regulations. In the United States, pharmaceuticals are subject to regulation by both federal and various state authorities, including the FDA. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act govern the testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion of pharmaceutical products and there are often comparable regulations that apply at the state level. There are similar regulations in other countries as well. For both currently marketed and products in development, failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can, among other things, result in delays, the suspension of regulatory approvals, as well as possible civil and criminal sanctions. In addition, changes in existing regulations could have a material adverse effect on us or our partners.

For a discussion of the risks associated with government regulations, see below under “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is important to our business and our future income streams will depend in part on our ability to obtain issued patents, and our partners’ and licensees’ ability to operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of others. We hold and have filed applications for a number of patents in the United States and internationally to protect our products and technology. We also have obtained or have the right to obtain licenses to, or income streams based on, certain patents and applications filed by others. However, the patent position of biotechnology companies generally is highly uncertain and consistent policy regarding the breadth of allowed claims has not emerged from the actions of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with respect to biotechnology patents. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that our, or our partners’ or licensees’ patents will afford protection against competitors with similar products or others will not obtain patents claiming aspects similar to those covered by our, or our partners’ or licensees’ patent applications. Below is a list of representative patents and patent applications related to our licensed programs:

* Jointly-owned with Medical University of South Carolina Foundation for Research Development

If certain patents issued to others are upheld or if certain patent applications filed by others are issued and upheld, our partners and licensees may require certain licenses from others to develop and commercialize certain potential products incorporating our technology. There can be no assurance that such licenses, if required, will be available on acceptable terms.

We protect our proprietary information, in part, by confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and partners. These parties may breach these agreements, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. To the extent that we or our consultants or partners use intellectual property owned by others, we may have disputes with our consultants or partners or other third parties, as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.

Concentration of Risk

Our business model is dependent on third parties achieving specified development milestones and product sales. Our pipeline currently includes over 65 fully-funded programs from which we could potentially receive royalties if the programs achieve marketability. Novartis is developing several of the programs in our pipeline. While we do not expect the discontinuation of any one program would have a material impact on our business, the discontinuation of all programs by Novartis could have a material effect on our business and financial condition.

Organization

We were incorporated in Delaware in 1981 and became a Bermuda-exempted company in December 1998. Effective December 31, 2011, we changed our jurisdiction of incorporation from Bermuda to Delaware and changed our name from XOMA Ltd. to XOMA Corporation. When referring to a time or period before December 31, 1998 or after December 31, 2011, the terms “Company” and “XOMA” refer to XOMA Corporation, a Delaware corporation; when referring to a time or period between December 31, 1998 and December 31, 2011, such terms refer to XOMA Ltd., a Bermuda company.

Our principal executive offices are located at 2200 Powell Street, Suite 310, Emeryville, California 94608, and we maintain a registered office located at Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801. Our telephone number at our principal executive offices is (510) 204‑7200. Our website address is www.xoma.com. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Employees

As of March 5, 2020, we employed 10 full-time employees. None of our employees are unionized. Our employees are primarily engaged in executive, business development, legal, finance and administrative positions.

Risks Related to our Royalty Aggregator Strategy

Our acquisitions of potential future royalty and/or milestone payments may not produce anticipated revenues and/or may be negatively affected by a default or bankruptcy of the licensor(s) or licensee(s) under the applicable license agreement(s) covering such potential royalties and/or milestones, and if such transactions are secured by collateral, we may be, or may become, under-secured by the collateral or such collateral may lose value and we will not be able to recuperate our capital expenditures associated with the acquisition.

We are engaged in a continual review of opportunities to acquire future royalties, milestones and other payments related to drug development and sales as part of our royalty aggregator strategy or to acquire companies that hold royalty assets. Generally, at any time, we seek to have acquisition opportunities in various stages of active review, including, for example, our engagement of consultants and advisors to analyze particular opportunities, technical, financial and other confidential information, submission of indications of interest and involvement as a bidder in competitive auctions. Many potential acquisition targets do not meet our criteria, and for those that do, we may face significant competition for these acquisitions from other royalty buyers and enterprises. Competition for future asset acquisition opportunities in our markets could increase the price we pay for such assets and could reduce the number of potential acquisition targets. The success of our acquisitions is based on our ability to make accurate assumptions regarding the valuation, timing and amount of potential future royalty and milestone payments as well as the viability of the underlying technology and intellectual property. The failure of any of these acquisitions to produce anticipated revenues may materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Some of these acquisitions may expose us to credit risk in the event of a default by or bankruptcy of the licensor(s) or licensee(s) that are parties to the applicable license agreement(s) covering the potential milestone and royalty streams being acquired. While we generally try to structure our receipt of potential milestone and royalty payments to minimize the risk associated with such a default or bankruptcy, there can be no assurance that any such default or bankruptcy will not adversely affect our ability to receive future potential royalty and/or milestone payments. To mitigate this risk, on occasion, we may obtain a security interest as collateral in such royalty, milestone and other payments. Our credit risk in respect of such counterparty may be exacerbated when the collateral held by us cannot be realized upon or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount we are due pursuant to the terms of the particular assets. This could occur in circumstances where the original collateral was not sufficient to cover a complete loss (e.g., our interests were only partially secured) or may result from the deterioration in value of the collateral, so that, in either such case, we are unable to recuperate our full capital outlay. Any such losses resulting therefrom could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Many of our potential royalty acquisitions may be associated with drug products that are in clinical development and have not yet been commercialized. To the extent that such products are not successfully developed and commercialized, our financial condition and results of operations may be negatively impacted.

As part of our royalty aggregator strategy, we will purchase future milestone and royalty streams associated with drug products which are in clinical development and have not yet been commercialized. To the extent that any such drug products are not successfully developed and subsequently commercialized, the value of our acquired potential milestone and royalty streams will be negatively affected. The ultimate success of our royalty aggregator strategy will depend on our ability to properly identify and acquire high quality products and the ability of the applicable counterparty to innovate, develop and commercialize their products, in increasingly competitive and highly regulated markets. Their inability to do so would negatively affect our ability to receive royalty and/or milestone payments. In addition, we are dependent, to a large extent, on third parties to enforce certain rights for our benefit, such as protection of a patent estate, adequate reporting and other protections, and their failure to do so would presumably negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties for the determination of royalty and milestone payments. While we typically have primary or back-up rights to audit our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties, the independent auditors may have difficulty determining the correct royalty calculation, we may not be able to detect errors and payment calculations may call for retroactive adjustments. We may have to exercise legal remedies, if available, to resolve any disputes resulting from the audit.

The royalty and milestone payments we may receive are dependent on our licensees’ achievement of regulatory and developmental milestones and product sales. Each licensee’s calculation of the royalty payments is subject to and dependent upon the adequacy and accuracy of its sales and accounting functions, and errors may occur from time to time in the calculations made by a licensee and/or a licensee may fail to report the achievement of royalties or milestones in whole or in part. Our license and royalty agreements typically provide us the primary or back-up right to audit the calculations and sales data for the associated royalty payments; however, such audits may occur many months following our recognition of the royalty revenue, may require us to adjust our royalty revenues in later periods and may require expense on the part of the Company. Further, our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties may be uncooperative or have insufficient records, which may complicate and delay the audit process.

Although we intend to regularly exercise our royalty audit rights as necessary and to the extent available, we rely in the first instance on our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties to accurately report the achievement of milestones and royalty sales and calculate and pay applicable milestones and royalties and, upon exercise of such royalty and other audit rights, we rely on licensees’ and royalty-agreement counterparties’ cooperation in performing such audits. In the absence of such cooperation, we may be forced to incur expenses to exercise legal remedies, if available, to enforce our agreements.

The lack of liquidity of our acquisitions of future potential milestones and royalties may adversely affect our business and, if we need to sell any of our acquired assets, we may not be able to do so at a favorable price, if at all. As a result, we may suffer losses.

We generally acquire milestone and royalty rights that have limited secondary resale markets and may be subject to transfer restrictions. The illiquidity of most of our milestone and royalty receivable assets may make it difficult for us to dispose of them at a favorable price if at all and, as a result, we may suffer losses if we are required to dispose of any or all such assets in a forced liquidation or otherwise. In addition, if we liquidate all or a portion of our potential future milestone and/or purchased royalty stream interests quickly or relating to a forced liquidation, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we had previously recorded these interests.

Our royalty aggregator strategy may require that we register with the SEC as an “investment company” in accordance with the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The rules and interpretations of the SEC and the courts, relating to the definition of "investment company" are very complex. While we currently intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be an investment company under applicable SEC interpretations, we can provide no assurance that the SEC would not take the position that the Company would be required to register under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “‘40 Act”) and comply with the ‘40 Act’s registration and reporting requirements, capital structure requirements, affiliate transaction restrictions, conflict of interest rules, requirements for disinterested directors, and other substantive provisions. We monitor our assets and income for compliance under the ‘40 Act and seek to conduct our business activities to ensure that we do not fall within its definitions of “investment company” or qualify under one of the exemptions or exclusions provided by the ‘40 Act and corresponding SEC regulations. If we were to become an “investment company” and be subject to the restrictions of the ‘40 Act, those restrictions would likely require significant changes in the way we do business and add significant administrative burdens to our operations. To ensure that we do not fall within the ‘40 Act, we may need to take various actions which we might otherwise not pursue. These actions may include restructuring the Company and/or modifying our mixture of assets and income or a liquidation of certain of our assets.

Our licensees or royalty-agreement counterparties could be subject to natural disasters, public health crises, political crises and other catastrophic events that could hinder or disrupt development efforts.

We depend on our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties to successfully develop and commercialize product candidates for which we may receive milestone and royalty payments in the future.  Our licensees and royalty-agreement counterparties operate research and development efforts in various locations in the United States and internationally.  If any of their facilities is affected by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, power shortages or outages, floods or monsoons, public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, political crises, such as terrorism, war, political instability or other conflict, or other events outside of their control, their research and development efforts could be disrupted, which could result in the discontinuation of development of one or more of the product candidates in which we have rights to future milestone and/or royalty payments which could have a material adverse effect on our business operations and prospects.

Risks Related to our Financial Results and Capital Requirements

We have sustained losses in the past, and we expect to sustain losses in the foreseeable future.

We have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception. We had net losses of $2.0 million and $13.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $1.2 billion. We do not know whether we will ever achieve sustained profitability or whether cash flow from future operations will be sufficient to meet our needs.

To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity securities and debt and royalty interests, and payments received under our collaboration and licensing arrangements. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of our future expenditures and our and our partners’ ability to generate revenues. If our partners’ product candidates are not successfully developed or commercialized by our licensees, or if revenues are insufficient following regulatory approval, we will not achieve profitability and our business may fail. Our ability to achieve profitability is dependent in large part on the success of our and our licensees’ ability to license product candidates, and the success of our licensees’ development programs, both of which are uncertain. Our success is also dependent on our licensees obtaining regulatory approval to market product candidates which may not materialize or prove to be successful.

Our royalty aggregator  strategy may require us to raise additional funds to acquire milestone and royalty interests; we cannot be certain that funds will be available or available at an acceptable cost of capital, and if they are not available, we may be unsuccessful in acquiring milestone and royalty interests to sustain the business in the future.

We may need to commit substantial funds to continue our business, and we may not be able to obtain sufficient funds on acceptable terms, if at all. Any additional debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us and/or result in dilution to our stockholders, including pursuant to our 2018 ATM Agreement. If we raise additional funds through licensing arrangements with third parties, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our technologies or our product candidates, grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us or enter into a license arrangement for a product candidate at an earlier stage of development or for a lesser amount than we might otherwise choose.

If adequate funds are not available on a timely basis, we may:

We have significantly restructured our business and revised our business plan and there are no assurances that we will be able to successfully implement our revised business plan or successfully operate as a royalty aggregator.

We have historically been focused on discovering and developing innovative therapeutics derived from our unique platform of antibody technologies. We have now become a royalty aggregator where we focus on expanding our pipeline of fully-funded programs by out-licensing our internally developed product candidates and acquiring potential milestone and royalty revenue streams on additional third party drug product candidates. Our strategy is based on a number of factors and assumptions, some of which are not within our control, such as the actions of third parties. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully execute all or any elements of our strategy, or that our ability to successfully execute our strategy will be unaffected by external factors. If we are unsuccessful in acquiring potential milestone and royalty revenue streams on additional drug product candidates, or those acquisitions do not perform to our expectations, our financial performance and balance sheet could be adversely affected.

We may not fully realize the expected benefits of our cost-saving initiatives.

Maintaining a low corporate cost structure is a key element of our current business strategy. If we experience unanticipated inefficiencies caused by our reduced headcount, we may be unable to fully execute our new strategy.  In addition, we may incur expenses in excess of what we anticipate. Any of these outcomes could prevent us from meeting our strategic objectives and could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties

We rely heavily on licensee relationships, and any disputes or litigation with our partners or termination or breach of any of the related agreements could reduce the financial resources available to us, including our ability to receive milestone payments and future royalty revenues.

Our existing collaborations may not continue or be successful, and we may be unable to enter into future collaborative arrangements to develop and commercialize our unpartnered assets. Generally, our current collaborative partners also have the right to terminate their collaborations at will or under specified circumstances. If any of our collaborative partners breach or terminate their agreements with us or otherwise fail to conduct their collaborative activities successfully (for example, by not making required payments when due, or at all or failing to engage in commercially reasonable efforts to develop products if required), our product development under these agreements will be delayed or terminated. Disputes or litigation may also arise with our collaborators (with us and/or with one or more third parties), including those over ownership rights to intellectual property, know-how or technologies developed with our collaborators.

Our licensees rely on third parties to provide services in connection with our product candidate development and manufacturing programs. The inadequate performance by or loss of any of these service providers could affect our licensees’ product candidate development.

Third parties provide services in connection with preclinical and clinical development programs, including in vitro and in vivo studies, assay and reagent development, immunohistochemistry, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, clinical trial support, manufacturing and other outsourced activities. If these service providers do not adequately perform the services for which we or our licensees have contracted, or cease to continue operations, and we are not able to find a replacement provider quickly or we lose information or items associated with our drug product candidates, our or our licensees’ development programs and receipt of any potential resulting income may be delayed.

Agreements with other third parties, many of which are significant to our business, expose us to numerous risks.

Because our licensees, suppliers and contractors are independent third parties, they may be subject to different risks than we are and have significant discretion in, and different criteria for, determining the efforts and resources they will apply related to their agreements with us. If these licensees, suppliers and contractors do not successfully perform the functions for which they are responsible, we may not have the capabilities, resources or rights to do so on our own.

We do not know whether we or our licensees will successfully develop and market any of the products that are or may become the subject of any of our licensing arrangements. In addition, third-party arrangements such as ours also increase uncertainties in the related decision-making processes and resulting progress under the arrangements, as we and our licensees may reach different conclusions, or support different paths forward, based on the same information, particularly when large amounts of technical data are involved.

Under our contract with NIAID, a part of the National Institute of Health (“NIH”), we invoiced using NIH provisional rates, and these are subject to future audits at the discretion of NIAID’s contracting office. In October of 2019, NIH notified us that it engaged KPMG LLP (“KPMG”) to perform an audit of our Incurred Cost Submissions for 2013, 2014 and 2015 and the audit is still in progress. This audit may result in an adjustment to revenue previously reported, which potentially could be material.

Failure of our licensees’ product candidates to meet current Good Manufacturing Practices standards may subject our licensees to delays in regulatory approval and penalties for noncompliance.

Our licensees may rely on third party manufacturers and such contract manufacturers are required to produce clinical product candidates under current Good Manufacturing Practices (“cGMP”) to meet acceptable standards for use in clinical trials and for commercial sale, as applicable. If such standards change, the ability of contract manufacturers to produce our and our licensees’ drug product candidates on the schedule required for our clinical trials or to meet commercial requirements may be affected. In addition, contract manufacturers may not perform their obligations under their agreements with our licensees or may discontinue their business before the time required by us to successfully produce clinical and commercial supplies of our licensees’ product candidates.

Contract manufacturers are subject to pre-approval inspections and periodic unannounced inspections 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. Any difficulties or delays in contractors’ manufacturing and supply of our licensees’ product candidates or any failure of our licensees’ contractors to maintain compliance with the applicable regulations and standards could increase costs, reduce revenue, make our licensees postpone or cancel clinical trials, prevent or delay regulatory approval by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign authorities, prevent the import and/or export of our licensees’ product candidates, or cause any of our licensees’ product candidates that may be approved for commercial sale to be recalled or withdrawn.

Certain of our technologies are in-licensed from third parties, so our and our licensees’ capabilities using them are restricted and subject to additional risks.

We have licensed technologies from third parties. These technologies include phage display technologies licensed to us in connection with our bacterial cell expression technology licensing program and antibody products. However, our and our licensees’ use of these technologies is limited by certain contractual provisions in the licenses relating to them, and although we have obtained numerous licenses, intellectual property rights in the area of phage display are particularly complex. If we are unable to maintain our licenses, patents or other intellectual property, we could lose important protections that are material to continuing our operations and for future prospects. Our licensors also may seek to terminate our license, which could cause us and our licensees to lose the right to use the licensed intellectual property and adversely affect our and our licensees’ ability to commercialize our technologies, products or services.

Because many of the companies with which we do business also are in the biotechnology sector, the volatility of that sector can affect us indirectly as well as directly.

The same factors that affect us directly also can adversely affect us indirectly by affecting the ability of our partners and others with whom we do business to meet their obligations to us and reduce our ability to realize the value of the consideration provided to us by these other companies in connection with their licensing of our products.

Risks Related to an Investment in Our Common Stock

Our share price may be volatile, and there may not be an active trading market for our common stock.

There can be no assurance that the market price of our common stock will not decline below its present market price or that there will be an active trading market for our common stock. The market prices of biotechnology companies have been and are likely to continue to be highly volatile. Fluctuations in our operating results and general market conditions for biotechnology stocks could have a significant impact on the volatility of our common stock price. We have experienced significant volatility in the price of our common stock. From January 1, 2019, through March 5, 2020, the share price of our common stock has ranged from a high of $28.85 to a low of $11.50. Additionally, we have two significant holders of our stock that could affect the liquidity of our stock and have a significant negative impact on our stock price if one or both of the holders were to quickly sell their ownership positions.

Our results of operations and liquidity needs could be materially negatively affected by market fluctuations or an economic downturn.

Our results of operations could be materially negatively affected by economic conditions generally, both in the United States and elsewhere around the world. Concerns over inflation, energy costs, geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit, and the U.S. financial markets have in the past contributed to, and may continue in the future contribute to, increased volatility and diminished expectations for the economy and the markets. Domestic and international equity markets periodically experience heightened volatility and turmoil. These events may have an adverse effect on us. In the event of a market downturn, our results of operations could be adversely affected by those factors in many ways, including making it more difficult for us to raise funds if necessary, and our stock price may decline.

We may issue additional equity securities and thereby materially and adversely affect the price of our common stock. In addition, under certain circumstances each share of outstanding Series X and Series Y preferred stock could be converted into 1,000 shares of common stock which could cause a substantial dilution to our earnings per share and a change in the majority voting control of our Company, if enough of such preferred shares are converted to common shares.

We expect that significant additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in such a manner as we determine from time to time, including pursuant to our 2018 ATM Agreement. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. These sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders. If we issue additional equity securities, the price of our common stock may be materially and adversely affected.

We are authorized to issue, without stockholder approval, 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which 5,003 shares of Series X preferred stock and 1,252.772 shares of Series Y preferred stock were issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2019. Each share of Series X and Series Y is convertible into 1,000 shares of registered common stock. The total number of shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of all issued Series X and Series Y convertible preferred stock would be 6,255,772 shares. Each share is convertible at the option of the holder at any time, provided that the holder will be prohibited from converting into common stock if, as a result of such conversion, the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own a number of shares above a conversion blocker, which is initially set at 19.99% of our total common stock then issued and outstanding immediately following the conversion of such shares. A holder of Series X or Y preferred shares may elect to increase or decrease the conversion blocker above or below 19.99% on 61 days’ notice, provided the conversion blocker does not exceed the limits under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5635(b), to the extent then applicable. If holders of our Series X and Series Y convertible preferred stock elect to convert their preferred shares into common stock such conversion would dilute our currently outstanding common stock both in number and in earnings per share. Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. (“BVF”) (and its affiliates), as current holders of all shares of our Series X and Series Y preferred stock, would, if they converted all such shares to common stock, obtain majority voting control of the Company. BVF has notified us of their intention to convert all of their shares of Series Y preferred stock into common

stock. Upon such conversion, BVF will own approximately 35.4% the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock.

In addition, funding from collaboration partners and others has in the past and may in the future involve issuance by us of our common stock. We cannot be certain how the purchase price of such shares, the relevant market price or premium, if any, will be determined or when such determinations will be made.

Any issuance by us of equity securities, whether through an underwritten public offering, an at the market offering, a private placement, in connection with a collaboration or otherwise could result in dilution in the value of our issued and outstanding shares, and a decrease in the trading price of our common stock.

We may sell additional equity or debt securities to fund our operations, which may result in dilution to our stockholders and impose restrictions on our business.

In order to raise additional funds to support our operations, we may sell additional equity or convertible debt securities, which would result in dilution to our stockholders and/or debt securities which may impose restrictive covenants that would adversely impact our business. The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities could result in the issuance of additional shares of our capital stock and dilution to all of our stockholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in 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. If we are unable to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected and we may not be able to meet our debt service obligations.

Our organizational documents contain provisions that may prevent transactions that could be beneficial to our stockholders and may insulate our management from removal.

Our charter and by-laws:

In addition, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), that may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding common stock, from merging or combining with us.

These provisions of our organizational documents and the DGCL, alone or in combination with each other, may discourage transactions involving actual or potential changes of control, including transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices to holders of common stock, could limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests, and could make it considerably more difficult for a potential acquirer to replace management.

As a public company in the United States, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We have determined our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting are effective. We can provide no assurance that we will, at all times, in the future be able to report that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective.

Companies that file reports with the SEC, including us, are subject to the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”). Section 404 requires management to establish and maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting, and annual reports on Form 10‑K filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as

amended (the “Exchange Act”), must contain a report from management assessing the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Ensuring we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a time-consuming effort that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. Failure on our part to have effective internal financial and accounting controls would cause our financial reporting to be unreliable, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition, and could cause the trading price of our common stock to fall.

We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company, which may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

As a public company, we incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses, including costs associated with our public company reporting requirements. We also anticipate that we will continue to incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements and rules under SOX and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank") among other rules and regulations implemented by the SEC, as well as listing requirements of Nasdaq. Furthermore, these laws and regulations could make it difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these requirements could also make it difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board of Directors, our Board Committees or as executive officers.

New laws and regulations as well as changes to existing laws and regulations affecting public companies, including the provisions of SOX and Dodd-Frank and rules adopted by the SEC and Nasdaq, will likely result in increased costs to us as we respond to their requirements. We continue to invest resources to comply with evolving laws and regulations, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expense.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carry-forwards and other tax attributes will be substantially limited by Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

Under the federal income tax law, federal net operating losses incurred in 2019 and in future years may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such federal net operating losses is limited. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the federal tax law. In addition, Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and corresponding provisions of state law, generally limit the ability of a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” to utilize its net operating loss carry-forwards (“NOLs”) and certain other tax attributes against any taxable income in taxable periods after the ownership change. The amount of taxable income in each taxable year after the ownership change that may be offset by pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes is generally equal to the product of (a) the fair market value of the corporation’s outstanding shares (or, in the case of a foreign corporation, the fair market value of items treated as connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States) immediately prior to the ownership change and (b) the long-term tax exempt rate (i.e., a rate of interest established by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that fluctuates from month to month). In general, an “ownership change” occurs whenever the percentage of the shares of a corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by “5‑percent shareholders” (within the meaning of Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code) increases by more than 50 percentage points over the lowest percentage of the shares of such corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by such “5‑percent shareholders” at any time over the preceding three years.

Based on an analysis under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code (which subjects the amount of pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes that can be utilized to an annual limitation), we experienced ownership changes in 2009 and 2012, which substantially limit the future use of our pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes per year. In February 16, 2017, we completed an equity financing for net proceeds of $24.8 million which triggered an additional ownership change under Section 382 that significantly impacted the availability of our tax attributes against future income. Further, due to the existence of a net unrealized built-in loss at the ownership change date, Section 382 further limits our ability to fully utilize the tax deductions associated with certain of our assets, including depreciation and amortization deductions recognized during the 60‑month period following the ownership change ending in 2022. Although these deductions will occur in the post-change period, Section 382 treats the deductions as pre-change losses subject to the annual 382 limitation. As of December 31, 2019, we have excluded the NOLs and research and development credits that will expire as a result of the annual limitations. To the extent that we do not utilize our carry-

forwards within the applicable statutory carry-forward periods, either because of Section 382 limitations or the lack of sufficient taxable income, the carry-forwards will also expire unused.

The comprehensive tax reform bill could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was signed into law that significantly revises the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The federal income tax law, among other things, contains significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense to 30% of adjusted earnings (except for certain small businesses), limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time, and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits which may, as applicable, have an adverse effect on our profitability. Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of the new federal tax law is uncertain and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the federal tax law. The impact of this tax reform on holders of our common stock is also uncertain and could be adverse.

Risks Related to the Development and Commercialization of our Current and Future Product Candidates

We may not be able to successfully identify and acquire and/or in-license other products, product candidates, programs or companies to grow and diversify our business, and, even if we are able to do so, we may not be able to successfully manage the risks associated with integrating any such products, product candidates, programs or companies into our business or we may otherwise fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these licenses or acquisitions.

To grow and diversify our business, we plan to continue our business development efforts to identify and seek to acquire and/or in-license potential milestone and royalty streams or companies. Future growth through acquisition or in-licensing will depend upon the availability of suitable products, product candidates, programs or companies for acquisition or in-licensing on acceptable prices, terms and conditions. Even if appropriate opportunities are available, we may not be able to acquire rights to them on acceptable terms, or at all. The competition to acquire or in-license rights to promising products, product candidates, programs and companies is fierce, and many of our competitors are large, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with considerably more financial, development and commercialization resources, personnel, and experience than we have. In order to compete successfully in the current business climate, we may have to pay higher prices for assets than may have been paid historically, which may make it more difficult for us to realize an adequate return on any acquisition.

Even if we are able to successfully identify and acquire or in-license new products, product candidates, programs or companies, we may not be able to successfully manage the risks associated with integrating any products, product candidates, programs or companies into our business or the risks arising from anticipated and unanticipated problems in connection with an acquisition or in-licensing. Further, while we seek to mitigate risks and liabilities of potential acquisitions through, among other things, due diligence, there may be risks and liabilities that such due diligence efforts fail to discover, that are not disclosed to us, or that we inadequately assess. Any failure in identifying and managing these risks and uncertainties effectively would have a material adverse effect on our business. In any event, we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition or in-licensing for a variety of reasons, including the possibility that a product candidate fails to advance to clinical development, proves not to be safe or effective in clinical trials, or that a product fails to reach its forecasted commercial potential or that the integration of a product, product candidate, program or company gives rise to unforeseen difficulties and expenditures. Any failure in identifying and managing these risks and uncertainties would have a material adverse effect on our business.

We may not be successful in entering into out-license agreements for our product candidates, which may adversely affect our liquidity and business.

We intend to pursue a strategy to out-license all of our product candidates in order to provide for potential payments, funding and/or royalties on future product sales. The out-license agreements may be structured to share in the proceeds received by a licensee as a result of further development or commercialization of the product candidates. We

may not be successful in entering into out-licensing agreements with favorable terms as a result of factors, many of which are outside of our control. These factors include:

If we are unable to enter into out-licensing agreements for our product candidates and realize license,  milestone and/or royalty fees when anticipated, it may adversely affect our liquidity, which in turn may harm our business.

If our licensees’ therapeutic product candidates do not receive regulatory approval, our licensees will be unable to market them.

Our licensees’ product candidates cannot be manufactured and marketed in the United States or any other countries without required regulatory approvals. The U.S. government and governments of other countries extensively regulate many aspects of our product candidates, including:

In the United States, the FDA regulates pharmaceutical products under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and other laws, including, in the case of biologics, the Public Health Service Act.

Initiation of clinical trials requires approval by health authorities. Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational new drug to healthy volunteers or to patients under the supervision of a qualified principal investigator. Clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with FDA and International Conference on Harmonization Good Clinical Practices and the European Clinical Trials Directive, as applicable, under protocols that detail the objectives of the study, the parameters to be used to monitor safety and the efficacy criteria to be evaluated. Other national, foreign and local regulations also may apply. The developer of the drug must provide information relating to the characterization and controls of the product before administration to the patients participating in the clinical trials. This requires developing approved assays of the product to test before administration to the patient and during the conduct of the trial. In addition, developers of pharmaceutical products must provide periodic data regarding clinical trials to the FDA and other health authorities, and these health authorities may issue a clinical hold upon a trial if they do not believe, or cannot confirm, that the trial can be conducted without unreasonable risk to the trial participants.

The results of the preclinical studies and clinical testing, together with chemistry, manufacturing and controls information, are submitted to the FDA and other health authorities in the form of a New Drug Application (“NDA”) for a drug, and in the form of a Biologic License Application (“BLA”) for a biological product, requesting approval to

commence commercial sales. In responding to an NDA or BLA, the FDA or foreign health authorities may grant marketing approvals, request additional information or further research, or deny the application if they determine the application does not satisfy regulatory approval criteria. Regulatory approval of an NDA, BLA, or supplement is never guaranteed. The approval process can take several years, is extremely expensive and can vary substantially based upon the type, complexity, and novelty of the products involved, as well as the target indications. Our licensees ultimately may not be able to obtain approval in a timely fashion or at all.

The FDA and foreign health authorities have substantial discretion in the drug and biologics approval processes. Despite the time and expense incurred, failure can occur at any stage, and our potential development partners could encounter problems that cause abandonment of clinical trials or cause them to repeat or perform additional preclinical, clinical or manufacturing-related studies.

Changes in the regulatory approval policy during the development period, changes in, or the enactment of additional regulations or statutes, or changes in regulatory review for a submitted product application may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application.

The FDA and other regulatory agencies have substantial discretion in both the product approval process and manufacturing facility approval process, and as a result of this discretion and uncertainties about outcomes of testing, we cannot predict at what point, or whether, the FDA or other regulatory agencies will be satisfied with our licensees’ submissions or whether the FDA or other regulatory agencies will raise questions that may be material and delay or preclude product approval or manufacturing facility approval. In light of this discretion and the complexities of the scientific, medical and regulatory environment, our or our licensees’ interpretation or understanding of the FDA’s or other regulatory agencies’ requirements, guidelines or expectations may prove incorrect, which also could delay further or increase the cost of the approval process.

Our licensees and potential milestone and royalty providers face uncertain results of clinical trials of product candidates.

Drug development has inherent risk, and our licensees and potential milestone and royalty providers are required to demonstrate through adequate and well-controlled clinical trials that product candidates are effective, with a favorable benefit-risk profile for use in their target profiles before they can seek regulatory approvals for commercial use. It is possible we or our licensees may never receive regulatory approval for any licensed product candidates. Even if a product candidate receives regulatory approval, the resulting product may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and the medical community.

Our licensees’ product candidates require significant additional research and development, extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials and regulatory approval prior to any commercial sales. This process is lengthy and expensive, often taking a number of years. As clinical results frequently are susceptible to varying interpretations that may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approvals, the length of time necessary to complete clinical trials and to submit an application for marketing approval for a final decision by a regulatory authority varies significantly. As a result, it is uncertain whether:

The timing of the commencement, continuation and completion of clinical trials by our licensees may be subject to significant delays relating to various causes, including failure to complete preclinical testing and earlier-stage clinical trials in a timely manner, inability to engage contract research organizations and other service providers, scheduling conflicts with participating clinicians and clinical institutions, changes in key personnel at clinical institutions, difficulties in identifying and enrolling patients who meet trial eligibility criteria and shortages of available drug supply. In addition, since we license our product candidates to others to fund and conduct clinical trials, we have limited control over how quickly and efficiently such licensees advance those trials. Patient enrollment is a function of many factors, including the size of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the concentration of patients in specialist centers, the eligibility criteria for the trial, the existence of competing clinical trials and the availability of alternative or new treatments. Regardless of the initial size or relative complexity of a clinical trial, the costs of such trial may be higher than expected due to increases in duration or size of the trial, changes in the protocol under which the trial is being conducted, additional or special requirements of one or more of the healthcare centers where the trial is being conducted, or changes in the regulatory requirements applicable to the trial or in the standards or guidelines for approval of the product candidate being tested or for other unforeseen reasons.

In addition, our licensees may conduct clinical trials in foreign countries, which may subject them to further delays and expenses as a result of increased drug shipment costs, additional regulatory requirements and the engagement of foreign clinical research organizations, and may expose us and our licensees to risks associated with foreign currency transactions to make contract payments denominated in the foreign currency where the trial is being conducted.

New products and technologies of other companies may render some or all of our licensees’ product candidates noncompetitive or obsolete.

New developments by others may render our licensees’ product candidates or technologies obsolete or uncompetitive. Technologies developed and utilized by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are changing continuously and substantially. Competition in antibody-based technologies is intense and is expected to increase in the future as a number of established biotechnology firms and large chemical and pharmaceutical companies advance in these fields. Many of these competitors may be able to develop products and processes competitive with or superior to our and our licensees for many reasons, including that they may have:

These factors may enable others to develop products and processes competitive with or superior to our own or those of our licensees. In addition, a significant amount of research in biotechnology is being carried out in universities and other non-profit research organizations. These entities are becoming increasingly interested in the commercial value of their work and may become more aggressive in seeking patent protection and licensing arrangements. Furthermore, many companies and universities tend not to announce or disclose important discoveries or development programs until their patent position is secure or, for other reasons, later. As a result, we and our licensees may not be able to track development of competitive products, particularly at the early stages.

Positive developments in connection with a potentially competing product may have an adverse impact on our future potential for receiving revenue derived from development milestones and royalties. For example, if another product is perceived to have a competitive advantage, or another product’s failure is perceived to increase the likelihood that our licensed product will fail, our licensees may halt development of our licensed product candidates.

Our licensees may be unable to price our products effectively or obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement for sales of our products, which would prevent our licensees’ products from becoming profitable and negatively affect the royalties we may receive.

If our third-party licensees succeed in bringing our product candidates to the market, they may not be considered cost effective, and reimbursement to the patient may not be available or may not be sufficient to allow our licensees to sell the products on a competitive basis. In both the United States and elsewhere, sales of medical products and treatments are dependent, in part, on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors, such as government and private insurance plans. Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any products for which our licensees may obtain regulatory approval. Even if coverage is available, the associated reimbursement rate may not be adequate for us and our licensees to cover related costs. Additionally, coverage and reimbursement policies for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor as there is no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for drug products among third‑party payors in the United States. Therefore, the process of obtaining coverage and reimbursement is often time‑consuming and costly.

Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for pharmaceutical products and services. Our business is affected by the efforts of government and third-party payors to contain or reduce the cost of healthcare through various means. In the United States, there have been and will continue to be a number of federal and state proposals to implement government controls on pricing.

In addition, the emphasis on managed care in the United States has increased and will continue to increase the pressure on the pricing of pharmaceutical products. We cannot predict whether any legislative or regulatory proposals will be adopted or the effect these proposals or managed care efforts may have on our or our licensees’ businesses.

We do not know whether there will be, or will continue to be, a viable market for the product candidates in which we have an ownership or royalty interest.

Even if product candidates in which we have an interest receive approval in the future, they may not be accepted in the marketplace. In addition, our licensees may experience difficulties in launching new products, many of which are novel and based on technologies that are unfamiliar to the healthcare community. We have no assurance healthcare providers and patients will accept such products, if developed. Similarly, physicians may not accept a product if they believe other products to be more effective or more cost effective or are more comfortable prescribing other products.

Furthermore, government agencies, as well as private organizations involved in healthcare, from time to time publish guidelines or recommendations to healthcare providers and patients. Such guidelines or recommendations can be very influential and may adversely affect product usage directly (for example, by recommending a decreased dosage of a product in conjunction with a concomitant therapy) or indirectly (for example, by recommending a competitive product over our product). Consequently, we do not know if physicians or patients will adopt or use our products for their approved indications.

Even approved and marketed products are subject to risks relating to changes in the market for such products. Introduction or increased availability of generic or biosimilar versions of products can alter the market acceptance of branded products. In addition, unforeseen safety issues may arise at any time, regardless of the length of time a product has been on the market.

We are exposed to an increased risk of product liability claims.

The testing, marketing and sales of medical products entails an inherent risk of allegations of product liability. In the past, we were party to product liability claims filed against Genentech Inc. and, even though Genentech agreed to indemnify us in connection with these matters and these matters have been settled, there can be no assurance other product liability lawsuits will not result in liability to us or that our insurance or contractual arrangements will provide us with adequate protection against such liabilities. In the event of one or more large, unforeseen awards of damages against us, our product liability insurance may not provide adequate coverage. A significant product liability claim for which we were not covered by insurance or indemnified by a third party would have to be paid from cash or other assets, which could

have an adverse effect on our business and the value of our common stock. To the extent we have sufficient insurance coverage, such a claim would presumably result in higher subsequent insurance rates. In addition, product liability claims can have various other ramifications, including loss of future sales opportunities, increased costs associated with replacing products, a negative impact on our goodwill and reputation, and divert our management’s attention from our business, each of which could also adversely affect our business and operating results.

If we and our partners are unable to protect our intellectual property, in particular our patent protection for our principal products, product candidates and processes, and prevent the use of the covered subject matter by third parties, our licensees’ ability to compete in the market will be harmed, and we may not realize our profit potential.

We rely on patent protection, as well as a combination of copyright, trade secret, and trademark laws to protect our proprietary technology and prevent others from duplicating our products or product candidates. However, these means may afford only limited protection and may not:

Because of the length of time and the expense associated with bringing new products to the marketplace, we and our partners hold and are in the process of applying for a number of patents in the United States and abroad to protect our product candidates and important processes and also have obtained or have the right to obtain exclusive licenses to certain patents and applications filed by others. However, the mere issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its validity or its enforceability.

The U.S. Federal Courts, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office or equivalent national courts or patent offices elsewhere may invalidate our patents or find them unenforceable. The America Invents Act introduced post-grant review procedures subjecting U.S. patents to post-grant review procedures similar to European oppositions. U.S. patents owned or licensed by us or our licensees may therefore be subject to post-grant review procedures, as well as other forms of review and re-examination. A decision in such proceedings adverse to our interests could result in the loss of valuable patent rights, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights effectively or to the same extent as the laws of the United States.

If our intellectual property rights are not protected adequately, our licensees may not be able to commercialize our technologies or products, and our competitors could commercialize our technologies or products, which could result in a decrease in our licensees’ sales and market share that would harm our business and operating results. Specifically, the patent position of biotechnology companies generally is highly uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. The legal standards governing the validity of biotechnology patents are in transition, and current defenses as to issued biotechnology patents may not be adequate or available in the future. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to:

If certain patents issued to others are upheld or if certain patent applications filed by others are issued and upheld, our licensees may require licenses from others to develop and commercialize certain potential products incorporating our technology or we may become involved in litigation to determine the proprietary rights of others. These licenses, if required, may not be available on acceptable terms, and any such litigation will presumably be costly and may have other adverse effects on our business, such as inhibiting our licensees’ ability to compete in the marketplace and absorbing significant management time.

Due to the uncertainties regarding biotechnology patents, we also have relied and will continue to rely upon trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological advancement to develop and maintain our competitive position. Our employees and contractors are typically required to sign confidentiality agreements under which they agree not to use or disclose any of our proprietary information. Research and development contracts and relationships between us and our scientific consultants and potential licensees provide access to aspects of our know-how that are protected generally under confidentiality agreements. These confidentiality agreements may be breached or may not be enforced by a court. To the extent proprietary information is divulged to competitors or to the public generally, such disclosure may adversely affect our licensees’ ability to develop or commercialize our products by giving others a competitive advantage or by undermining our patent position.

Litigation regarding intellectual property and/or the enforcement of our contractual rights against licensees and third parties can be costly and expose us to risks of counterclaims against us.

We may be required to engage in litigation or other proceedings to protect our intellectual property and/or enforce our contractual rights against former or current licensees or third parties, including third-party collaborators of such licensees. The cost to us of this litigation, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. Such litigation and any negotiations leading up to it also could divert management’s attention and resources. If this litigation is resolved against us, we may lose the value associated with contract rights contained in our arrangements with licensees and third parties, our patents may be declared invalid, and we could be held liable for significant damages. While it is our current plan to pursue, on a selective basis, potential material contractual breaches against licensees and third-parties (including third-party collaborators of licensees) and/or infringement of our intellectual property rights or technology, there can be no assurance that any such enforcement actions will be successful, or if successful, the timing of such success or that we will have sufficient capital to prosecute any such actions to a successful conclusion.

In addition, we may be subject to claims that we, or our licensees, are infringing other parties’ patents. If such claims are resolved against us, we or our licensees may be enjoined from developing, manufacturing, selling or importing products, processes or services unless we obtain a license from the other party. Such license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, thus preventing us, or our licensees, from using these products, processes or services and adversely affecting our potential future revenue.

Risks Related to Employees, Location, Data Integrity, and Litigation

The loss of key personnel, including our Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer, could delay or prevent achieving our objectives.

Our business efforts could be adversely affected by the loss of one or more key members of our staff, particularly our executive officers: James R. Neal, our Chief Executive Officer and Thomas Burns, our Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. We currently do not have key person insurance on any of our employees.

Because we are a small biopharmaceutical focused company with limited resources, we may not be able to attract and retain qualified personnel.

We had 10 employees as of March 5, 2020. We may require additional experienced executive, accounting, legal, administrative and other personnel from time to time in the future. There is intense competition for the services of these personnel, especially in California. Moreover, we expect that the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our headquarters is located, may impair our ability to attract and retain employees in the future. If we do not succeed in

attracting new personnel and retaining and motivating existing personnel, our business may suffer and we may be unable to implement our current initiatives or grow effectively.

We rely and will continue to rely on outsourcing arrangements for many of our activities, including financial reporting and accounting and human resources.

        Due to our small number of employees, we rely, and expect to continue to rely, on outsourcing arrangements for a significant portion of our activities, including financial reporting and accounting and human resources, as well as for certain of our functions as a public company. We may have limited control over these third parties and we cannot guarantee that they will perform their obligations in an effective and timely manner.

Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading.

        We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees could include intentional failures to comply with applicable regulations, provide accurate information to regulatory authorities, comply with federal and state fraud and abuse laws and regulations, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, the health care industry is subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

Calamities, power shortages or power interruptions at our Emeryville headquarters could disrupt our business and adversely affect our operations.

Our corporate headquarters is located in Emeryville, California. This location is in an area of seismic activity near active earthquake faults. Any earthquake, tsunami, terrorist attack, fire, power shortage or other calamity affecting our facilities may disrupt our business and could have material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our business and operations would suffer in the event of system failures.

Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our current and any future licensees, suppliers, contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from cyberattacks, computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. We could experience failures in our information systems and computer servers, which could be the result of a cyberattacks and could result in an interruption of our normal business operations and require substantial expenditure of financial and administrative resources to remedy. System failures, accidents or security breaches can cause interruptions in our operations and can result in a material disruption of our development programs and other business operations. The loss of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Similarly, we rely on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, and conduct clinical trials of our product candidates, and similar events relating to their computer systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the development of any of our product candidates could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.

Data breaches and cyberattacks could compromise our intellectual property or other sensitive information and cause significant damage to our business and reputation.

In the ordinary course of our business, we maintain sensitive data on our networks, including our intellectual property and proprietary or confidential business information relating to our business and that of our customers and

business partners. The secure maintenance of this information is critical to our business and reputation. We believe companies have been increasingly subject to a wide variety of security incidents, cyberattacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access. These threats can come from a variety of sources, all ranging in sophistication from an individual hacker to a state-sponsored attack. Cyber threats may be generic, or they may be custom-crafted against our information systems. Cyberattacks have become more prevalent and much harder to detect and defend against. Our network and storage applications may be subject to unauthorized access by hackers or breached due to operator error, malfeasance or other system disruptions. It is often difficult to anticipate or immediately detect such incidents and the damage caused by such incidents. These data breaches and any unauthorized access or disclosure of our information or intellectual property could compromise our intellectual property and expose sensitive business information. A data security breach could also lead to public exposure of personal information of our clinical trial patients, customers and others which could expose us to liability under federal or state privacy laws. Cyberattacks can result in the theft of proprietary information which could be used to compete against us and could cause us to incur significant remediation costs, result in product development delays, disrupt key business operations and divert attention of management and key information technology resources. These incidents could also subject us to liability, expose us to significant expense and cause significant harm to our reputation and business.

Significant disruptions of information technology systems, including cloud-based systems, or breaches of data security could adversely affect our business.

Our business is increasingly dependent on critical, complex and interdependent information technology systems, including cloud-based systems, to support business processes as well as internal and external communications. Our computer systems, and those of our partners and contractors, are potentially vulnerable to breakdown, malicious intrusion and computer viruses that may result in the impairment of key business processes. Such disruptions and breaches of security could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, our data security and information technology systems, as well as those of our partners and contractors, are potentially vulnerable to data security breaches, whether by employees or others, that may expose sensitive data or personal information to unauthorized persons. Effective May 25, 2018, the European Union (“EU”) implemented the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) a broad data protection framework that expands the scope of current EU data protection law to non-European Union entities that process, or control the processing of, the personal information of EU subjects, including clinical trial data. The GDPR allows for the imposition of fines and/or corrective action on entities that improperly use or disclose the personal information of EU subjects, including through a data security breach.

Also, in June 2018, the State of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which became effective in January 2020. The CCPA establishes a privacy framework for covered businesses, including an expansive definition of personal information and data privacy rights for California residents. The CCPA includes a framework with potentially severe statutory damages and private rights of action.  The CCPA requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers (as that word is broadly defined in the CCPA), provide such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales of personal information, and allow for a new cause of action for data breaches.  It remains unclear how the CCPA will be interpreted, but as currently written, it will likely impact our business activities and exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to not only cyber threats but also the evolving regulatory environment related to personal data.  As we expand our operations, the CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Some observers have noted that the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States.  Other states are beginning to pass similar laws. Accordingly, data security breaches experienced by us, our partners or contractors could lead to significant fines, required corrective action, the loss of trade secrets or other intellectual property, public disclosure of sensitive clinical or commercial data, and the exposure of personally identifiable information (including sensitive personal information) of our employees, partners, and others. A data security breach or privacy violation that leads to disclosure or modification of, or prevents access to, patient information, including personally identifiable information or protected health information, could result in fines, increased costs or loss of revenue as a result of:

If we are unable to prevent such data security breaches or privacy violations or implement satisfactory remedial measures, our operations could be disrupted, and we may suffer loss of reputation, financial loss and other regulatory penalties because of lost or misappropriated information, including sensitive patient data. In addition, these breaches and other inappropriate access can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying them may lead to increased harm of the type described above. Moreover, the prevalent use of mobile devices that access confidential information increases the risk of data security breaches, which could lead to the loss of confidential information, trade secrets or other intellectual property. While we have implemented security measures to protect our data security and information technology systems, such measures may not prevent such events. We expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations and industry standards relating to privacy and data protection in the United States, the EU and other jurisdictions, such as the CCPA, which has been characterized as the first “GDPR-like” privacy statute enacted in the United States because it mirrors a number of the key provisions in the GDPR. We cannot presently determine the impact such laws, regulations and standards will have on our business. In any event, it is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable healthcare or privacy laws, including the GDPR, in light of the lack of applicable precedent and regulations.

Shareholder and private lawsuits, and potential similar or related lawsuits, could result in substantial damages, divert management’s time and attention from our business, and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Securities-related class action and shareholder derivative litigation has often been brought against companies, including many biotechnology companies, which experience volatility in the market price of their securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies often experience significant stock price volatility in connection with their product development programs.

It is possible that suits will be filed, or allegations received from stockholders, naming us and/or our officers and directors as defendants. These potential lawsuits are subject to inherent uncertainties, and the actual defense and disposition costs will depend upon many unknown factors. The outcome of these lawsuits is uncertain. We could be forced to expend significant resources in the defense of these suits and we may not prevail. In addition, we may incur substantial legal fees and costs in connection with these lawsuits. It is possible that we could, in the future, incur judgments or enter into settlements of claims for monetary damages. A decision adverse to our interests on these actions could result in the payment of substantial damages, or possibly fines, and could have a material adverse effect on our cash flow, results of operations and financial position.

Monitoring, initiating and defending against legal actions, including any currently pending litigation, are time-consuming for our management, are likely to be expensive and may detract from our ability to fully focus our internal resources on our business activities. The outcome of litigation is always uncertain, and in some cases could include judgments against us that require us to pay damages, enjoin us from certain activities, or otherwise affect our legal or contractual rights, which could have a significant adverse effect on our business. In addition, the inherent uncertainty of any future litigation could lead to increased volatility in our stock price and a decrease in the value of an investment in our common stock.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

Even after FDA approval, a product may be subject to additional testing or significant marketing restrictions, its approval may be withdrawn or it may be removed voluntarily from the market.

Even if our licensees receive regulatory approval for our product candidates, our licensees will be subject to ongoing regulatory oversight and review by the FDA and other regulatory entities. The FDA, the European Medicines

Agency (“EMA”), or another regulatory agency may impose, as a condition of the approval, ongoing requirements for post-approval studies or post-approval obligations, including additional research and development and clinical trials, and the FDA, EMA or other regulatory agency subsequently may withdraw approval based on these additional trials or obligations.

Even for approved products, the FDA, EMA or other regulatory agency may impose significant restrictions on the indicated uses, conditions for use, labeling, advertising, promotion, marketing and production of such product. In addition, the labeling, packaging, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and record-keeping for our products are subject to extensive regulatory requirements.

Furthermore, marketing approval of a product may be withdrawn by the FDA, the EMA or another regulatory agency or such product may be withdrawn voluntarily by our partners based, for example, on subsequently arising safety concerns. The FDA, EMA and other agencies also may impose various civil or criminal sanctions for failure to comply with regulatory requirements, including withdrawal of product approval.

Healthcare reform measures and other statutory or regulatory changes could adversely affect our business.

The United States and some foreign jurisdictions have enacted or are considering a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our licensees’ ability to sell our products and any products as to which we own milestone and royalty interests, if approved, profitably. Among policy makers and payors in the United States and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality and expanding access. In the United States, the pharmaceutical industry has been a particular focus of these efforts and has been significantly affected by major legislative initiatives. For example, in March 2010, the United States Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively the ACA, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and continues to significantly impact the United States pharmaceutical industry. There remain judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, as well as efforts by the Trump administration to repeal or replace certain aspects of the ACA. Since January 2017, President Trump has signed two Executive Orders and other directives designed to delay the implementation of certain provisions of the ACA or otherwise circumvent some of the requirements for health insurance mandated by the ACA. Concurrently, Congress has considered legislation that would repeal or repeal and replace all or part of the ACA. While Congress has not passed comprehensive repeal legislation, several bills affecting the implementation of certain taxes under the ACA have been signed into law. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or Tax Act, included a provision which repealed, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the ACA on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year that is commonly referred to as the “individual mandate”. In addition, the 2020 federal spending package permanently eliminates, effective January 1, 2020, the ACA-mandated “Cadillac” tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage and medical device tax and, effective January 1, 2021, also eliminates the health insurer tax. In addition, the ACA has also been subject to judicial challenge. On December 14, 2018, a Texas U.S. District Court Judge ruled that the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress as part of the Tax Act. Additionally, on December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the District Court ruling that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the District Court to determine whether the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. It is unclear how this decision, future decisions, subsequent appeals, and other efforts to repeal and replace the ACA will impact the ACA and our and our licensees’ businesses.

An expansion in the government’s role in the U.S. healthcare industry may cause general downward pressure on the prices of prescription drug products, lower reimbursements for providers, and reduced product utilization, any of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Moreover, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny in the United States of pharmaceutical pricing practices in light of the rising cost of prescription drugs and biologics. Such scrutiny has resulted in several recent congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for products. We cannot know what form any such new legislation may take or the market’s perception of how such legislation would affect us. Any reduction in reimbursement from government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private

payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent our licensees from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, develop, or commercialize our current product candidates and those for which we may receive regulatory approval in the future.

We and our licensees are subject to various state and federal healthcare-related laws and regulations that may impact the commercialization of our product candidates or third-party product candidates for which we possess milestone or royalty rights or could subject us to significant fines and penalties.

Our operations may be directly or indirectly subject to various state and federal healthcare laws, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act and state and federal data privacy and security laws. These laws may impact, among other things, the commercial operations for any of our product candidates that may be approved for commercial sale.

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing any remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind,  in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual for, or the furnishing or arranging for the purchase, lease, or order of a good or service for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The ACA modified the federal Anti-Kickback Statute’s intent requirement so that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of the statute or the specific intent to violate it to have committed a violation. In addition, several courts have interpreted the statute’s intent requirement to mean that if any one purpose of an arrangement involving remuneration is to induce referrals of federal healthcare covered business, the statute has been violated. The Anti-Kickback Statute is broad and prohibits many arrangements and practices that are lawful in businesses outside of the healthcare industry.

The federal false claims laws, including the False Claims Act, and civil monetary penalties laws prohibit, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly filing, or causing to be filed, a false claim to, or the knowing use of false statements to obtain payment from the federal government. Certain suits filed under the False Claims Act, known as “qui tam” actions, can be brought by any individual on behalf of the government and such individual, commonly known as a “whistleblower,” may share in any amounts paid by the entity to the government in fines or settlement. The filing of qui tam actions has caused a number of pharmaceutical, medical device and other healthcare companies to have to defend and/or settle a False Claims Act action.

The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) created new federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including a private payor, or falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, health care benefits, items or services.

HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology and Clinical Health Act, and its implementing regulations, also imposes certain requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information by entities subject to the law, such as certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their respective business associates that perform certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information on their behalf.  

Many states also have adopted laws similar to each of the federal laws described above, some of which apply to healthcare items or services reimbursed by any source, not only federal healthcare programs, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In addition, some states have laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the applicable compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government. Additionally, certain state and local laws require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives, restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources, and require manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers. Further, some states have laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which are not preempted by HIPAA and differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts.

Because of the breadth of these laws, and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our or our licensees’ business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws.

If we or our licensees are found to be in violation of any of the laws and regulations described above or other applicable state and federal healthcare laws, we or our licensees may be subject to penalties, including significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, reputational harm, exclusion from government healthcare reimbursement programs and the curtailment or restructuring of our or our licensees’ operations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, we and our licensees may be subject to certain analogous foreign laws and violations of such laws could result in significant penalties.

As we or our licensees do more business internationally, we will be subject to additional political, economic and regulatory uncertainties.

We or our licensees may not be able to operate successfully in any foreign market. We believe that because the pharmaceutical industry is global in nature, international activities will be a significant part of future business activities and when and if we or our licensees are able to generate income, a substantial portion of that income will be derived from product sales and other activities outside the United States. Foreign regulatory agencies often establish standards different from those in the United States, and an inability to obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis could put us at a competitive disadvantage or make it uneconomical to proceed with a product or product candidate’s development. International sales may be limited or disrupted by many factors, including without limitation: