As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 20, 2024
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
OR
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended
OR
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from _______________________ to ______________________________
OR
SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Commission File Number
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
Telephone: +32 10 22 23 55
(Address of principal executive offices)
Nyxoah SA
Telephone: +
Email:
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: Ordinary shares, no nominal value per share:
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ | Non-accelerated filer ☐ | |||
Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
U.S. GAAP ☐ |
| Other ☐ |
If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐
If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes
Auditor Firm Id: 0 | Auditor Name: Bedrijfsrevisoren SRL/BV | Auditor Location: |
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Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of Proceeds | 151 | |||
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B. Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting | 151 | |||
C. Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm | 152 | |||
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Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers | 155 | |||
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Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions That Prevent Inspections | 156 | |||
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GENERAL INFORMATION
In this annual report on Form 20-F, or Annual Report, “Nyxoah,” “Nyxoah,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Nyxoah SA and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where the context otherwise requires.
“Nyxoah,” the Nyxoah logo, Genio and other trademarks or service marks of Nyxoah appearing in this Annual Report are the property of Nyxoah or its subsidiaries. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report are listed without the ® and ™ symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their right thereto. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this Annual Report are the property of their respective owners. We do not intend to use or display other companies’ trademarks and trade names to imply any relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.
PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA
The consolidated financial statement data as at December 31, 2023 and 2022 and for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 have been derived from our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB.
Our financial statements included in this Annual Report are presented in Euros and, unless otherwise specified, all monetary amounts are in Euros. All references in this Annual Report to “$”, “U.S. dollars,” and “dollars” are to U.S. dollars and all references to “€” and “Euro” are to Euros, unless otherwise noted.
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INFORMATION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report contains estimates and forward-looking statements, principally in the sections titled “Risk Factors,” “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and “Business.” Some of the matters discussed concerning our operations and financial performance include forward-looking statements and estimates within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “is designed to,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “objective,” “should,” or the negative of these and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements and estimates. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
● | timing, progress, completion and results of clinical trials and our research and development programs; |
● | the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals; |
● | our reliance on the success of our Genio system; |
● | our ability to achieve and maintain adequate levels of coverage or reimbursement for procedures performed with our products and any future products we may seek to commercialize; |
● | the commercialization of our products; |
● | estimates of our expenses, future revenues, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; |
● | the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our products and technology; |
● | our ability to operate our business without infringing the intellectual property rights and proprietary technology of third parties; |
● | cost associated with defending intellectual property infringement, product liability and other claims; |
● | regulatory development in the U.S., Europe and other jurisdictions; |
● | the rate and degree of market acceptance of our products; |
● | our expectations about market trends; |
● | developments relating to our competitors and our industry, including competing products; |
● | our ability to accurately forecast customer demand and manage our inventory; |
● | our ability to effectively manage our anticipated growth; |
● | our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel; |
● | statements regarding future revenue, hiring plans, expenses, capital expenditures, capital requirements and share performance; |
● | our expected use of proceeds from the initial public offering on The Nasdaq Global Market; |
● | the future trading price of the ordinary shares and impact of securities analysts’ reports on these prices; |
● | the impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations from regional conflicts, geopolitical events and any pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in the U.S. or worldwide; |
● | our plans to remediate our material weakness; and |
● | other risks and uncertainties, including those listed under the caption “Risk Factors.” |
These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause our actual results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, opportunities, achievements or industry results, as well as those of the markets we serve or intend to serve, to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, opportunities, achievements or industry results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, those discussed under “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. Additional risks that we may currently deem immaterial or that are not presently known to us could also cause the forward-looking events discussed in this Annual Report not to occur. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding our present and future business strategies and the environment in which we expect to operate in the future.
Forward-looking statements and estimates speak only at the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to update or to review any forward-looking statement or estimate because of new information, future events or other factors. Forward-looking statements and estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Our future results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and estimates.
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Additional factors that could cause actual results, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, opportunities, achievements or industry results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, those discussed under “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. Additional risks that we may currently deem immaterial or that are not presently known to us could also cause the forward-looking events discussed in this Annual Report not to occur. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect” and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements. Estimates and forward-looking statements speak only at the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to update or to review any estimate and/or forward-looking statement because of new information, future events or other factors. Estimates and forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Our future results may differ materially from those expressed in these estimates and forward-looking statements. In light of the risks and uncertainties described above, the estimates and forward-looking statements discussed in this Annual Report might not occur, and our future results and our performance may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements due to, inclusive of, but not limited to, the factors mentioned above. Because of these uncertainties, you should not make any investment decision based on these estimates and forward-looking statements.
WEBSITE DISCLOSURE
We maintain a public website at https://www.nyxoah.com and use our website as a routine channel of distribution of company information, including press releases, analyst presentations, and supplemental financial information, as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Our website includes an Investors section through which we make available, free of charge, our Annual Reports on Form 20-F, Reports on Form 6-K, as well as any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Accordingly, investors should monitor our website in addition to following press releases, filings with the SEC, and public conference calls and webcasts.
None of the information provided on our website, in our press releases or public conference calls and webcasts or through social media is incorporated into, or deemed to be a part of, this Annual Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to such website is intended to be inactive textual references only.
PART I
Item 1.Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers
Not Applicable.
Item 2.Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable
Not Applicable.
Item 3.Key Information
A.[Reserved]
B.Capitalization and Indebtedness
Not Applicable.
C.Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds
Not Applicable.
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D.Risk Factors
Our business has significant risks. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report, including the matters addressed in the section of the Annual Report entitled “Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and in our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding whether to purchase our ordinary shares. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our ordinary shares could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we now deem immaterial may also harm us and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our ordinary shares is subject to a number of risks, including risks related to our business and industry, risks related to development of our product candidates, and risks related to our ordinary shares. The following summarizes some, but not all, of these risks. Please carefully consider all of the information discussed in “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report for a more thorough description of these and other risks.
Risks Associated With Our Business
● | We have a limited operating history, have incurred losses in each period since our inception and may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future. |
● | Our future financial performance depends on the commercial acceptance of the Genio system in target markets. |
● | We will require additional capital in the future, which may not be available to us on commercially favorable terms, or at all. More specifically, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date of this Annual Report and our ability to continue as a going concern will depend on our ability to obtain additional funding, as to which no assurances can be given as of the date of this Annual Report. We refer to the disclosure in this respect in note 5.1 to our consolidated financial statements and the emphasis of matter paragraph in respect of going concern in the report of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm found elsewhere in this Annual Report. |
● | Even though we have obtained certification, a CE-Mark, in Europe for the Genio system based on first positive clinical trial results, there is no guarantee that we will be able to maintain our current certification or to obtain additional certification or marketing authorizations in other jurisdictions, including the United States, or that the results from our ongoing and planned clinical trials will be sufficient for us to obtain or maintain such certifications or authorizations. |
● | We may not receive, or may be delayed in receiving, the necessary marketing authorizations or certifications for our Genio system or any future product candidates, and failure to timely obtain necessary marketing authorizations or certifications for our product candidates would have a material adverse effect on our business. |
● | Even if we receive marketing authorizations, clearances or certifications in our target markets to commercialize the Genio system or any product candidate that we develop, the product may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party payor reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives that could harm our business. |
● | A pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial results and cause a disruption to our research, development and commercialization efforts. |
● | A loss or degradation in performance of the suppliers on which we depend for services and components used in the production and assembly of the Genio system could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
● | We may not be able to manufacture or outsource manufacturing of the Genio system in sufficient quantities, in a timely manner or at a cost that is economically attractive. |
● | Our products and operations are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight both in the United States. and abroad, and our failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business. |
● | The Genio system is still unapproved in certain significant markets, such as the United States market, and seeking and obtaining regulatory authorization or certification for active implantable medical devices can be a long, expensive and uncertain process. |
● | Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information and expose us to liability, which would cause our business and reputation to suffer. |
● | We rely significantly on information technology and any failure, inadequacy, interruption or security lapse of that technology or loss of data, including any cyber security incidents, could compromise sensitive information related to our business, prevent us from accessing critical information or expose us to liability which could harm our ability to operate our business effectively and adversely affect our business and reputation. |
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● | Our inability to fully protect and exploit our intellectual property and trade secrets may adversely affect our financial performance and prospects. |
● | The dual listing of our ordinary shares may adversely affect the liquidity and value of the ordinary shares. |
● | We or the third parties upon which we depend may be adversely affected by general political, unstable market and economic conditions and other events beyond our control and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster. |
● | Climate change or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change may negatively affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and prospects. |
● | In connection with our preparation and the audit of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Additionally, we may identify additional material weaknesses in the future that may cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. If we fail to remediate our material weaknesses, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud. |
Risks Related to Our Financial Position
We have a limited operating history, have incurred losses in each period since our inception and may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We were incorporated in 2009, obtained certification (CE-Mark) for our Genio system in March 2019, and had our first commercial sales in Germany in July 2020. In 2023 we generated €4.3 million of sales from the Genio system compared to €3.1 million in 2022. We have incurred operating losses and negative operating cash flows in each period since we were incorporated in 2009, including operating losses of €45.1 million and €32.5 million and negative operating cash flows of €44.8 million and €28.8 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of €160.8 million. These losses have resulted primarily from costs incurred in the development of our Genio system, as well as from general and administrative costs associated with our operations and manufacturing.
We expect that our operating expenses will continue to increase as we fund the continued development of our technology and the Genio product line, seek to expand manufacturing and sales and marketing capabilities, seek further regulatory clearances, certifications, approvals and marketing authorizations, particularly in the United States, for the Genio system, and as we incur the additional costs associated with being a public company in the United States. In June 2020, we obtained approval from the FDA under an investigational device exemption, or IDE, to begin our pivotal trial, the dual-sided hypoglossal nerve stimulation for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, or DREAM, trial. The aim of the DREAM trial, if the data are positive, is to support market authorization of the Genio system in the United States, as well as to support obtaining coverage and reimbursement more generally. We also plan to conduct additional clinical trials, and as a result, we expect clinical expenses will increase significantly over the next several years.
As a result, we expect to continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future, and we may never achieve profitability, which could impair our ability to sustain operations or obtain any required additional funding. Furthermore, even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on an ongoing basis. If we do not achieve or sustain profitability in the future, we may suffer net losses or negative operating cash flows in subsequent periods.
Our future financial performance depends on the commercial acceptance of the Genio system in target markets.
The Genio system is currently our only commercial product, which we market in certain European countries, and our success depends entirely upon its market acceptance and adoption by physicians, payors and patients. The Genio system may not gain commercial acceptance in target markets. If we fail to gain and maintain commercial market acceptance of the Genio system in our target markets, for instance, because of insufficient price and reimbursement levels from government and third-party payors, competition, or the inability to demonstrate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of the Genio system compared to other products available on the market, the amount of revenue generated from sales of the Genio system in the future could continue to be limited, and could even decrease over time. In addition, the Genio system has not received marketing authorization in the United States, and our future financial performance will depend on the successful completion of our DREAM pivotal trial, which is intended to support an application for market authorization to commercialize the Genio system in the United States.
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These and other factors present obstacles to commercial acceptance of the Genio system in target markets and could lead to our failure, or a substantial delay, in gaining significant market acceptance of the Genio system in target markets, which could affect our ability to generate revenue. Any failure of the Genio system to achieve meaningful market acceptance will harm our business and future prospects.
We will require additional capital in the future, which may not be available to us on commercially favorable terms, or at all. More specifically, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date of this Annual Report and our ability to continue as a going concern will depend on our ability to obtain additional funding, as to which no assurances can be given as of the date of this Annual Report.
We expect to incur significant expenses and operating losses over the next few years, and we may need to raise additional capital in the future. We have so far been financed primarily by funds invested by our shareholders, including in connection with our initial public offering on Euronext Brussels in September 2020 and the listing of our ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Global Market in July 2021. Based on our current operating plan and our existing cash and cash equivalents of €21.6 million and financial assets of €36.1 million as of December 31,2023, we expect to be able to fund our operations until the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2024. However, we have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we could spend our financial resources much faster than currently expected. Pursuant to the requirements of IAS 1.25-26, Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern, and as a result of our financial condition and other factors described herein, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the date of this Annual Report. See Note 5.1 to our consolidated financial statements found elsewhere in this Annual Report. Our ability to continue as a going concern will depend on our ability to obtain additional funding, as to which no assurances can be given. Our future success depends on our ability to raise capital and/or execute our current operating plan. Any future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including without limitation:
● | acceptance of our Genio system by patients, physicians, government payors, private payors, and the market generally in our target markets; |
● | the scope, rate of progress and cost of current or future clinical trials; |
● | the cost and timing of obtaining additional regulatory clearances, approvals, classifications, certifications or other marketing authorizations for the Genio system; |
● | the cost and timing of establishing additional sales and marketing capabilities; |
● | the cost of research and development activities; |
● | the cost of filing and prosecuting patent applications and other intellectual property rights and defending and enforcing our patents or other intellectual property rights in various jurisdictions; |
● | the cost of defending, in litigation or otherwise, any claims that we infringe third-party patents or other intellectual property rights; |
● | the cost associated with any complications or side effects related to the use of the Genio system; |
● | costs associated with any product recall that may occur; |
● | the effect of competing technological and market developments; |
● | the extent to which we acquire or invest in products, technologies and businesses, although we currently have no commitments or agreements relating to any of these types of transactions; and |
● | the costs of operating as a public company in Belgium and the United States. |
Any additional equity or debt financing that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our shareholders. If we raise additional funds by selling additional ordinary shares or other securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for ordinary shares, the issuance of such securities will result in dilution to our shareholders.
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In addition, any future debt financing into which we enter may impose upon us covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, repurchase our ordinary shares, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish some rights to our technologies or products, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
Furthermore, we cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. We have no committed source of additional capital other than our at-the-market facility. If we do not have, or are not able to obtain, sufficient funds, we may have to delay development or commercialization of our products or license to third-parties the rights to commercialize products or technologies that we would otherwise seek to commercialize ourselves. We also may have to reduce marketing, customer support or other resources devoted to our products or cease operations, or even terminate our operations, which may involve seeking bankruptcy protection.
Any loss or decrease of subsidies, reimbursable cash advances and tax reductions may affect our financial resources.
Since September 2011, we have received financial support from the Walloon Region in the form of recoverable cash advances and subsidies. In March 2018, in accordance with Section 27A of the Australian Industry Research and Development Act 1986, the Australian Government gave notice to Nyxoah Pty Ltd, our Australian subsidiary, of registration for the research and development, or R&D, tax incentive from the 2017/2018 income year. This incentive represents 43.5% of the yearly eligible R&D expenditure. In October 2023, we received confirmation from the Walloon Region that we can apply tax credits in Belgium on eligible R&D investments.
All these subsidies and reimbursable cash advances increased our financial resources to support R&D and clinical development projects. However, we cannot predict whether we or our subsidiaries will continue to benefit from such incentives and/or advantages and/or to what extent. The repayment obligations with respect to the financial support from the Walloon Region will also have the effect of reducing our profitability until fully repaid.
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or nonperformance by financial institutions or transactional counterparties, could adversely affect our current and projected business operations and its financial condition and results of operations.
Actual events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions, transactional counterparties or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the FDIC, as receiver. Similarly, on March 12, 2023, Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital Corp. were each swept into receivership. If any of our counterparties to any credit agreements, letters of credit or certain other financial instruments that we may enter into in the future were to be placed into receivership, we may be unable to access such funds. In addition, if any parties with whom we conduct business are unable to access funds pursuant to such instruments or lending arrangements with such a financial institution, such parties’ ability to pay their obligations to us or to enter into new commercial arrangements requiring additional payments to us could be adversely affected. Similar impacts have occurred in the past, such as during the 2008-2010 financial crisis.
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Inflation and rapid increases in interest rates have led to a decline in the trading value of previously issued government securities with interest rates below current market interest rates. There is no guarantee that the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board will provide access to uninsured funds in the future in the event of the closure of other banks or financial institutions, or that they would do so in a timely fashion.
Although we assess our banking relationships as we believe necessary or appropriate, our access to funding sources and other credit arrangements in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect us, the financial institutions with which we have arrangements directly, or the financial services industry or economy in general. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform obligations under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets, or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. These factors could involve financial institutions or financial services industry companies with which we have financial or business relationships, but could also include factors involving financial markets or the financial services industry generally.
In addition, investor concerns regarding the U.S. or international financial systems could result in less favorable commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby making it more difficult for us to acquire financing on acceptable terms or at all. Any decline in available funding or access to our cash and liquidity resources could, among other risks, adversely impact our ability to meet our operating expenses, financial obligations or fulfill our other obligations, result in breaches of our financial and/or contractual obligations or result in violations of federal or state wage and hour laws. Any of these impacts, or any other impacts resulting from the factors described above or other related or similar factors not described above, could have material adverse impacts on our liquidity and our current and/or projected business operations and financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, any further deterioration in the macroeconomic economy or financial services industry could lead to losses or defaults by parties with whom we conduct business, which in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our current and/or projected business operations and results of operations and financial condition. For example, a party with whom we conduct business may fail to make payments when due, default under their agreements with us, become insolvent or declare bankruptcy. Any bankruptcy or insolvency, or the failure to make payments when due, of any counterparty of ours, or the loss of any significant relationships, could have material adverse impacts on our liquidity and our current and/or projected business operations and financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Development of Our Products and Product Candidates
Even though we have obtained certification, a CE-Mark, in Europe for the Genio system based on first positive clinical trial results, there is no guarantee that we will be able to maintain our current certification or to obtain additional certification or marketing authorizations in other jurisdictions, including the United States, or that the results from our ongoing and planned clinical trials will be sufficient for us to obtain or maintain such certifications or authorizations.
Even though we have obtained certification (CE-Mark) in Europe for the Genio system based on positive results from our BiLAteral hypoglossal nerve stimulation for treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, or BLAST, clinical trial, there is no assurance that ongoing and future clinical trials we may conduct to support further marketing authorizations, certifications or clearances (or to maintain existing ones) will be successful and that the Genio system will perform as intended. We may be required to develop more clinical evidence than we currently anticipate before we are able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or other regulatory authorities that the Genio system is safe and effective for its intended use, if ever. To obtain a certificate of conformity, manufacturers need to comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 93/42/EEC), the Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 90/385/EEC) or Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament, and in particular to demonstrate that devices are designed and manufactured in such a way that they will not compromise the clinical condition or safety of patients, or the safety and health of users and others (that the potential benefits outweigh potential risks). In addition, medical devices must achieve the performance intended by the manufacturer and be designed, manufactured and packaged in a suitable manner. However, if the Genio system causes or contributes to consumer injuries or other harm or other serious issues arise as to the device’s performance, it may be necessary to conduct further clinical trials to confirm the device can perform safely and effectively.
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In particular, even if certification has been obtained in Europe, there is no guarantee for success in the United States of a pivotal trial to support a premarket submission to the FDA or for future U.S. marketing authorization. The FDA’s standard of review differs from that required to obtain a CE-Mark in Europe, which only indicates that the device in question is in full compliance with European legislation. Medical devices certified for marketing in the European Union need notably to demonstrate that they are designed and manufactured in such a way that it will not compromise the clinical condition or safety of patients, or the safety and health of users and others. On the other hand, before FDA approval of a medical device in the United States, a device must not only be shown to be safe, but also effective its intended use, or in the case of a 510(k) clearance, substantially equivalent to a predicate device.
We may not receive, or may be delayed in receiving, the necessary marketing authorizations or certifications for our Genio system or any future product candidates, and failure to timely obtain necessary marketing authorizations or certifications for our product candidates would have a material adverse effect on our business.
In the United States, before we can market a new medical device, or a new use of, or other significant modification to an existing, marketed medical device, we must first receive either clearance under Section 510(k) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or the FDCA, approval of a premarket approval, or PMA, application or grant of a De Novo classification request from the FDA, unless an exemption applies. In the 510(k) clearance process, before a device may be marketed, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a legally marketed “predicate” device, which includes a device that has been previously cleared through the 510(k) process, a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976 (pre amendments device), a device that was originally on the U.S. market pursuant to an approved PMA and later down-classified, or a 510(k) exempt device. To be “substantially equivalent,” the proposed device must have the same or similar intended use as the predicate device, and either have the same technological characteristics as the predicate device or have different technological characteristics and not raise different questions of safety or effectiveness from the predicate device. Clinical data are sometimes required to support substantial equivalence. In the process of obtaining PMA approval, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is safe and effective for its intended use based, in part, on extensive data, including, but not limited to, technical, preclinical, clinical trial, manufacturing and labeling data. The PMA process is typically required for devices that are deemed to pose the greatest risk, such as life sustaining, life supporting or implantable devices. In the De Novo classification process, a manufacturer whose novel device under the FDA would otherwise be automatically classified as Class III and require the submission and approval of a PMA prior to marketing is able to request initial classification of the device as Class I or Class II based on evidence that the device in fact presents a low or moderate risk. If the FDA grants the De Novo classification request, the applicant receives authorization to market the device. If the De Novo process results in the classification of a device as Class II, the authorized device may be used subsequently as a predicate device for future 510(k) submissions.
The PMA approval, 510(k) clearance and De Novo classification processes can be expensive, lengthy and uncertain. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance process can take anywhere from three to 12 months or longer to complete. The process of obtaining a PMA or De Novo classification is much more costly and uncertain than the 510(k) clearance process and generally takes from one to three years, or even longer, from the time the application is submitted to the FDA. In addition, PMAs and De Novo classification requests generally require the applicant to have conducted one or more clinical trials. Despite the time, effort and cost expended in seeking a marketing authorization, there is no assurance that the FDA will grant it. Any delay or failure to obtain necessary regulatory marketing authorizations could harm our business. Furthermore, even if we are granted such marketing authorizations, they may include significant limitations on the indicated uses for the device, which may limit the potential commercial market for the device.
To date, we have not obtained authorization from the FDA to market any product candidate in the United States. However, we initiated a modular PMA application process for our Genio system and submitted the first module to the FDA in March 2023, the second module to the FDA in June 2023 and the third module to the FDA in November 2023. We anticipate submitting the fourth module to the FDA in the second quarter of 2024. In a modular PMA, the complete contents of a PMA are compiled as sections or “modules”, such as preclinical, clinical, and manufacturing, that together become a complete application. This method is used for products that are in early stages of clinical study. The FDA reviews each module separately as it is received to provide feedback during the review process. If the FDA requires us to go through a lengthier, more rigorous examination for our product than we currently expect, our product introduction could be delayed or prevented, which would have a material adverse impact on our business and prospects. Following completion of our DREAM pivotal trial, we expect to engage further with the FDA during the clinical module to discuss the clinical trial results in order to obtain marketing authorization in the United States. The Genio system cannot be legally marketed until the FDA reviews and approves the device based on all required modules of the PMA application. We may not be able to meet the requirements to obtain PMA approval, and even if we do obtain marketing authorization, the FDA may place significant limitations on any such marketing authorization depending on the available safety and effectiveness data for the Genio system for its intended uses.
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In order to sell our products in member countries of the European Union, or the EU, our products must comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 93/42/EEC), the Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 90/385/EEC) or Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament. Compliance with these requirements is a prerequisite to be able to affix the European Conformity, or CE, mark to our products, without which they cannot be sold or marketed in the EU. To demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements we must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its (risks) classification. Except for low-risk medical devices (Class I non-sterile, non-measuring devices), where the manufacturer can issue an EC Declaration of Conformity based on a self-assessment of the conformity of its products with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive (for devices entering the EU market prior to May 26, 2021) or the Medical Device Regulation (for devices entering the EU market on or after May 26, 2021), a conformity assessment procedure requires the intervention of an organization accredited or designated by a member state of the EU to conduct conformity assessments to the applicable legal requirements, or a Notified Body. Depending on the relevant conformity assessment procedure, the Notified Body would typically audit and examine the technical file and the quality system for the manufacture, design and final inspection of our devices. The Notified Body issues a certificate of conformity following successful completion of a conformity assessment procedure conducted in relation to the medical device and its manufacturer and their conformity with the essential requirements. This certificate entitles the manufacturer to affix the CE-Mark to its medical devices after having prepared and signed a related EC Declaration of Conformity.
As a general rule, demonstration of conformity of medical devices and their manufacturers with the essential requirements must be based, among other things, on the evaluation of clinical data supporting the safety and performance of the products during normal conditions of use. Specifically, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the device achieves its intended performance during normal conditions of use, that the known and foreseeable risks, and any adverse events, are minimized and acceptable when weighed against the benefits of its intended performance, and that any claims made about the performance and safety of the device are supported by suitable evidence. If we fail to remain in compliance with applicable European laws and directives and corresponding EU member state laws, we would be unable to continue to affix the CE-Mark to our products, which would prevent us from selling them within the EU.
The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area, or EEA, which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. Noncompliance with the above requirements would also prevent us from selling our products in these three countries.
Following the end of the “Brexit” transition period, from January 1, 2021 onwards, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA is responsible for the UK medical device market. The new regulations require medical devices to be registered with the MHRA, (but manufacturers are given a grace period of four to 12 months to comply with the new registration process). Manufacturers based outside the UK must appoint a UK Responsible Person to register devices with the MHRA in line with the grace periods. The UK will continue to recognize CE-Markings, as well as certificates issued by EU recognized Notified Bodies, until the earlier of June 30, 2028 or the expiration of the certificate for devices compliant with the Medical Devices Directive or the Active Implantable Medical Devices Directive, or until June 30, 2030 for devices compliant with the MDR. Devices marketed in the UK (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) after such respective dates will require a UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark. However, UKCA marking alone will not be recognized in the EU. The rules for placing medical devices on the Northern Ireland market will differ from those in the UK. Compliance with this legislation is a prerequisite to be able to affix the UKCA mark to our products, without which they cannot be sold or marketed in the UK.
In order to sell products in Switzerland, manufacturers based in the EU must appoint a Swiss Authorized Representative (CH-Rep).
The FDA or foreign regulatory authorities or Notified Bodies can delay, limit or deny marketing authorization or certification of a device for many reasons, including:
● | our inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or the applicable regulatory entity or Notified Bodies that our products are safe and effective for their intended uses; |
● | the disagreement of the FDA, foreign regulatory authorities or other foreign (regulatory) body with the design or implementation of our clinical trials or the interpretation of data from non- clinical studies or clinical trials; |
● | serious and unexpected adverse device effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials; |
● | the data from our non-clinical studies and clinical trials may be insufficient to support clearance, certification, De Novo classification or approval, where required; |
● | our inability to demonstrate that the clinical and other benefits of the device outweigh the risks; |
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● | the manufacturing process or facilities we use may not meet applicable requirements; and |
● | the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities to change significantly in a manner rendering our clinical data or regulatory filings insufficient for clearance or approval. |
Our growth will depend, in part, on our ability to expand the indications for the Genio system, as well as to continue to development enhancements to the system and also develop and commercialize additional products.
Expanding indications for our Genio system and developing new products is expensive and time-consuming and could divert management’s attention away from our core business. We plan to continue to invest in pursuing additional indications for our Genio system and in improving the Genio system to develop next generation versions designed to improve patient comfort, efficacy and convenience. For example, in July 2022, we received FDA approval for an IDE to enable us to initiate a clinical trial, called ACCCESS, to evaluate the use of the Genio system for the treatment of adult patients with moderate-to-severe OSA with complete concentric collapse (CCC).
The success of any such product development efforts will depend on several factors, including our ability to do the following:
● | properly identify and anticipate physician and patient needs; |
● | develop and introduce new products and product enhancements in a timely manner; |
● | avoid infringing upon the intellectual property rights of third parties; |
● | obtain necessary licenses from or reach commercial agreements with third parties owning proprietary technologies or solutions; |
● | demonstrate, if required, the safety and efficacy of new products with data from preclinical studies and clinical trials; |
● | obtain the necessary regulatory authorizations and/or certifications for expanded indications, new products or product modifications; |
● | be fully compliant with requirements related to marketing of new devices or modified products; |
● | provide adequate training to potential users of our products; |
● | receive adequate coverage and reimbursement for procedures performed with our products; and |
● | develop an effective and dedicated sales and marketing team. |
If we are not successful in expanding indications and developing and commercializing new products and product enhancements, our ability to increase our revenue in the future may be impaired.
Clinical trials involve a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
We obtained CE-Mark certification in Europe for the Genio system in March 2019, commenced sales of the Genio system in Germany in July 2020, and are pursuing marketing activities in advance of commencing selling efforts in several other European countries. In the United States, we received FDA approval of an IDE to commence our DREAM trial, which if successfully completed, we anticipate relying upon to support our application for marketing authorization of the Genio system in the U.S. market.
Before obtaining marketing clearance, approval or certification from regulatory authorities or Notified Bodies respectively for the sale of our Genio system, or any additional products we may develop, we expect to conduct clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the device in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing.
It is possible that even if the Genio system has a beneficial effect, that effect may not be detected during clinical evaluation, or may not be statistically significant, as a result of one or more of a variety of factors, including the size, duration, design, measurements, conduct or analysis of our clinical trials. Conversely, as a result of the same factors, our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any. Similarly, in our clinical trials we may fail to detect adverse effects caused by our Genio system, or mistakenly believe that our system caused certain adverse effects when that is not in fact the case. Also, the inclusion and exclusion criteria we define may not sufficiently capture a trial subject population that would be most appropriate for treatment with our Genio system.
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The outcome of prior clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials. For example, the positive outcome of our BLAST clinical trial, based on which we obtained certification for the Genio system in the EU, does not ensure that our DREAM or our ACCCESS trials will be successful. Furthermore, interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy despite having progressed through non-clinical studies and earlier clinical trials. Many companies in the medical device industry have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials after achieving positive results in earlier development, and we cannot be certain that we will not face such setbacks.
The design of a clinical trial can determine whether its results will support marketing authorization or certification of a product, and flaws in the design of a clinical trial may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well advanced or completed. We have limited experience in designing clinical trials, and there is no certainty that the design of our ongoing clinical trials will ultimately support marketing authorization or certification. Even if we believe that the results of clinical trials for our product candidates warrant marketing authorization or certification, the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities and Notified Bodies may disagree and may not grant marketing authorization or certification of our product candidates.
In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety or efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations, changes in and adherence to the clinical trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. Any pivotal or other clinical trials that we may conduct may not demonstrate the efficacy and safety to the degree necessary, if at all, to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates.
The initiation and completion of clinical trials may be prevented, delayed, or halted for numerous reasons. We may experience delays in our clinical trials for a number of reasons, which could adversely affect the costs, timing or successful completion of our clinical trials, including related to the following:
● | we may be required to submit additional IDEs to the FDA, which must become effective prior to commencing certain human clinical trials of medical devices, and the FDA may reject our IDE application and notify us that we may not begin clinical trials, or place restrictions on the conduct of such trials; |
● | regulators and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree as to the design or implementation of our clinical trials; |
● | regulators and/or institutional review boards, or IRBs, or other bodies may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial, or to conduct or continue a clinical trial at a prospective or specific trial site; |
● | we may not reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites; |
● | clinical trials may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon product development programs; |
● | our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all; |
● | we might have to suspend or terminate clinical trials for various reasons, including occurrence of adverse events or other findings that the subjects in our clinical trials are being exposed to unacceptable health risks; |
● | we may have to amend clinical trial protocols or conduct additional studies to reflect changes in regulatory requirements or guidance, which we may be required to submit to an IRB or other bodies and/or regulatory authorities for re-examination; |
● | regulators, IRBs, or other parties or bodies may require or recommend that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including safety signals or noncompliance with regulatory requirements; |
● | the cost of clinical trials may be greater than we anticipate; |
● | clinical sites may not adhere to the clinical protocol or may drop out of a clinical trial; |
● | we may be unable to recruit a sufficient number of clinical trial sites; |
● | regulators or other bodies may fail to approve or subsequently find fault with our manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we enter into agreement for clinical and commercial supplies, the supply of devices or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials may be insufficient, inadequate or not available at an acceptable cost, or we may experience interruptions in supply; |
● | approval policies or regulations of FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agencies may change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval; and |
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● | our current or future products may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics. |
Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of any product candidate.
The U.S. Congress also recently amended the FDCA to require sponsors of a pivotal study of a new device to support marketing authorization, to design and submit a diversity action plan for such clinical trial. The action plan must describe appropriate diversity goals for enrollment, as well as a rationale for the goals and a description of how the sponsor will meet them. Our DREAM and ACCCESS trials are considered pivotal trials but were initiated before the diversity action plan requirement became effective. For any future pivotal trials we plan to conduct for the Genio system or any other product candidate, we must submit a diversity action plan to the FDA by the time we submit a pivotal study protocol to the agency for review, unless we are able to obtain a waiver for some or all of the requirements for a diversity action plan. It is unknown at this time how the diversity action plan may affect the planning and timing of any future pivotal trial for our product candidates or what specific information FDA will expect in such plans. However, initiation of such trials may be delayed if the FDA objects to our proposed diversity action plans for any future pivotal trial for our product candidates, and we may experience difficulties recruiting an adequately diverse population of patients in attempting to fulfill the requirements of any approved diversity action plan.
In addition, clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations of the FDA and other applicable regulatory authorities’ legal requirements, regulations or guidelines, and are subject to oversight by these governmental agencies and IRBs or other bodies at the medical institutions where the clinical trials are conducted. In addition, clinical trials must be conducted with supplies of our devices produced under current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, requirements and other regulations. Furthermore, we rely on clinical trial sites, and we may in the future rely on CROs to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and while we have agreements governing their committed activities, we have limited influence over their actual performance. We depend on our collaborators and on medical institutions and we may in the future depend on CROs to conduct our clinical trials in compliance with good clinical practice, or GCP, requirements. To the extent our collaborators or the CROs fail to enroll participants for our clinical trials, fail to conduct the trial to GCP standards or are delayed for a significant time in the execution of trials, including achieving full enrollment, we may be affected by increased costs, program delays, regulatory enforcement actions or all three. In addition, conducting clinical trials in various countries may subject us to further delays and expenses as a result of increased shipment costs, additional regulatory requirements and the engagement of non-U.S. service providers, as well as expose us to risks associated with clinical investigators who are unknown to the FDA, and different standards of diagnosis, screening and medical care.
Interim, “top-line” and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more trial subject data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, top-line or preliminary data from our clinical trials, which are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular registry, trial or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. Importantly, interim data from clinical trials are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. As a result, the interim, top-line or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same trial, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Interim, top-line or preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the interim, top-line or preliminary data we previously published.
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Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular non-clinical trial or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure. If the interim top-line or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, our products and product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition. Further, disclosure of interim data by us or by our competitors could result in volatility in the price of our common stock. For all of the foregoing reasons, interim, top-line and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available.
Attracting patients to perform clinical trials and meeting clinical trial objectives can be more costly and time-consuming than expected and could be adversely affected by another health crisis.
In order conduct our clinical trials, we must recruit, screen and enroll eligible patients. Patients may be identified from the investigator’s own clinical practice or hospital or may be referred by another physician. Potential clinical trial participants must provide informed consent before undergoing certain clinical tests that are used to determine patient eligibility based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. As a result, at the time of informed consent, we do not know if a patient will be eligible to participate in the trial. For example, patients with CCC are excluded from our DREAM trial, and we cannot determine eligibility until after the patient has consented and undergone a drug-induced sleep endoscopy. To that end, we will need to screen many more patients than we intend to enroll in order to meet our enrollment criteria. After a patient is determined to be eligible and is enrolled in the clinical trial, they must comply with the trial requirements and undergo periodic time-consuming tests, including a sleep test in a sleep lab. Not all patients who undergo screening will ultimately be eligible for enrollment in our clinical trials. Moreover, some of the enrolled participants may not comply with the requirements of the trial, thereby leading to poor or unusable data, or some may withdraw from the trial, which may compromise the results of the clinical trial.
We may not be able to initiate, continue and/or complete in a timely manner clinical trials if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients within the planned recruitment period to participate in these trials as required by the applicable regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe and any other applicable jurisdictions.
Delays in subject enrollment or failure of trial subjects to continue to participate in a clinical trial may delay commencement or completion of the clinical trial, cause an increase in the costs of the clinical trial and delays, or result in the failure of the clinical trial. Patient enrollment in our clinical trials may be affected by many factors including:
● | the fact that the Genio system is an implantable device requiring clinical trial subjects to undergo surgery; |
● | the existence of a competing device with FDA marketing authorization and long-term data supporting its safety and efficacy; |
● | clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages and risks of the Genio system in relation to other available therapies, including any new product candidates that may be approved for the indications we are investigating; |
● | the size and nature of the patient population; |
● | the severity of the disease under investigation; |
● | the eligibility criteria for the trial in question; |
● | subject compliance with the trial protocol; |
● | the design of the clinical trial; |
● | the referral practices of physicians; |
● | limitations placed on enrollment by regulatory authorities or other bodies; |
● | the ability to monitor trial subjects adequately during and after treatment; |
● | the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective subjects; |
● | the approval of other devices or therapeutics for the target indications; |
● | efforts to facilitate timely enrollment; |
● | other clinical trials competing for the same target patients as those of our clinical trials; and |
● | the necessity for the trial subjects to dedicate their time to multiple visits to the clinic and/or sleep lab for tests, including a sleep test in a lab, forming part of the clinical trial. |
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Any difficulties in enrolling a sufficient number of subjects for any of our clinical trials, or any subjects withdrawing from the clinical trials or not complying with the trial protocols, could result in significant delays and could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. If our trial sites are restricted in performing elective surgeries or following up with their trial subjects, this may lead to missing information and may potentially impact clinical trial data quality and integrity. Enrollment delays and other issues with our clinical trials may result in increased research and development costs that may exceed the resources available to us and in delays to commercially launch the Genio system in target markets, if authorized for sale in such markets.
Serious adverse events, or SAEs, or undesirable side effects or other unexpected properties of our product candidates may be identified during development that could delay or prevent the product candidate’s marketing authorization or certification.
As is the case with implantable medical devices generally, it is likely that there may be side effects and adverse events associated with the use of our Genio system or any future product candidate. Results of our clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. SAEs or undesirable side effects caused by, or other unexpected properties of, our product candidates could cause us, an IRB or regulatory authorities or other bodies to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials of one or more of our product candidates and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of marketing approval or certification by the FDA, Notified Bodies or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities. If any of our product candidates is associated with SAEs or undesirable side effects or has properties that are unexpected, we may need to abandon development or limit development of that product candidate to certain uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. Many medical devices that initially showed promise in clinical or earlier stage testing have later been found to cause undesirable or unexpected side effects that prevented further development of the device. Additionally, if any of our product candidates, including the Genio system, receives marketing authorization from the FDA, the side effects observed in clinical trials could result in a more restrictive label than we anticipate.
Risks Related to Commercialization and Reimbursement
Even if we receive marketing authorizations, clearances or certifications in our target markets to commercialize the Genio system or any product candidate that we develop, the product may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party payor reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives that could harm our business.
The commercial success of the Genio system and any other product candidates we develop will depend substantially, both in the United States and abroad, on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement for our products and related procedures will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors such as managed care and similar healthcare management organizations. Thus, our ability to commercialize the Genio system and any product candidates we develop will depend to a significant degree on which government authorities and third-party payors decide to cover our products and at what reimbursement levels. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only to a limited extent, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our products. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish and maintain pricing sufficient to realize a meaningful return on our investment.
There is significant uncertainty related to government and other third-party payor coverage and reimbursement of newly approved medical devices. Regulatory approvals and pricing and reimbursement for new device products vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a device before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing authorization or certification is granted. In some non-U.S. markets, pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing authorization or certification for a product in a particular country but then be subject to price regulations that delay commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, which may negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if our product candidates obtain marketing authorization or certification.
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The healthcare industry is acutely focused on cost containment, both in the United States and elsewhere. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medical products, which could affect our ability to sell our product candidates profitably. These payors may not view the Genio system or any other product candidates, if authorized for marketing, as cost-effective, and coverage and reimbursement may not be available to our customers, or may not be sufficient to allow our product candidates, if authorized for marketing, to be sold on a competitive basis. Cost-control initiatives could cause us to decrease the price we might establish for products, which could result in lower than anticipated product revenues. Further, if the prices for our product candidates, if authorized for marketing, decrease or if governmental and other third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage or reimbursement, our prospects for revenue and profitability will suffer. Marketing authorization or certification of a product does not guarantee sufficient reimbursement to achieve commercial success.
There may also be delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved products, and coverage may be more limited than the indications for which the product is authorized by the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any product will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Reimbursement rates may vary, by way of example, according to the use of the product and the clinical setting in which it is used. Reimbursement rates may also be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost products or may be incorporated into existing payments for other services.
Obtaining and maintaining coverage and reimbursement can be a time-consuming process that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products. Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring higher levels of evidence of the benefits and clinical outcomes of new technologies and are challenging the prices charged. We may not be able to provide data sufficient to satisfy governmental and third-party payors that procedures using our products should be covered and reimbursed. We cannot be sure that coverage will be available for any product candidate that we commercialize and, if available, that the reimbursement rates will be adequate.
Outside the United States, reimbursement levels vary significantly by country and by region, particularly based on whether the country or region at issue maintains a single-payor system. Annual healthcare budgets generally determine the number of therapeutic devices like the Genio system that will be paid for by the payor in these single-payor system countries and regions. Some countries or regions may require us to gather additional clinical data before granting coverage and reimbursement for our products. We are currently working with payors in the EU to obtain coverage and reimbursement approval in countries and regions where it makes economic sense to do so; however, we may not obtain such coverage, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and impair our ability to grow our business.
We have limited experience marketing and selling our Genio system, and if we are unable to expand, manage and maintain our direct sales and marketing organization, we may not be able to generate revenue growth.
We have only limited experience in marketing and selling our Genio system. To achieve commercial success, we will need to keep expanding our internal sales and marketing organization to commercialize the Genio system in markets that we will target directly, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Expanding our sales and marketing team further will entail recruiting additional managerial, operational, financial and other employees, which is expensive and time-consuming and could delay product launches.
For example, if we obtain regulatory authorization to market the Genio system in the United States, we intend to build a direct sales force. We have no experience marketing and selling the Genio system in the United States. To commence commercial launch will require us to hire, develop, grow and retain a U.S. marketing and sales organization. To do so will require significant investment in recruiting and training as we ramp up to a U.S. commercial launch. There is significant competition for marketing and sales personnel experienced in medical device sales. Once we hired such personnel, we expect to provide them with in-depth training, which can be lengthy, because it will require significant education for new marketing and sales representatives to achieve the level of clinical competency with the Genio system that physicians expect. Upon completion of training, our sales representatives will require lead time in the field to grow their network of accounts and achieve productivity levels we expect them to reach in any individual territory. If we are unable to attract, motivate, develop and retain a sufficient number of qualified sales personnel, and if our sales representatives do not achieve the productivity levels we expect them to reach, our revenue will not grow at the rate we expect and our financial performance will suffer.
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If the commercial launch of the Genio system in the United States or another jurisdiction for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel. In addition, our sales efforts may be hindered in target markets if we fail to develop complementary products.
We may also decide to target certain markets indirectly via distributors or other arrangements. If we are unable to find suitable distribution partners, lose these distribution partners or if our distribution partners fail to sell our products in sufficient quantities, on commercially viable terms or in a timely manner, the commercialization of the Genio system could be materially harmed, which could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability.
Hesitation to change or to undertake special training and economic, social, psychological and other concerns among physicians may limit general acceptance and adoption of the Genio system.
Even if the Genio system receives marketing authorization or certification from the appropriate regulatory authorities or Notified Bodies, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. Our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors regarding the benefits of the Genio system are expected to require significant resources and may not be successful.
Acceptance of the Genio system will depend on physicians being convinced of the distinctive characteristics, clinical performance, benefits, safety and cost-effectiveness of the device and being prepared to undertake special training in certain cases. Furthermore, physicians will likely only adopt the Genio system if they determine, based on experience, clinical data, and published peer-reviewed journal articles that the Genio system is an attractive treatment solution, and that third-party payors, such as government programs and private health insurance plans, will provide coverage and adequate reimbursement for its use. Regarding the Genio system, only two articles related to the BLAST OSA trial have been published in the European Respiratory Journal and Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology.
The degree of market acceptance of the Genio system and any other product candidates we develop will depend on a number of social, psychological, economic and other factors and concerns, including
● | general conservatism about the adoption of new treatment practices and reluctance to switch their patients from existing therapies; |
● | personal history of adverse events and severe/serious adverse events; |
● | lack or perceived lack of long-term evidence supporting additional patient benefits; |
● | perceived liability risks associated with the use of new products and procedures; |
● | limited or lack of reimbursement and coverage within healthcare payment systems; |
● | costs associated with the purchase of new products and equipment; |
● | other procedures competing for physician time and attention; |
● | the fact that the Genio system contains an implantable device requiring surgery for implantation; |
● | the time commitment that may be required for special training; |
● | insufficient level of commercial attractiveness to physicians; |
● | the extent of ongoing support required by the clinician; and |
● | the extent of ongoing involvement of the patient in therapy. |
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We may focus our financial and managerial resources on a particular market resulting in a failure to capitalize on markets that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Taking into account our current financial and managerial resources, we will have to carefully prioritize the order in which we address of our target European markets for commercialization of the Genio system, based on parameters such as market size, market readiness, and competition, and then allocate our financial and managerial resources accordingly. In order to identify our primary target markets, we make projections on the number of people by target market. These projections are derived from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, scientific literature, governmental statistics and market research, and are highly contingent on a number of variables that are difficult to predict and may prove to be too high. If as a result of these or other factors the market for the Genio system does not develop as currently anticipated, our ability to generate revenue could be materially adversely affected. Further, if we use our financial and managerial resources to promote a particular indication expansion that is not ultimately sufficiently commercially successful, this could result in a smaller population of patients who could benefit from the Genio system than we anticipate which would result in lower potential revenue.
Competition from medical device companies and medical device subsidiaries of large healthcare and pharmaceutical companies is intense and expected to increase.
The medical technology industry is highly competitive, subject to change and significantly affected by new product introductions and other activities of industry participants. Our competitors have historically dedicated and will continue to dedicate significant resources to promoting their products or developing new products or methods to treat moderate to severe OSA. We compete as a second line therapy in the OSA treatment market for patients with moderate to severe OSA.
We consider other companies that have designed hypoglossal nerve stimulation technologies to treat OSA as direct competitors. We are aware of only one currently marketed nerve stimulation device for the treatment of OSA, the Inspire Medical system marketed by Inspire Medical Systems, Inc., and one other nerve stimulation system for the treatment of OSA currently not actively commercialized in Europe from ImThera/ LivaNova PLC. The Inspire Medical system is currently the only neuro stimulation system approved to treat moderate to severe OSA in the United States. Additionally, we also consider, as indirect competition, invasive surgical treatment options such as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and maxillomandibular advancement surgery and, to a lesser extent, mandibular advancement devices, which are primarily used in the treatment of mild to moderate OSA.
In Europe, the Genio system is CE-Mark certified for use as a second-line therapy in the treatment of moderate to severe OSA in patients who do not tolerate, refused or failed positive airway pressure, or PAP, therapy. If one or more PAP device manufacturers successfully develop a PAP device that is better tolerated and demonstrates significantly higher compliance rates, or if improvements in other second-line therapies make them more effective, cost effective, easier to use or otherwise more attractive than the Genio system, these therapies could have a material adverse effect on our sales, financial condition and results of operations.
Companies against which we compete, directly or indirectly, may have competitive advantages with respect to primary competitive factors in the OSA treatment market, including:
● | greater company, product and brand recognition; |
● | a more extensive body of clinical data demonstrating product reliability and durability; |
● | more effective marketing to and education of patients, physicians and sleep centers; |
● | greater product ease of use and patient comfort; |
● | more sales force experience and greater market access; |
● | better product support and service; |
● | more advanced technological innovation, product enhancements and speed of innovation; |
● | more effective pricing and revenue strategies; |
● | lower procedure costs to patients; |
● | more effective reimbursement teams and strategies; |
● | dedicated practice development; and |
● | more effective clinical training teams. |
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The commercial availability of any approved competing product could potentially inhibit recruitment and enrollment in our clinical trials. We may successfully conclude our clinical trials and obtain final regulatory authorization or certification, and nevertheless may fail to compete against competitors or alternative treatments that may be available or developed for the relevant indication. Alternative treatments include devices and surgery, as well as potential pharmacological treatments, among others. New treatment options may emerge yielding clinical results better than or equal to those achieved with the Genio system, possibly at a lower cost. Emergence of such new therapies may inhibit our ability to develop and grow the market for the Genio system. Furthermore, new entrants into the markets in which we operate could also decide to more aggressively compete on price, requiring us to reduce prices to maintain market share.
A pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial results and cause a disruption to our research, development and commercialization efforts.
Public health crises such as pandemics or similar outbreaks could adversely impact our business. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our operations or those of our collaborators, vendors and other material business relations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration of the outbreak, new information that will emerge concerning the severity of the virus and the actions to contain it or treat its impact, among others.
While we previously implemented work-from-home policies to support the community efforts to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and protect employees, these work-from-home policies continue in effect to the degree that we believe to be appropriate, tailored to the role of each team member, and continue to evolve as the specific conditions associated with COVID-19 evolve. We also implemented a number of measures to ensure employee safety and business continuity. While many restrictions in locations in which we have employees or independent contractors have been lifted or continue to be relaxed and phased re-openings were implemented, these restrictions may be re-implemented, or new restrictions imposed if rates or incidence of infection increase.
The spread of COVID-19 could also have adverse economic impacts to us. While the potential economic impact brought by, and the duration of, the COVID-19 pandemic, have been, and continue to be, difficult to assess or predict, the spread of COVID-19 has caused a broad impact globally. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact our business continues to be highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties and on Key Personnel
A loss or degradation in performance of the suppliers on which we depend for services and components used in the production and assembly of the Genio system could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The Genio system requires customized components and services that are currently available from a limited number of sources. If these suppliers decide not to supply, are unable to supply, or if they provide us with components or services of insufficient quality, this could harm our reputation and business by affecting, for example, product availability and performance. Our suppliers might not be able or willing to continue to provide us with the components or services we need, at suitable prices or in sufficient quantity or quality. If any of our existing suppliers is unable or unwilling to meet our demand for components or services, or if the services or components that they supply do not meet quality and other specifications, clinical trials or sales of the Genio system could be delayed or halted, which could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability. For instance, we currently rely on a single source supplier for a number of critical components to the Genio system. We are seeking to qualify additional suppliers for certain of our components. The addition of a new supplier to the production process generally requires extensive evaluations, testing and regulatory approval, making it difficult and costly for us to diversify our exposure to single source suppliers. In addition, if we have to switch to a replacement supplier for any of our product components or for certain services required for the production and assembly of the Genio system such as, for example, the sterilization and coating of the product components, or if we have to commence our own manufacturing to satisfy market demand, we may face delays, and the manufacturing and delivery of the Genio system could be interrupted for an extended period of time, which could delay completion of our clinical trials or commercialization and prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability. Alternative suppliers may be unavailable, may be unwilling to supply, may not have the necessary regulatory approvals or certifications, or may not have in place an adequate quality management system. Furthermore, modifications to a service or component made by a third-party supplier could require new approvals or certifications from the relevant regulatory authorities before the modified service or component may be used.
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If we are required to change the manufacturer of a critical component of our implant systems, we will be required to verify that the new manufacturer maintains facilities, procedures and operations that comply with our quality specifications and applicable regulatory requirements, which could further impede our ability to manufacture our implant systems in a timely manner. If we encounter demand for our system in excess of our inventory and we need to contract with these additional suppliers, we will face challenges in meeting that demand. Transitioning to a new supplier could be time-consuming and expensive, may result in interruptions in our operations and product delivery, could affect the performance specifications of our implant systems or could require that we modify the design of those systems. If the change in manufacturer results in a significant change to any product, new marketing authorizations or certification from the FDA or similar regulatory authority may be necessary before we implement the change, which could cause substantial delays. The occurrence of any of these events could harm our ability to meet the demand for our products in a timely or cost-effective manner.
In addition, our suppliers may discontinue their supply of components or services upon which we rely before the end of the product life of the Genio system. The timing of a discontinuation may not allow us sufficient time to develop and obtain any regulatory authorizations or certifications as required for replacement components or service before we exhaust our inventory. If suppliers discontinue their supply of components or services, we may have to pay premium prices to our suppliers to keep their production or service lines open or to obtain alternative suppliers, buy substantial inventory to last until the scheduled end of life of the Genio system or through such time as we have an alternative component developed and authorized by the regulatory authorities, or temporarily cease supplying the Genio system once our inventory of the affected component is exhausted.
Any of these interruptions to the supply of services or components could result in a substantial reduction in our available inventory and an increase in our production costs.
We may be unable to attract and retain management and other personnel we need to succeed.
Given our current state of the development, reliance on the expertise and experience of our board of directors, management and other key employees, as well as contractors, in management, engineering, manufacturing, clinical and regulatory matters, sales and marketing, and other functions is crucial. The departure of any of these individuals without timely and adequate replacement or the loss of any of our senior management or other key employees would make it difficult for us to achieve our objectives in a timely manner, or at all. We might not be able to find and attract other individuals with similar levels of expertise and experience or similar relationships with commercial partners and other market participants. In addition, our competitive position could be compromised if a member of senior management transferred to a competitor.
We expect to expand our operations and grow our clinical development, manufacturing, administrative and commercial operations. This will require hiring a number of qualified clinical, scientific, commercial and additional administrative, sales and marketing personnel. Competition for skilled personnel is intense and may limit our ability to hire and retain highly qualified personnel on acceptable terms or at all. Competitors may have greater financial and other resources, different risk profiles and a longer history than we do. If we are unable to identify, attract, retain and motivate these highly skilled personnel, we may be unable to continue our development, commercialization or growth. Failure to retain or attract key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition and/or prospects.
We rely, or may rely in the future, on third parties to provide critical advice and conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of clinical trials. Third-party performance failure may increase our developments costs, delay granting of regulatory authorizations or certifications or delay or prevent commercialization.
We rely, and may rely in the future, on third parties to conduct certain clinical trials, perform data collection and analysis and provide marketing, manufacturing, regulatory advice and other services that are crucial to our business. In particular, our technology and product development activities or clinical trials conducted in reliance on third parties may be delayed, suspended, or terminated if the third parties do not devote a sufficient amount of time or effort to our activities or otherwise fail to successfully carry out their contractual duties or to meet regulatory obligations or expected deadlines; if we replace a third party; if the quality or accuracy of the data obtained by third parties is compromised due to their failure to adhere to clinical protocols, regulatory requirements, or for other reasons including the loss of data; or if the third party becomes bankrupt or enters into liquidation.
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We may not always have the ability to control the performance of third parties in their conduct of their activities. Our agreements with these third parties generally allow the third party to terminate the agreement at any time, subject to standard notice terms. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or regulatory obligations or meet expected deadlines, or agreements with such third parties are terminated for any reason, we would be required to find a replacement third party to conduct the required activities. We may be unable to enter into a new agreement with another third party on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. Furthermore, if the quality or accuracy of the data obtained by the third party is compromised, or if data are otherwise lost, we would be required to repeat the affected trial. Third-party performance failures may therefore increase our development costs, delay our ability to obtain regulatory approval, and delay or prevent the commercialization of the Genio system in target markets. In addition, our third-party agreements usually contain a clause limiting such third party’s liability, such that we may not be able to obtain full compensation for any losses that we may incur in connection with the third party’s performance failures.
Our reliance on these third parties for research and development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we design our clinical trials and will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Moreover, the FDA and other regulatory authorities require us to comply with GCP regulations and international standards relating to the conduct, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. Our reliance on third parties, over which we have limited control, to manage those operations does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. Our failure or any failure by these third parties to comply with these regulations or to recruit a sufficient number of patients may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the marketing authorization or certification process. Moreover, our business may be implicated if any of these third parties violates federal or state fraud and abuse or false claims laws and regulations or healthcare privacy and security laws. We also are required to register ongoing clinical trials and post the results of certain completed clinical trials on certain government-sponsored databases, such as ClinicalTrials.gov in the United States, within specified timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.
Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties for any reason, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, regulatory approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates.
Performance issues, service interruptions or price increases by our shipping carriers could adversely affect our business and harm our reputation and ability to supply our products on a timely basis.
Expedited, reliable shipping is essential to our operations since the components of the Genio system are manufactured to our specifications by third-party suppliers in various jurisdictions. While the initial assembly of the different electronic components is done by different external suppliers, the final assembly is performed in our facilities in Israel and Belgium. As a result, we rely heavily on providers of transport services for reliable and secure point-to-point transport of the key components of the Genio system to our facility and for tracking of these shipments. Should a carrier encounter delivery performance issues such as loss, damage or destruction of any components, it would be costly to replace such components in a timely manner and such occurrences, if they resulted in delays to the assembly and shipment of the completed Genio system to customers, may damage our reputation and lead to decreased demand for the Genio system and increased cost and expense to our business. In addition, any significant increase in shipping rates could adversely affect our operating margins and results of operations. Similarly, strikes, severe weather, natural disasters or other service interruptions affecting delivery services we use would adversely affect our ability to process orders for the Genio system on a timely basis.
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Our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, contract research organizations, consultants or vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, contract research organizations, consultants or vendors may engage in fraudulent or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or disclosure of unauthorized activities to us that violates: FDA regulations, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to the FDA; manufacturing standards; federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations; or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. In addition, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials or creating fraudulent data in our nonclinical studies or clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation.
It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by our employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished potential profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.
Risks Related to the Countries in which We Operate
We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, the UK Bribery Act 2010, and other anti- corruption laws, as well as export control laws, import and customs laws, trade and economic sanctions laws and other laws governing our business and operations.
Our operations are subject to anti-corruption laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or FCPA, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. §201, the U.S. Travel Act; the UK Bribery Act 2010, or the Bribery Act; and other anti-corruption laws that apply in countries where we do business. The FCPA, the Bribery Act, and these other laws generally prohibit us and our employees and intermediaries from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, a financial or other advantage to government officials or other persons to induce them to improperly perform a relevant function or activity (or reward them for such behavior). U.S. authorities that enforce the FCPA, including the Department of Justice, deem most healthcare professionals and other employees of foreign hospitals, clinics, research facilities and medical schools in countries with public healthcare or public education systems to be “foreign officials” under the FCPA. When we interact with foreign healthcare professionals and researchers in testing and marketing our products abroad, we must have policies and procedures in place sufficient to prevent us and agents acting on our behalf from providing any bribe, gift or gratuity, including excessive or lavish meals, travel or entertainment in connection with marketing our products and services or securing required permits and approvals such as those needed to initiate clinical trials in foreign jurisdictions. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the United States to comply with accounting provisions requiring the maintenance of books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and the development and maintenance of an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations. The SEC is involved with the books and records provisions of the FCPA.
We are also subject to other laws and regulations governing our international operations, including regulations administered by the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States, and authorities in the EU, including applicable export control regulations, economic sanctions and embargoes on certain countries and persons, anti-money laundering laws, import and customs requirements and currency exchange regulations.
If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we could be subject to governmental investigations, prosecutions and penalties, including substantial fines and potential imprisonment of the individuals involved. Any such circumstances would carry the risk of substantial damage to our reputation for corporate integrity and would likely have a material adverse effect on our business and future prospects.
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Risks Related to Manufacturing
We may not be able to manufacture or outsource manufacturing of the Genio system in sufficient quantities, in a timely manner or at a cost that is economically attractive.
Our revenue and other operating results will depend, in large part, on our ability to manufacture and sell the Genio system in sufficient quantities and quality, in a timely manner, and at a cost that is economically attractive.
We expect to be required to significantly increase manufacturing volumes as clinical trials on the Genio system are expanded and the Genio system is commercialized. The capacity of our manufacturing facilities in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Milmort, Belgium, along with our contract manufacturer in the United States, is expected to cover the Genio Implantable Stimulator and Genio External Stimulator demand for 2024. Manufacturing of the Genio Activation Chip and the Genio Charging Unit is mostly outsourced to a third party contract manufacturing organization. In order to support future demand for the Genio system, we may need to expand our manufacturing capacity, which could require opening a new facility or additional outsourcing to a third-party contract manufacturing organization. For example, if we obtain regulatory authorization to market the Genio system in the United States we would likely have to significantly increase our manufacturing capabilities in order to satisfy anticipated demand. We expect that this could include opening a manufacturing facility in the United States. Opening a new manufacturing facility could involve significant additional expenses, including for the construction of a new facility, the movement and installation of key manufacturing equipment, the modification of manufacturing processes and for the recruitment and training of new team members. In addition, we must also notify, and in most cases obtain approval from, regulatory authorities regarding any changes or modifications to our manufacturing facilities and processes, and the regulatory authorities might not authorize us to proceed or might delay the process significantly.
In addition, our current business expectation is that the cost of goods sold will decline over time as (i) internal efficiencies increase and (ii) the cumulative volume of Genio systems manufactured grows. However, we or our suppliers might not be able to increase yields and/or decrease manufacturing costs with time, and in fact costs may increase, which could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability.
Our results of operations could be materially harmed if we are unable to accurately forecast customer demand for our Genio system and manage our inventory.
To ensure adequate inventory supply of the Genio system in general and its components, we must forecast inventory needs and place orders with our suppliers based on our estimates of future demand for the Genio system and its components. To date, we have only commercialized the Genio system in limited quantities, mostly in Germany, and our ability to accurately forecast demand for our Genio system could be negatively affected by many factors, including failure to accurately manage our expansion strategy, product introductions by competitors, an increase or decrease in customer demand for the Genio system or for products of our competitors, failure to accurately predict customer acceptance of new products, unanticipated changes in general market conditions or regulatory matters, and weakening of economic conditions or consumer confidence in future economic conditions. Inventory levels in excess of customer demand may result in inventory write-downs or write-offs, which would cause our gross margin to be adversely affected and could impair the strength of the Genio brand. Conversely, if we underestimate customer demand for the Genio system, our third-party contract manufacturers may not be able to deliver products to meet our requirements, and this could result in damage to our reputation and customer relationships. In addition, if we experience a significant increase in demand, additional supplies of raw materials or additional manufacturing capacity may not be available when required on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, or suppliers or third-party manufacturers might not be able to allocate sufficient capacity in order to meet our increased requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet customer demand for the Genio system.
We intend to maintain sufficient levels of inventory in order to protect ourselves from supply interruptions. As a result, we will be subject to the risk that a portion of our inventory will become obsolete or expire, which could affect our earnings and cash flows due to the resulting costs associated with the inventory impairment charges and costs required to replace such inventory.
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Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Compliance Matters
Our products and operations are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight both in the United States and abroad, and our failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business.
Our Genio system is regulated as a medical device in the United States and other jurisdictions. We and our products are subject to extensive regulation in the United States and elsewhere, including by the FDA and its foreign counterparts. The FDA and foreign regulatory agencies regulate, among other things, with respect to medical devices: design, development and manufacturing; testing, labeling, content and language of instructions for use and storage; clinical trials; product safety; establishment registration and device listing; marketing, sales and distribution; pre-market clearance, classification and approval; recordkeeping procedures; advertising and promotion; recalls and field safety corrective actions; post-market surveillance, including reporting of deaths or serious injuries and malfunctions that, if they were to recur, could lead to death or serious injury; post-market approval trials; and product import and export.
The regulations to which we are subject are complex and have tended to become more stringent over time. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales. The FDA enforces its regulatory requirements through, among other means, periodic announced or unannounced inspections. We do not know whether we or our contract manufacturers will be found substantially compliant with applicable regulations in connection with any future FDA inspections. Failure to comply with applicable regulations could jeopardize our ability to sell the Genio system and any other product candidates, if they obtain marketing authorization, and result in enforcement actions such as: warning letters; fines; injunctions; civil penalties; termination of distribution; recalls or seizures of products; delays in the introduction of products into the market; total or partial suspension of production; refusal to grant future clearances or approvals; withdrawals or suspensions of clearances or approvals, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products; and in the most serious cases, criminal penalties.
The Genio system is still unapproved in certain significant markets, such as the United States market, and seeking and obtaining regulatory authorization or certification for active implantable medical devices can be a long, expensive and uncertain process.
Applications for prior regulatory authorization in the countries where we intend to sell or market the Genio system and any other products we develop may require extensive non-clinical, clinical and performance testing, all of which must be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of regulations established by the relevant regulatory agencies, which are complex and have become more stringent over time. We may be adversely affected by potential changes in government policy or legislation applicable to implantable medical devices. At the date of this Annual Report, we have received certification to market the Genio system and the Genio 2.1 system in the EU member states through CE-Marking and Israeli Medical Devices and Accessories, or AMAR. CE-Marking is also valid in the European Economic Area, or EEA (which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland).
In the United States, we are in the early stages of seeking FDA marketing authorization. We have received IDE approval from the FDA, which allows us to proceed with our DREAM and ACCCESS clinical trials of the Genio system in the United States, and we are in the process of determining the appropriate regulatory pathway to pursue for seeking marketing authorization for the device from the FDA. Even though we have received approval IDEs, the Genio system may not successfully obtain marketing authorization. In addition, there may be substantial and unexpected delays in the process, for example in the initiation and completion of clinical trial testing and evaluation.
Since the Genio system is a wireless medical device, additional complications may arise with respect to obtaining marketing authorization in the United States. For example, the Federal Communications Commission must also determine that wireless medical devices, such as the Genio system, are compatible with other uses of the spectrum on which the device operates, and that power levels and the frequency spectrum of the wireless energy transfer comply with applicable regulations.
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Even if we obtain marketing authorization or certification for our product candidates, the terms of such authorizations or certifications and ongoing regulation of our products may limit how we manufacture and market our products. Compliance with such requirements may involve substantial resources, which could materially impair our ability to generate revenue.
Even if marketing authorization, certification or approval of a product candidate is received, commercial products and their manufacturers are subject to ongoing review and extensive regulation, including with respect to the manufacture, medical device reporting, import, export, registration, listing of devices and post-market surveillance of the product. For example, medical device manufacturers must submit periodic reports to the FDA after obtaining marketing authorization. These reports include information about failures and certain adverse events associated with the device after its marketing authorization.
Failure to submit such reports, or failure to submit the reports in a timely manner, could result in enforcement action by the FDA. Following its review of the periodic reports, the FDA might ask for additional information or initiate further investigation. Accordingly, assuming we receive marketing authorization or certification for one or more of our product candidates, we and our contract manufacturers will continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production, product surveillance, and quality control. If we are not able to comply with post-market regulatory requirements, we could have any marketing authorizations or certifications we have obtained for our products withdrawn by regulatory authorities and our ability to market any future products could be limited, which could adversely affect our ability to achieve or sustain profitability. Thus, the cost of compliance with post-market regulations may have a negative effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Our failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements could result in enforcement action by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, which may include, among other things: untitled letters or warning letters; fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties; recalls, termination of distribution, administrative detention, or seizure of our products; customer notifications or repair, replacement or refunds; operating restrictions or partial suspension or total shutdown of production; delays in or refusal to grant our requests for future clearances, De Novo classifications, approvals, certifications or other marketing authorizations of new products, new intended uses, or modifications to existing products; withdrawals or suspensions of any granted marketing authorizations or certifications, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products; or criminal prosecution. Any of these sanctions could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, the FDA may change its marketing authorization policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay marketing authorization of any product candidate under development or impact our ability to modify any products authorized for market on a timely basis. Such policy or regulatory changes could impose additional requirements upon us that could delay our ability to obtain marketing authorizations, increase the costs of compliance or restrict our ability to maintain any marketing authorizations we have obtained.
Failure to comply with the significant regulations and approvals to which our manufacturing facilities and those of our third-party suppliers are subject to may affect our business.
We currently manufacture the Genio system and have entered into relationships with third-party suppliers to manufacture and supply certain components of the Genio system. Our manufacturing practices and the manufacturing practices of our third-party suppliers are subject to ongoing regulation and periodic inspection. In the United States, the methods used in, and the facilities used for, the manufacture of medical devices must comply with the FDA’s Quality System Regulation, or QSR, which is a complex regulatory scheme that covers the procedures and documentation of the design, testing, production, process controls, quality assurance, labeling, packaging, handling, storage, distribution, installation, and servicing of medical devices. Furthermore, we will be required to verify that our suppliers maintain facilities, procedures and operations that comply with our quality standards and applicable regulatory requirements. The FDA enforces the QSR through periodic announced or unannounced inspections of medical device manufacturing facilities, which may include the facilities of subcontractors. The Genio system is also subject to similar state regulations and various laws and regulations of other countries governing manufacturing.
Any failure to follow and document the adherence to regulatory requirements (including having in place an adequate quality management system in line with the most up-to-date standards and regulations) by us or our third-party suppliers may lead to significant delays in the availability of the Genio system for commercial sale or clinical trials, may result in the termination of or a hold on a clinical trial, or may delay or prevent filing or approval or maintenance of marketing applications for the Genio system.
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In the United States, the FDA and other federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, closely regulate compliance with all requirements governing medical device products, including requirements pertaining to marketing and promotion of devices in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling and manufacturing of products in accordance with cGMP requirements. Violations of such requirements may lead to investigations alleging violations of the FDCA and other statutes, including the False Claims Act and other federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws as well as state consumer protection laws. Our failure to comply with all regulatory requirements, and later discovery of previously unknown adverse events or other problems with our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, may yield various results, including:
● | litigation involving patients using our products; |
● | restrictions on our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes; |
● | restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product; |
● | restrictions on product distribution or use; |
● | requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials; |
● | untitled or warning letters; |
● | fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues; |
● | consent decrees; |
● | total or partial suspension or clinical hold of one or more of our clinical trials; |
● | total or partial suspension or withdrawal regulatory approvals; |
● | total or partial suspension of production or distribution; |
● | delay of or refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications or to provide future market authorizations, certifications or approvals; |
● | mandatory communications with physicians and other customers about concerns related to actual or potential safety, efficacy, and other issues involving us; |
● | withdrawal of the products from the market; |
● | mandatory product recalls or seizure of products; |
● | damage to relationships with any potential collaborators; |
● | unfavorable press coverage and damage to our reputation; or |
● | injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties. |
Any of the foregoing actions could be detrimental to our reputation or result in significant costs or loss of revenues. Any of these actions could significantly and negatively affect supply of the Genio system, if authorized for sale by the FDA. If any of these events occurs, we could be exposed to product liability claims and we could lose customers and experience reduced sales and increased costs.
Our ability to continue sales of our product in the EU may be materially impaired if we do not take necessary steps to comply with the certification requirements of the new EU Medical Devices Regulation.
On May 25, 2017, the EU Medical Devices Regulation 2017/745, or the MDR, entered into force, repealing and replacing Council Directive 93/42/EEC, or the Medical Devices Directive, and Council Directive 90/385/EEC, or the AIMD Directive. Unlike directives, which must be implemented into the national laws of the EU member states, regulations are directly applicable (i.e., without the need for adoption of EU member state laws implementing them) in all EU member states from their effective applicability date and are intended to eliminate differences in the regulation of medical devices among EU member states. The MDR, among other things, is intended to establish a uniform, transparent, predictable and sustainable regulatory framework across the EU for medical devices and ensure a high level of safety and health while supporting innovation.
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The MDR became effective on May 26, 2021. Devices lawfully placed on the market pursuant to the EU Medical Devices Directive, or MDD, and the AIMD Directive, or AIMDD, prior to May 26, 2021 could initially continue to be made available on the market or put into service until May 26, 2025. Nevertheless, the European Parliament very recently adopted legislation to extend this transitional period to give manufacturers more time to switch from the previously applicable provisions to the new certification requirements for medical devices as laid down by the MDR. For high risk, class III and class IIb implantable devices the transitional period is extended until December 31, 2027. For medium and low risk, class IIb devices and class IIa, Im, Is and Ir devices the transition period is extended until December 31, 2028. The MDR among other things:
● | Strengthens the rules on placing devices on the market and reinforces surveillance once they are available; |
● | Establishes explicit provisions on manufacturers’ responsibilities for the follow-up of the quality, performance and safety of devices placed on the market; |
● | Improves the traceability of medical devices throughout the supply chain to the end-user or patient through a unique identification number; |
● | Sets up a central database to provide patients, healthcare professionals and the public with comprehensive information on products available in the EU; and |
● | Strengthens the rules for the assessment of certain high-risk devices, which may have to undergo an additional check by experts before they are placed on the market. |
These modifications may have an effect on the way we design and manufacture product and products candidates and conduct our business in the EU and EEA. For example, as a result of the transition towards the new regime, Notified Body review times have lengthened, and product introductions or modifications could be delayed or canceled, which could adversely affect our ability to grow our business. While our Genio system has been certified under the AIMDD and can therefore remain on the EU market until the extended deadline of December 31, 2027, we are evaluating the implementation of the new requirements of the MDR. We cannot exclude unexpected regulatory hurdles and possible delays while transitioning towards the new regime.
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or TCA, came into effect on January 1, 2021. The TCA does not specifically refer to medical devices. However, as a result of Brexit, the MDR will not be implemented in the UK, and previous legislation that mirrored the MDR in the UK law has been revoked. The regulatory regime for medical devices in the UK will continue to be based on the requirements derived from current EU legislation, and the UK may choose to retain regulatory flexibility or align with the MDR going forward. CE-markings will continue to be recognized in the UK, and certificates issued by EU-recognized Notified Bodies will be valid in the UK, until the earlier of June 30, 2028 or the expiration of the certificate for devices compliant with the MDD or AIMDD or until June 30, 2030 for devices compliant with the MDR. For medical devices placed on the UK market after this period, the UK Conformity Assessed, or UKCA, marking will be mandatory. In contrast, UKCA marking and certificates issued by UK Notified Bodies will not be recognized on the EU market. The TCA does provide for cooperation and exchange of information in the area of product safety and compliance, including market surveillance, enforcement activities and measures, standardization related activities, exchanges of officials, and coordinated product recalls (or other similar actions). For medical devices that are locally manufactured but use components from other countries, the “rules of origin” criteria will need to be reviewed. Depending on which countries products will be ultimately sold in, manufacturers may start seeking alternative sources for components if this would allow them to benefit from no tariffs. The rules for placing medical devices on the Northern Ireland market will differ from those in the UK. These modifications may have an effect on the way we design and manufacture products and we conduct our business in these countries.
Seeking, obtaining and maintaining certification in the EU under the MDR, with the CE-Mark to be re-certified before December 31, 2027, can be an uncertain process and Notified Bodies have limited resources and may experience backlogs.
Devices such as our Genio system currently on the market in the EU that have been granted a CE-Mark under the AIMD Directive, will need to be re-evaluated and re- certified in accordance with the MDR. Any modification to an existing CE-Marked medical device will also require review and certification under the MDR. Under normal circumstances, medical device manufacturers must undergo on-site audits by Notified Bodies in order to maintain their CE-Mark certifications per the requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive. As many CE-Mark certifications will become void as part of the transition to the MDR, Notified Bodies also have to start certifying medical devices in accordance with the MDR.
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The MDR also requires a re-designation of the Notified Bodies, the organizations designated by the EU member state in which they are based that are responsible for assessing whether medical devices and manufacturers of medical devices meet the applicable regulatory requirements in the EU. To be re-designated, Notified Bodies must demonstrate increased technical expertise in their scope of designation, as well as improved quality management systems. This re-designation process has caused backlogs in the assessment of medical devices and medical device manufacturers during the transition period leading up to May 26, 2021, the effective date of the MDR. In the European Union, currently 42 Notified Bodies have been re-designated, including one for Belgium.
To be able to continue to place our Genio device on the EU market, if we decide to do so, the CE-Mark obtained in 2019 for our Genio system will have to be re-certified under the MDR before the extended deadline of December 31, 2027. To benefit from the extended transitional period, the manufacturer or its authorized representative need to have submitted an application for MDR certification by May 26, 2024 and needs to have signed a written proposal/agreement with the Notified Body by September 26, 2024. The re-certification requires us to present documentation and other evidence demonstrating that the performance and the safety of the system has been maintained and that the system continues to meet existing regulations and standards. Otherwise, the marketing and sale of the Genio system in EU member states may be temporarily or permanently prohibited. Significant modifications to the Genio system, if any, will require certification under the MDR and cannot be implemented during the transition period from AIMDD to MDR.
The overall backlogs experienced by the Notified Bodies having already been re-designated (including the Dutch company DEKRA Certification B.V., which issued the CE-Mark and an ISO 13485:2016 certificate to us under the AIMD Directive) might have a negative impact on the re-certification of the Genio system. We believe, however, that we are on track to meet the new requirements by the deadlines set forth in the MDR.
Any third-party entities that we rely upon for distribution of our products in the EU, such as our local distributor in Spain, also need to be compliant with the MDR. If a distributor in the EU fails to meet the MDR requirements, on a timely basis or at all, the marketing and sale of our Genio products by such distributor may be temporarily or permanently prohibited.
Any delay or failure to comply with the MDR could result in the sale of our Genio products being temporarily or permanently prohibited in EU member states and affect our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Compliance with regulations for quality systems for medical device companies is difficult, time consuming and costly.
We have developed and maintains a quality management system for medical devices intended to ensure quality of our products and activities. The system is designed to be in compliance with regulations in many different jurisdictions, including the QSR mandated by the FDA in the United States and the requirements of the AIMD Directive in the European Union, including the international standard ISO13485 required by the member states in Europe that recognize the CE-Mark, as well as Israel, New Zealand and Australia. The FDA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in February 2022 describing revisions to the QSR to harmonize it with ISO13485. However, it is not clear when the FDA plans to issue a Final Rule to implement the harmonized regulations.
Compliance with regulations for quality management systems for medical device companies is time consuming and costly, and there are changes in such regulations from time to time. For example, the latest version of ISO13485, ISO13485:2016, aims to harmonize the requirements of ISO13485 with the requirements of the AIMD Directive. While management believes that we are compliant with existing quality management system regulations for medical device companies as of the date of this Annual Report, it is possible that we may be found to be noncompliant with new or existing regulations in the future. In addition, we may be found to be noncompliant as a result of future changes in, or interpretation of, the regulations for quality systems. If we do not achieve compliance or subsequently become noncompliant, the regulatory authorities may require that we take appropriate action to address non- conformance issues identified in a regulatory audit, and may, if we do not take such corrective actions in a timely manner, withdraw marketing clearance, or require product recall or take other enforcement action.
Our external vendors must, in general, also comply with the quality systems regulations and ISO13485. Any of our external vendors may become noncompliant with quality systems regulations or ISO13485, which could result in enforcement action by regulatory authorities, including, for example a warning letter from the FDA or a requirement to withdraw from the market or suspend distribution, or export or use of products manufactured by one or more of our vendors.
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Any change or modification to a device (including changes to the manufacturing process) may require supplemental filings to regulatory authorities or new submissions for marketing authorization or certification (depending on the jurisdiction) and must be made in compliance with appropriate quality system regulations (such as the QSR for the United States and the AIMD Directive and the MDR for Europe), which may cause interruption to or delays in the marketing and sale of our products. Regulations and laws regarding the manufacture and sale of AIMDs are subject to future changes, as are administrative interpretation and policies of regulatory agencies. If we fail to comply with such laws and regulations where we would intend to market the Genio system, we could be subject to enforcement action including recall of our device, withdrawal of approval, authorization, certification or clearance and civil and criminal penalties. If any of these events occur, it may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Active implantable medical devices such as the Genio system carry risks associated with the surgical procedure for implant or removal of the device, use of the device, or the therapy delivered by the device.
The Genio system is a medical device with complex electronic circuits and software and includes a component that is implanted in the patient through a surgical procedure. It is not possible to design and build electronic implantable medical devices that are 100% reliable, since all electronic devices carry a risk of failure. Furthermore, all surgical procedures carry risks, and the effectiveness of any medical therapy varies between patients. The consequences of failure of the Genio system include complications arising from product use and associated surgical procedures and could range from minor to life-threatening effects and even death.
All medical devices have associated risks. Regulatory authorities regard active implantable medical devices, or AIMDs, as the highest risk category of medical devices and, accordingly, AIMDs are subject to a high level of scrutiny when seeking regulatory approval or other marketing authorization. The Genio system was reviewed, classified and the certificate of conformity as an AIMD was issued by our European Notified Body allowing us to affix the CE-Mark. A CE-Mark in Europe indicates that the device in question is in full compliance with European legislation. Medical devices authorized for marketing in the European Union need to comply with the essential requirements laid down in the AIMD Directive and in particular to demonstrate that they are designed and manufactured in such a way that it will not compromise the clinical condition or safety of patients, or the safety and health of users and others (that the potential benefits outweigh potential risks). In addition, medical devices must achieve the performance intended by the manufacturer and be designed, manufactured, and packaged in a suitable manner. Devices authorized first in the European Union may be associated with an increased risk of post-marketing safety alerts and recalls. On the other hand, before FDA premarket approval of a medical device in the United States, a device must be shown to be safe and effective per its intended use. The risks associated with medical devices and the therapy delivered by them, include, among others, risks associated with any surgical procedure, such as infection, allergic reaction, and consequences of anesthesia and risks associated with any implantable medical device such as device movement, electromagnetic interference, device failure, tissue damage including nerve damage, pain and psychological side effects associated with the therapy or the surgical procedure.
Adverse events associated with these risks may lead some patients to blame us, the physician or other parties for such occurrences. This may result in product liability lawsuits, medical malpractice lawsuits, investigations by regulatory authorities, adverse publicity, criminal charges or other harmful circumstances for us. Any of those circumstances may have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct our business, to continue selling the Genio system, to achieve revenue objectives, or to develop future products.
If our products are defective, or otherwise pose safety risks, the relevant governmental authorities could require their recall, or we may need to initiate a recall of our products voluntarily.
AIMDs are characterized by a complex manufacturing process, requiring adherence to demanding product specifications. The Genio system uses many disciplines including electrical, mechanical, software, biomaterials, and other types of engineering. Device failures discovered during the clinical trial phase may lead to suspension or termination of the trial. In addition, device failures and malfunctions may result in a recall of the product, which may relate to a specific manufacturing lot or may affect all products in the field. Recalls may occur at any time during the life cycle of a device after regulatory authorization has been obtained for the commercial distribution of the device. For example, engineers employed by us undertaking development or manufacturing activities may make an incorrect decision or make a decision during the engineering phase without the benefit of long-term experience, and the impact of such wrong decisions may not be felt until well into a product’s life cycle.
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The FDA and foreign regulatory bodies have the authority to require the recall of commercialized products in the event of material deficiencies or defects in design or manufacture of a product or in the event that a product poses an unacceptable risk to health. The FDA’s authority to require a recall must be based on a finding that there is reasonable probability that the device could cause serious injury or death. We may also choose to voluntarily recall a product if any material deficiency is found. A government-mandated or voluntary recall by us could occur as a result of an unacceptable risk to health, component failures, malfunctions, manufacturing defects, labeling or design deficiencies, packaging defects or other deficiencies or failures to comply with applicable regulations. Product defects or other errors may occur in the future.
Depending on the corrective action we take to redress a product’s deficiencies or defects, the FDA may require, or we may decide, that we will need to obtain new marketing authorizations for the device before we may market or distribute the corrected device. Seeking such authorizations may delay our ability to replace the recalled devices in a timely manner. Moreover, if we do not adequately address problems associated with our devices, we may face additional regulatory enforcement action, including FDA warning letters, product seizure, injunctions, administrative penalties or civil or criminal fines.
Companies are required to maintain certain records of recalls and corrections, even if they are not reportable to the FDA. We may initiate voluntary withdrawals or corrections for our products in the future that we determine do not require notification of the FDA. If the FDA disagrees with our determinations, it could require us to report those actions as recalls and we may be subject to enforcement action. A future recall announcement could also harm our reputation with customers, potentially lead to product liability claims against us and negatively affect our sales. Any corrective action, whether voluntary or involuntary, as well as defending ourselves in a lawsuit, will require the dedication of our time and capital, distract management from operating our business and may harm our reputation and financial results.
Recalls of the Genio system would divert managerial and financial resources and could result in damaged relationships with regulatory authorities and lead to loss of market share to competitors. In addition, any product recall may result in irreparable harm to our reputation. Any product recall could impair our ability to produce products in a cost-effective and timely manner in order to meet customer demand. We may also be required to bear other costs or take other actions that may have a negative impact on future revenue and could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability.
The misuse or off-label use of our product candidates may harm our reputation in the marketplace, result in injuries that lead to product liability suits or result in costly investigations, fines or sanctions by regulatory bodies if we are deemed to have engaged in the promotion of these uses, any of which could be costly to our business.
Any marketing authorization or certification we may receive for our Genio system or other product candidates will be limited to specified indications for use, and we must also comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion of the system. Promotional communications with respect to medical devices are subject to a variety of legal and regulatory restrictions and must be consistent with the device’s intended use, data from any clinical trials, and established specifications. Thus, we will not be able to promote the Genio system for indications or uses for which they are not authorized. We plan to train our marketing personnel and direct sales force not to promote the Genio system for uses outside of the authorized indications for use, known as “off-label uses.” We cannot, however, prevent a physician from using our devices off-label, when in the physician’s independent professional medical judgment he or she deems it appropriate. There may be increased risk of injury to patients if physicians attempt to use our devices off-label, which could harm our reputation in the marketplace among physicians and patients.
If the FDA or any other regulatory authority determines that our promotional materials or training constitute promotion of an off-label use, it could request that we modify our training or promotional materials or subject us to regulatory or enforcement actions, including the issuance or imposition of a warning letter or an untitled letter (which is used to notify regulated entities of violations that do not necessitate a warning letter) injunction, seizure, civil fine or criminal penalties. It is also possible that other federal, state or other enforcement authorities might take action under other regulatory authority, such as false claims laws, if they consider our business activities to constitute promotion of an off-label use, which could result in significant penalties, including, but not limited to, criminal, civil and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs and the curtailment of our operations.
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In addition, physicians may misuse our products or use improper techniques if they are not adequately trained, potentially leading to injury and an increased risk of product liability. If our devices are misused or used with improper technique, we may become subject to costly litigation by our customers or their patients. Product liability claims could divert management’s attention from our core business, be expensive to defend and result in sizeable damage awards against us that may not be covered by insurance.
We face the risk of product liability claims that could be expensive, divert management’s attention and harm our reputation and business. We may not be able to maintain adequate product liability insurance.
Our business exposes us to the risk of product liability claims that are inherent in the testing, manufacturing and marketing of medical devices. The Genio system is designed to be implanted in the body and to affect important bodily functions and processes. As with any other complex medical device, there exists the reasonable certainty that, over time, one or more components of some Genio systems will malfunction. As a medical device manufacturer, we are exposed to the product liability claims arising from the Genio system failures and malfunctioning, product use and associated surgical procedures. This risk exists even if the Genio system is certified or authorized for commercial sale by regulatory authorities or Notified Bodies and manufactured in facilities licensed and regulated by the applicable regulatory authority or Notified Body. The medical device industry has historically been subject to extensive litigation over product liability claims, and we may face product liability suits if the Genio system causes, or merely appears to have caused, patient injury or death. In addition, an injury that is caused by the activities of our suppliers, such as those who provide us with components and raw materials, may be the basis for a claim against us. Product liability claims may be brought against us by patients, healthcare providers or others selling or otherwise being exposed to the Genio system, among others. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we will incur substantial liabilities and reputational harm. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in one or more of the following:
● | costs of litigation; |
● | distraction of management’s attention from our primary business; |
● | the inability to commercialize the Genio system or new products; |
● | decreased demand for the Genio system; |
● | damage to our reputation; |
● | product recalls or withdrawals from the market; |
● | withdrawal of clinical trial participants; |
● | substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants; or |
● | loss of sales. |
While we may attempt to manage our product liability exposure by proactively recalling or withdrawing from the market any defective products, any recall or market withdrawal of our products may delay the supply to our customers and may impact our reputation. We may not be successful in initiating appropriate market recall or market withdrawal efforts that may be required in the future and these efforts may not have the intended effect of preventing product malfunctions and the accompanying product liability that may result. Such recalls and withdrawals may also be used by our competitors to harm our reputation for safety or be perceived by patients as a safety risk when considering the use of our products, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Although we maintain product liability and clinical trial liability insurance at levels we believe are appropriate, this insurance is subject to deductibles and coverage limitations. Our current product liability insurance may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all, and, if available, coverage may not be adequate to protect us against any future product liability claims. If we are unable to obtain insurance at an acceptable cost or on acceptable terms or otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, we could be exposed to significant liabilities, including claims for amounts in excess of insured liabilities. As of the date of the Annual Report, there are no product liability claims against us.
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We bear the risk of warranty claims on the Genio system.
We bear the risk of warranty claims on the Genio system. We may not be successful in claiming recovery under any warranty or indemnity provided to us by our suppliers or vendors in the event of a successful warranty claim against us by a customer, and any such recovery from a vendor or supplier may be inadequate to fully compensate us. In addition, warranty claims brought by our customers related to third-party components may arise after our ability to bring corresponding warranty claims against such suppliers expires, which could result in costs to us. As of the date of the Annual Report, there are no warranty claims against us.
We are and will be subject to healthcare fraud and abuse laws and other laws applicable to our business activities and if we are unable to comply with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.
We are subject to various federal, state and local laws pertaining to healthcare fraud and abuse laws, including anti-kickback, false claims and transparency laws. Many EU member states have adopted specific anti-gift statutes that further limit commercial practices for medical devices, in particular vis-à-vis healthcare professionals and organizations. Additionally, there has been a recent trend of increased regulation of payments and transfers of value provided to healthcare professionals or entities. In addition, many EU member states have adopted national “Sunshine Acts” which impose reporting and transparency requirements (often on an annual basis) on medical device manufacturers, similar to the requirements in the United States. For instance, pursuant to the Belgian Act of December 18, 2016 and its implementing Royal Decree of June 14, 2017, which entered into force on June 23, 2017, manufacturers of medical devices are required to document and disclose all direct or indirect premiums and benefits granted to healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations and patient organizations with a practice or a registered office in Belgium. Also, under Article 10 of the Belgian Act of March 25, 1964, it is prohibited (subject to limited exceptions) in the context of the supply of medical devices to offer or grant any advantage or benefit in kind to amongst others healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations. In addition, certain countries also mandate implementation of commercial compliance programs.
Healthcare laws and regulations in the United States may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we research, market, sell and distribute any products for which we obtain marketing approval. The healthcare laws and regulations that may affect our ability to operate include, but are not limited to:
● | the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it to have committed a violation; |
● | the U.S. federal False Claims Act imposes criminal and civil penalties, including civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities for, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented false or fraudulent claims for payment by a federal government program, or making a false statement or record material to payment of a false claim or avoiding, decreasing or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti- Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal False Claims Act. Private individuals can bring False Claims Act “qui tam” actions, on behalf of the government and such individuals, commonly known as “whistleblowers,” may share in amounts paid by the entity to the government in fines or settlement; |
● | the U.S. federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH, imposes criminal and civil liability for executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program and also imposes obligations, including in some circumstances mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information; |
● | the U.S. federal false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services; |
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● | the U.S. federal transparency requirements under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act require manufacturers of FDA-authorized drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies covered by Medicare or Medicaid to report, on an annual basis, to the Department of Health and Human Services information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians, certain advanced non-physician healthcare practitioners, and teaching hospitals as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members; and |
● | analogous foreign and state laws and regulations such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws and analogous non-U.S. fraud and abuse laws and regulations, may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers, and some state laws require medical device companies to comply with the device industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government in addition to requiring device manufacturers to report information related to payments to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. State and non-U.S. laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, also govern the privacy and security of health information, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts. |
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices, including our financial arrangements with physicians, some of whom receive compensation in the form of stock options, which could be viewed as influencing the purchase of or use of our products in procedures they perform and may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations.
Any action brought against us for violations of these laws or regulations, even if successfully defended, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. We may be subject to private qui tam actions brought by individual whistleblowers on behalf of the federal or state governments, with potential liability under the federal False Claims Act including mandatory treble damages and significant per-claim penalties. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion of products from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs. Any of the foregoing consequences will negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Healthcare policy changes, including legislation or regulations aiming to reform the U.S. healthcare system, could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the United States, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. Federal and state lawmakers regularly propose and, at times, enact legislation that would result in significant changes to the healthcare system, some of which are intended to contain or reduce the costs of medical products and services. Current and future legislative proposals to further reform healthcare or reduce healthcare costs may limit coverage of or lower reimbursement for the procedures associated with the use of our product candidates, if authorized for marketing. The cost containment measures that payors and providers are instituting and the effect of any healthcare reform initiative implemented in the future could impact our revenue from the sale of our products.
In December 2022, the U.S. Congress enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2023, an omnibus appropriations bill, which included amendments to the FDCA under the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act of 2022, or FDORA. In addition to the requirement that sponsors of pivotal trials submit diversity action plans for pivotal trials (see “Government Regulation—Regulatory Landscape in the United States—Device Clinical Studies”), FDORA included new requirements for cyber devices, defined as any medical device that is or includes software that is validated, installed, or authorized by the manufacturer; can connect to the internet; and may be vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Under the FDORA amendments to the FDCA, any application for marketing authorization of the cyber device must include a software bill of materials and a cybersecurity plan describing the methods by which the manufacturer will monitor, identify and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Any failure by a cyber device manufacturer to comply with applicable cybersecurity requirements is considered a violation of the FDCA and will subject the manufacturer to enforcement actions and possibly legal sanctions.
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We expect additional state and federal healthcare policies and reform measures to be adopted in the future, any of which could limit reimbursement for healthcare products and services or otherwise result in reduced demand for our product candidates, if approved, or additional pricing pressure and have a material adverse effect on our industry generally and on our customers. We cannot predict what other healthcare programs and regulations will ultimately be implemented at the federal or state level or the effect of any future legislation or regulation in the United States may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payors of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of healthcare may adversely affect:
● | our ability to set a price that we believe is fair for the Genio system; |
● | our ability to generate revenue and achieve or maintain profitability; and |
● | the availability of capital. |
Any changes of, or uncertainty with respect to, future coverage or reimbursement rates could affect demand for our product candidates, if approved, which in turn could impact our ability to successfully commercialize our device and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to, or may in the future become subject to, federal, state, and foreign laws and regulations imposing obligations on how we collect, store, use and process information collected from or about patients or their procedures using our products. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business. Ensuring compliance with such legal requirements could also impair our efforts to maintain and expand our customer base, and thereby decrease our revenue.
The collection and use of personal health data in the European Union and European Economic Area, or EEA, is governed by the GDPR. Since we are located in the European Union, we are subject to the GDPR when we process personal data from anywhere in the world for purposes of our business in the EEA. The territorial reach of the GDPR also includes the activities of businesses located outside of the EEA that relate to the businesses’ provision of goods or services to residents in the EEA, or monitoring the behavior of people in the EEA. We are therefore also subject to the GDPR even where our data processing activities take place outside of the European Union and relate only to our business outside of the European Union to the extent that such activities involve the personal data of individuals located in the European Union and relate to our offer of goods or services to them, or to our monitoring of their behavior. The GDPR imposes strict requirements on controllers and processors of personal data, including special protections for “sensitive personal data” which includes health and genetic information of data subjects and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance with the new data protection rules This may be onerous and may interrupt or delay our development activities, and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The GDPR also regulates the transfer of personal data subject to the GDPR to so-called third countries that have not been found by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of data protection, including the United States. As from 2020, legal developments in Europe have created complexity and uncertainty regarding such transfers.
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For instance, on July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, or CJEU, invalidated, by means of the so-called Schrems II-judgment, the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, or the Privacy Shield, under which personal data could be transferred from the EEA to U.S. entities who had self-certified under the Privacy Shield scheme. While the CJEU upheld the adequacy of the standard contractual clauses (a standard form of contract approved by the European Commission as an adequate third country personal data transfer mechanism and potential alternative to the Privacy Shield), it made clear that reliance on such clauses alone may not necessarily be sufficient in all circumstances. The impact of the Schrems II-judgment is thus not confined to US personal data transfers, but to any transfer of personal data to third countries that are not deemed by the European Commission to provide for an adequate level of data protection. Both the EU controller (we) and the third country recipient need to verify whether the destination country’s laws will allow compliance with the GDPR, the transfer tool itself and also the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights (essentially equivalent level of protection to that guaranteed within the EU by the GDPR). If this is not the case, notably if third country mass surveillance legislation leads in practice (case by case analysis taking into account all relevant aspects to evaluate whether the mass surveillance legislation will apply and the impact thereof) to noncompliance, then we need to assess whether this can be remedied by supplementary measures (organizational, technical (encryption, pseudonymization) and contractual). The European Data Protection Board, or EDPB, regrouping all data protection authorities in the EU, has issued guidance in this respect; see EDPB Opinion 01/2020). If not, such transfer should be suspended or ended. If we are however intending to keep transferring personal data despite this conclusion, then we must notify the competent data protection authority. Nevertheless, there have been recent developments towards more certainty in respect of EU-US personal data transfers. On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for a new mechanism for transferring data from the EU to the United States – the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which provides EU individuals with several new rights, including the right to obtain access to their data, or obtain correction or deletion of incorrect or unlawfully handled data, and allows US companies to self-certify to the U.S. Department of Commerce their compliance with a set of agreed privacy principles in order to freely receive EU personal data. The adequacy decision followed the signing of an executive order introducing new binding safeguards to address the points raised in the Schrems II-judgment. Notably, the new obligations were geared to ensure that data can be accessed by U.S. intelligence agencies only to the extent necessary and proportionate and to establish an independent and impartial redress mechanism to handle complaints from Europeans concerning the collection of their data for national security purposes. The European Commission will continually review developments in the United States along with its adequacy decision. Adequacy decisions can be adapted or even withdrawn in the event of developments affecting the level of protection in the applicable jurisdiction. On a general note, failure to comply with the GDPR could result in penalties for noncompliance (including possible fines of up to the greater of €20 million and 4% of our global annual turnover for the preceding financial year for the most serious violations, as well as the right to compensation for financial or non-financial damages claimed by individuals under Article 82 of the GDPR). If any of these events were to occur, our business and financial results could be significantly disrupted and adversely affected
In addition, the GDPR provides that European Union member states may further “implement” the GDPR in certain areas; in respect of the processing of genetic, biometric or health data, the GDPR for instance allows for member states to maintain or introduce further conditions, including limitations, which leads to additional uncertainties. By means of example, the Belgian legislator has made use of this option and makes the processing of such types of personal data subject to additional requirements (Art. 9 of the GDPR Act of 30 July 2018).
In addition to the GDPR, the European Commission has another draft regulation in the approval process that focuses on a person’s right to conduct a private life. The proposed legislation, known as the Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications, or ePrivacy Regulation, would replace the current ePrivacy Directive. While the text of the ePrivacy Regulation is still under development, the 2019 Planet49 - judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union and regulators’ recent guidance and increased enforcement activity are driving increased attention to cookies and other tracking technologies. Some regulators have started to enforce the strict approach in recent guidance; the Belgian Data Protection Authority for instance has been proactively looking for cookie infringements on (press) websites and placed those websites under scrutiny in recent case law. Moreover, the EDPB has published the Cookie Banner Taskforce Report, which identifies common minimum thresholds for the data protection authorities in relation to cookies. Compliance with existing and future rules concerning cookies and other tracking technologies could lead to substantial costs, require significant systems changes, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, divert the attention of our technology personnel, adversely affect our margins, increase costs and subject us to additional liabilities. Regulation of cookies and similar technologies may lead to broader restrictions on our marketing and personalization activities and may negatively impact our efforts to understand users.
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Further, in March 2017, the United Kingdom formally notified the European Council of its intention to leave the European Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The United Kingdom ceased to be a European Union Member State on January 31, 2020, but enacted a Data Protection Act substantially implementing the GDPR, effective in May 2018, which was further amended to align more substantially with the GDPR following Brexit. Currently, the data protection laws of the UK and the EU remain closely aligned, which means that the UK also requires additional analysis of local laws and additional measures for transfers of personal data out of the UK to countries (including the U.S.) that have not been deemed by the UK to have adequate data protection laws. In relation to UK-EEA personal data transfers, these can freely continue provided that on the one hand the UK has deemed that the EEA has adequate data protection laws (i.e. we can freely transfer personal data from the U.K. to our business in Belgium or elsewhere in the EEA) and on the other hand the European Commission adopted on 28 June 2021 an adequacy decision for the UK. The adequacy decision does however have a limited duration of four years, so that we need to re-evaluate our transfers from the EEA to the UK in 2025 (or earlier if the European Commission intervenes following a lowering of the level of data protection in the UK. For the period between 31 January 2020 (date the UK left the EU) until 28 June 2021, transfers of personal data from the EEA to the UK could continue unrestricted by virtue of the temporary Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We are required to comply with both the GDPR and the UK GDPR, with each regime having the ability to fine up to the greater of €20 million (in the case of the GDPR) or £17,5 million (in the case of the UK GDPR) and 4% of total annual revenue. We may need to appoint a local representative in the UK, and incur other additional costs and risks as a result of the UK and the EU having separate data protection regimes.
In addition, in the conduct of our business, we may at times process personal data, including health-related personal data. When conducting clinical trials, we face risks associated with collecting trial participants’ data, especially health data, in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations. In the EU and the UK, certain guidance issued by the organization representing the national data protection supervisory authorities may conflict with the requirements or guidelines of the entities that oversee clinical trials, creating uncertainty, increased compliance costs and potential delays in the process of gaining approval to conduct our clinical trials.
We also face risks inherent in handling and in protecting the security of personal data, including health- related data. In addition to specific healthcare laws and regulations, the U.S. federal government and various states have adopted or proposed laws, regulations, guidelines, and rules with respect to the collection, distribution, use, and storage of personal information of patients. For example, HIPAA imposes requirements on certain healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses, or Covered Entities, as well as their business associates that perform services for them that involve the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information, called Protected Health Information, or PHI, under HIPAA, relating to the privacy and security of PHI, including the use of mandatory contractual terms, or Business Association Agreements, in some circumstances, as well as privacy and security standards and breach notification requirements. Failure to comply with the HIPAA privacy and security standards can result in significant civil monetary penalties and, in certain circumstances, criminal penalties. HIPAA also imposes penalties on third parties that wrongfully obtain PHI. State attorneys general can also bring a civil action to enjoin a HIPAA violation or to obtain statutory damages on behalf of residents of his or her state.
In addition, state privacy and security laws and regulations vary from state to state, constantly evolve, and remain subject to significant change. In some cases, such laws and regulations can impose more restrictive requirements than HIPAA and other U.S. federal laws, thus complicating compliance efforts. By way of example, California and Virginia have enacted significant privacy laws that give residents of those states expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. New privacy laws will also become effective in Florida, Montana and Texas in 2024, in Tennessee and Iowa in 2025, and in Indiana in 2026 and numerous other states are considering new privacy laws. Furthermore, other U.S. states, such as New York, Massachusetts, and Utah have enacted stringent data security laws and numerous other states have proposed similar privacy laws. Failure to comply with these state privacy laws could result in penalties and present unresolved compliance issues. In addition, the enactment of a U.S. federal privacy law is possible. The changing number of U.S. state or federal privacy laws may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. New privacy and data security laws have been proposed in more than half of the states in the U.S. and in the U.S. Congress, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the U.S., which trend may accelerate with increasing concerns about individual privacy. The existence of comprehensive privacy laws in different states in the country will make our compliance obligations more complex and costly and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and potential liability in an effort to comply with such legislation. In addition to fines and penalties that may be imposed for failure to comply with state law, some states also provide for private rights of action to patients for misuse of or unauthorized access to personal information.
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We are not subject to HIPAA, but our customers, research collaborators and others in the United States with whom we do business are. Accordingly, we must ensure that any business arrangements that we have with Covered Entities are structured to comply with HIPAA and ensure that we have the authority to obtain any PHI that may be disclosed to us. Some countries also are considering or have enacted legislation requiring local storage and processing of data that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services. Any actual or perceived failure by us or the third parties with whom we work to comply with privacy or security laws, policies, legal obligations, or industry standards, or any security incident that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of PHI, may result in governmental enforcement actions and investigations by U.S. federal and state regulatory authorities, fines and penalties, claims, litigation, and/or adverse publicity, including by consumer advocacy groups and other private parties, and could cause our customers, their patients and other healthcare professionals to lose trust in us, which could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, many jurisdictions outside of Europe are also considering and/or enacting comprehensive data protection legislation. For example, as of August 2020, the Brazilian General Data Protection Law imposes stringent requirements similar to GDPR with respect to personal information collected from individuals in Brazil.
In China, there have also been recent significant developments concerning privacy and data security. The Data Security Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Data Security Law”), which took effect on September 1, 2021, requires data processing (which includes the collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision and publication of data), to be conducted in a legitimate and proper manner. The Data Security Law imposes data security and privacy obligations on entities and individuals carrying out data processing activities and also introduces a data classification and hierarchical protection system based on the importance of data in economic and social development and the degree of harm it may cause to national security, public interests, or legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations if such data are tampered with, destroyed, leaked, illegally acquired or illegally used. The appropriate level of protection measures is required to be taken for each respective category of data.
Also in China, the Personal Information Protection Law, which took effect on November 1, 2021, introduced stringent protection requirements for processing personal information, which are in many ways akin to the requirements of the GDPR. We may be required to make further significant adjustments to our business practices to comply with the personal information protection laws and regulations in China including the Personal Information Protection Law.
We also continue to see jurisdictions imposing data localization laws. These regulations may interfere with our intended business activities, inhibit our ability to expand into those markets or prohibit us from continuing to offer services in those markets without significant additional costs.
Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with privacy and data protection laws, rules and regulations could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others. These proceedings or actions may subject us to significant penalties and negative publicity, require us to change our business practices, increase our costs and severely disrupt our business.
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Security breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information and expose us to liability, which would cause our business and reputation to suffer.
We and certain third parties that we rely on for our operations collect and store confidential and sensitive information, and our and their operations are highly dependent on information technology systems, including internet-based systems, which may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes and hurricanes, fires, floods and other natural disasters, and attacks by computer viruses, unauthorized access, terrorism, and war, as well as telecommunication and electrical failures. Damage or extended periods of interruption to our corporate, development or research facilities due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, communications failure, unauthorized entry or other events could also cause us to cease or delay our manufacturing of the Genio systems. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could have a material adverse effect on our business. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed, ongoing or planned trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Since the Genio system is a wireless medical device, additional complications may arise with respect to the wireless, RF, technology used for the communication between the system parts. While we have reviewed and determined the integrity of the Genio system and the communication protocol, use of wireless technology imposes a risk that third parties might attempt to access our system. An additional risk is related to interruption or distortion of communication by other devices that might be used in the vicinity of the system, especially when in use by the user, which might have an effect on the effectiveness of the therapy delivered by the system. Any disruption or security breach or other security incident that resulted in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or the inappropriate access to or disclosure of personal, confidential, or proprietary information could delay our product development, clinical trials, or commercialization efforts, result in increased overhead costs and damage our reputation, all of which could negatively affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of our confidential business information and other information maintained or processed in our business, including sensitive or confidential patient or employee data, is critical to our operations. Such information includes, among other things, intellectual property and proprietary information, the confidential information of any of our future collaborators and licensees, the personal data of our employees, and personal data from patients using the Genio system, which falls into the specially protected category of health data, for which additional safeguards are required under applicable laws. Unauthorized access to or disclosure of any sensitive or confidential patient, trial participant, or employee data, including whether through breach of computer systems, systems failure, employee negligence, fraud or misappropriation, or otherwise, or unauthorized access to or through our information systems and networks, whether by our employees or third parties, or the perception that this has occurred, could result in negative publicity, legal liability and damage to our reputation and could also expose us to sanctions for violations of laws and regulations relating to privacy and data security. Although we have general liability and cybersecurity insurance coverage, our insurance may not cover all claims, continue to be available to us on reasonable terms or be sufficient in amount to cover one or more large claims; additionally, the insurer may disclaim coverage as to any claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed or are not covered by our insurance coverage or changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co- insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.
Despite our security measures, our information technology systems and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or internal bad actors, or breached due to employee error, a technical vulnerability, malfeasance or other disruptions. Phishing attempts, social engineering, and other attacks upon our information technology systems are increasing in their frequency, levels of persistence, sophistication and intensity, and are being conducted by sophisticated and organized groups and individuals with a wide range of motives and expertise. In addition to unauthorized access to or acquisition of personal information, confidential information, or other sensitive information, such attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware and ransomware, and may use a variety of methods, including denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means, to attain such unauthorized access or acquisition or otherwise affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not foreseeable or recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any such access, disclosure, or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, significant regulatory penalties, and such an event could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, and cause a loss of confidence in us and our ability to commercialize our products and conduct clinical trials, which could adversely affect our reputation and delay our commercialization strategy for our Genio system and clinical development of our current and future products.
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We rely significantly on information technology and any failure, inadequacy, interruption or security lapse of that technology or loss of data, including any cyber security incidents, could compromise sensitive information related to our business, prevent us from accessing critical information or expose us to liability which could harm our ability to operate our business effectively and adversely affect our business and reputation.
Our ability to execute our business plan and maintain operations depends on the continued and uninterrupted performance of our information technology, or IT, systems, some of which are in our control and some of which are in the control of third parties. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including personally identifiable information about our employees, intellectual property, and proprietary business information (confidential information). We manage and maintain our applications and data utilizing on-site systems and we also have outsourced elements of our operations to third parties, and as a result we manage a number of third-party vendors who may or could have access to our confidential information. These applications and data encompass a wide variety of business-critical information including research and development information and business and financial information.
The secure processing, storage, maintenance and transmission of this critical information is vital to our operations and business strategy. Despite the implementation of security measures, our IT systems are vulnerable to risks and damages from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures, cyber-attacks, computer viruses, ransomware attacks, phishing schemes, breaches, unauthorized access, interruptions due to employee error or malfeasance or other disruptions, damage from natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures, or other attempts to harm or access our systems. Moreover, despite network security and back-up measures, some of our servers and those of our business partners are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, including cyber-attacks, computer viruses and similar disruptive problems. These events could lead to the unauthorized access, disclosure and use of confidential information. Breaches resulting in the compromise, disruption, degradation, manipulation, loss, theft, destruction, or unauthorized disclosure or use of confidential information, or the unauthorized access to, disruption of, or interference with our products and services, can occur in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, negligent or wrongful conduct by employees or others with permitted access to our IT systems and information, or wrongful conduct by hackers, competitors, or certain governments. Our third party vendors and business partners face similar risks.
Cyber-attacks come in many forms, including the deployment of harmful malware or ransomware, exploitation of vulnerabilities, phishing and other use of social engineering, and other means to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our IT systems and confidential information. The techniques used by criminal elements to attack computer systems are sophisticated, change frequently and may originate from less regulated or remote areas of the world. As a result, we may not be able to address these techniques proactively or implement adequate preventative measures. There can be no assurance that we will promptly detect or intercept any such disruption or security breach, if at all. If our computer systems are compromised, we could be subject to fines, damages, reputational harm, litigation and enforcement actions, and we could lose trade secrets, the occurrence of which could harm our business, in addition to possibly requiring substantial expenditures of resources to remedy. For example, any such event that leads to unauthorized access, use or disclosure of personal information, including personal information regarding our patients or employees, could harm our reputation, require us to comply with breach notification laws under GDPR and other legal equivalents, and otherwise subject us to liability under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal information. In addition, the loss of data from clinical trials of the Genio system could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce data, and a cybersecurity breach could adversely affect our reputation and could result in other negative consequences, including disruption of our internal operations, increased cyber security protection costs, lost revenues or litigation. Despite precautionary measures to prevent unanticipated problems that could affect our IT systems, sustained or repeated system failures that interrupt our ability to generate and maintain data could adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
The costs related to significant security breaches or disruptions could be material and could exceed the limits of the cybersecurity insurance we maintain, if any, against such risks. If the information technology systems of our third-party vendors and other contractors and consultants become subject to disruptions or security breaches, we may have insufficient recourse against such third parties and may have to expend significant resources to mitigate the impact of such an event, and to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring.
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We cannot assure you that our data protection efforts and our investment in IT will prevent significant breakdowns, data leakages, breaches in our systems, or those of our third-party vendors and other contractors and consultants, or other cyber incidents that could have a material adverse effect upon our reputation, business, operations, or financial condition. For example, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, or those of our third-party vendors and other contractors and consultants, it could result in a material disruption of our programs and the development of our services and technologies could be delayed. Furthermore, significant disruptions of our internal information technology systems or those of our third-party vendors and other contractors and consultants, or security breaches could result in the loss, misappropriation, and/or unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, confidential information (including trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information, and personal information), which could result in financial, legal, business, and reputational harm to us. For instance, any such event that leads to unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of personal information, including personal information regarding our customers or employees, could harm our reputation directly, compel us to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, subject us to mandatory corrective action, and otherwise subject us to liability under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal information, which could result in significant legal and financial exposure and reputational damages that could potentially have an adverse effect on our business.
Although we take measures to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, use or disclosure, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or viruses or breached due to personnel error, malfeasance, or other malicious or inadvertent disruptions. Any such breach or interruption could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed by unauthorized parties, manipulated, publicly disclosed, lost, or stolen.
Any such access, breach, or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability under domestic or foreign privacy, data protection and data security laws such as HIPAA and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), and penalties. Notice of certain security breaches must be made to affected individuals, the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and for extensive breaches, notice may need to be made to the media or state attorneys general. Such notice could harm our reputation and our ability to compete. Although we have implemented security measures, such data is currently accessible through multiple channels, and there is no guarantee we can protect our data from breach. Unauthorized access, loss or dissemination could also damage our reputation or disrupt our operations, including our ability to conduct our analyses, conduct research and development activities, collect, process and prepare company financial information, and manage the administrative aspects of our business.
Penalties for violations of these laws vary. For instance, penalties for failure to comply with a requirement of HIPAA and HITECH vary significantly, and include significant civil monetary penalties and, in certain circumstances, criminal penalties with fines up to $250,000 per violation and/or imprisonment. A person who knowingly obtains or discloses individually identifiable health information in violation of HIPAA may face a criminal penalty of up to $50,000 and up to one-year imprisonment. The criminal penalties increase if the wrongful conduct involves false pretenses or the intent to sell, transfer or use identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain or malicious harm.
Further, various states, such as California and Massachusetts, have implemented similar privacy laws and regulations, such as the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, that impose restrictive requirements regulating the use and disclosure of health information and other personally identifiable information. These laws and regulations are not necessarily preempted by HIPAA, particularly if a state afford greater protection to individuals than HIPAA. Where state laws are more protective, we have to comply with the stricter provisions. In addition to fines and penalties imposed upon violators, some of these state laws also afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. California’s patient privacy laws, for example, provide for penalties of up to $250,000 and permit injured parties to sue for damages. Similarly, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) allows consumers a private right of action when certain personal information is subject to unauthorized access and exfiltration, theft or disclosure due to a business’ failure to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures. The interplay of federal and state laws may be subject to varying interpretations by courts and government agencies, creating complex compliance issues for us and data we receive, use and share, potentially exposing us to additional expense, adverse publicity and liability. Further, as regulatory focus on privacy issues continues to increase and laws and regulations concerning the protection of personal information expand and become more complex, these potential risks to our business could intensify. Changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of sensitive data, for the treatment of genetic data, along with increased customer demands for enhanced data security infrastructure, could greatly increase our cost of providing our products, decrease demand for our products, reduce our revenues and/or subject us to additional liabilities.
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Artificial intelligence presents risks and challenges that can impact our business including by posing security risks to our confidential information, proprietary information, and personal data.
Issues in the development and use of artificial intelligence, combined with an uncertain regulatory environment, may result in reputational harm, liability, or other adverse consequences to our business operations. As with many technological innovations, artificial intelligence presents risks and challenges that could impact our business. We may adopt and integrate certain general artificial intelligence tools for specific use cases reviewed by legal and information security Our vendors may incorporate generative artificial intelligence tools into their offerings without disclosing this use to us, and the providers of these generative artificial intelligence tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards with respect to privacy and data protection and may inhibit our or our vendors’ ability to maintain an adequate level of service and experience. If we, our vendors, or our third-party partners experience an actual or perceived breach or privacy or security incident because of the use of generative artificial intelligence, we may lose valuable intellectual property and confidential information and our reputation and the public perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed. Further, bad actors around the world use increasingly sophisticated methods, including the use of artificial intelligence, to engage in illegal activities involving the theft and misuse of personal information, confidential information, and intellectual property. Any of these outcomes could damage our reputation, result in the loss of valuable property and information, and adversely impact our business.
Changes in or inadequate funding for, or disruptions caused by global health concerns impacting, the FDA, the SEC and other government agencies could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, prevent new products from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner or otherwise prevent those agencies from performing normal business functions on which the operation of our business may rely, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes and other events that may otherwise affect the FDA’s ability to perform routine functions. Average review times at the FDA have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of the SEC and other government agencies on which our operations may rely, including those that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.
Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new medical devices to be reviewed and/or authorized by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, in recent years, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and the SEC, have had to furlough critical FDA, SEC and other government employees and stop critical activities.
If a prolonged government shutdown or slowdown occurs or if global health concerns prevent the FDA or other regulatory authorities or bodies from conducting business as usual or conducting inspections or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, future government shutdowns could impact our ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
The inability to fully protect and exploit our intellectual property and trade secrets may adversely affect our financial performance and prospects.
Our success will depend significantly on our ability to protect our proprietary and licensed in rights, including in particular the intellectual property and trade secrets related to the Genio system. We rely on a combination of patent(s) (applications), trademarks, designs and trade secrets, and use non-disclosure, confidentiality and other contractual agreements to protect our technology. If we are unable to obtain and maintain sufficient intellectual property protection for the Genio system or other product candidates that we may identify, or if the scope of the intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors and other third parties could develop and commercialize product candidates similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize the Genio system and other product candidates that we may pursue may be impaired.
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We generally seek patent protection where possible for those aspects of our technology and products that we believe provide significant competitive advantages. However, obtaining, maintaining, defending and enforcing pharmaceutical patents is costly, time consuming and complex, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications, or maintain, enforce and license any patents that may issue from such patent applications, at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Under certain of our license or collaboration agreements, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing, prosecution and maintenance of patent applications, or to maintain the rights to patents licensed to or from third parties. Further, we cannot be certain that patents will be issued with respect to our pending or future patent applications. In addition, we do not know whether any issued patents will be upheld as valid or proven enforceable against alleged infringers or whether they will prevent the development of competitive patents or provide meaningful protection against competitors or against competitive technologies.
The patent position of medical device companies generally is uncertain, involves complex legal, technological and factual questions. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, or vice versa. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability, and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. The subject matter claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted after issuance. Therefore, our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued in relevant jurisdictions that protect the Genio system or our product candidates, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive product candidates, and even if our patent applications issue as patents in relevant jurisdictions, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection for our product candidates or technology, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Additionally, our competitors may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative product candidates or technologies in a non-infringing manner.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. We may be subject to a third-party preissuance submission of prior art to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation, revocation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others, or other proceedings in the USPTO or applicable foreign offices that challenge priority of invention or other features of patentability. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate, patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, limit the scope or duration of the patent protection of the Genio system or our product candidates, all of which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical product candidates or technology to compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize product candidates or approved products (if any) without infringing third-party patent rights. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future product candidates, or could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise funds necessary to continue our research programs or clinical trials. Such proceedings also may result in substantial cost and require significant time from our scientists and management, even if the eventual outcome is favorable to us.
In addition, our intellectual property rights might be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable. Our competitors or other third parties may successfully challenge and invalidate or render unenforceable our issued patents, including any patents that may be issued in the future. This could prevent or limit our ability to stop competitors from marketing products that are identical or substantially equivalent to the Genio system. In addition, despite the broad definition of our concepts and inventions in our portfolio, as is common in technological progress, competitors may be able to design around our patents or develop products that provide outcomes that are comparable to the Genio system but that are not covered by our patents. Much of our value is in our intellectual property, and any challenge to our intellectual property portfolio (whether successful or not) may affect our value.
We could become subject to intellectual property litigation.
The medical device industry is characterized by rapidly changing products and technologies and there is intense competition to establish intellectual property and proprietary rights covering the use of these new products and the related technologies. This vigorous pursuit of intellectual property and proprietary rights has resulted and will continue to result in extensive litigation and administrative proceedings over patent and other intellectual property rights. Whether a product and/or a process infringes a patent involves complex legal and factual issues, and the outcome of such disputes is often uncertain.
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There may be existing patents of which we are unaware that are inadvertently infringed by the Genio system. We cannot guarantee that any of our patent searches or analyses, including the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third-party patent and pending patent application in the United States and abroad that is relevant to or necessary for the commercialization of our product candidates in any jurisdiction. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our product candidates could have been filed by third parties without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our product candidates or the use of our product candidates. The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to market our product candidates.
We may incorrectly determine that our product candidates are not covered by a third-party patent or may incorrectly predict whether a third party’s pending application will issue with claims of relevant scope. Our determination of the expiration date of any patent in the United States or abroad that we consider relevant may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our product candidates. Our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may negatively impact our ability to develop and market the Genio system and our product candidates.
Any infringement claim against us, even if without merit, may cause us to incur substantial costs, and could place a significant strain on our financial resources and/or divert the time and efforts of management from the conduct of our business. In addition, any intellectual property litigation could force us to do one or more of the following: (i) stop selling the Genio system or using technology that contains the allegedly infringing intellectual property; (ii) forfeit the opportunity to license our patented technology to others or to collect royalty payments based upon successful protection and assertion of our intellectual property rights against others; (iii) pay substantial damages to the party whose intellectual property rights we may be found to be infringing; or (iv) redesign those products that contain or utilize the allegedly infringing intellectual property. As of the date of this Annual Report, there is no intellectual property litigation pending against us.
Additionally, competitors and other third parties may infringe or otherwise violate our issued patents or other intellectual property or the patents or other intellectual property of our licensors. In addition, our patents or the patents of our licensors may become involved in inventorship or priority disputes. Our pending patent applications cannot be enforced against third parties practicing the technology claimed in such applications unless and until a patent issues from such applications. To counter infringement or other unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time- consuming. Our ability to enforce patent rights also depends on our ability to detect infringement. It may be difficult to detect infringers who do not advertise the components or methods that are used in connection with their products and services. Moreover, it may be difficult or impossible to obtain evidence of infringement in a competitor’s or potential competitor’s product or service. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their patents or that our patents are invalid or unenforceable. In a patent infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, construe the patent’s claims narrowly or refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put one or more of our owned or licensed patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable or interpreted narrowly. We may find it impractical or undesirable to enforce our intellectual property against some third parties.
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position with respect to the Genio system and our product candidates for an adequate amount of time.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired for a product candidate, we may be open to competition from competitive devices. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such product candidates might expire before or shortly after such product candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing product candidates similar or identical to ours for a meaningful amount of time, or at all.
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Depending upon the timing, duration and conditions of any FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, one or more of our owned or licensed U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act, and similar legislation in the European Union and certain other countries. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent term extension of up to five years for a patent covering an approved product as compensation for effective patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, we may not receive an extension if we fail to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the length of the extension could be less than we request. Only one patent per approved product can be extended, the extension cannot extend the total patent term beyond 14 years from approval and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we can enforce our patent rights for the applicable product candidate will be shortened and our competitors may obtain approval to market competing products sooner. As a result, our revenue from applicable products could be reduced. Further, if this occurs, our competitors may take advantage of our investment in development and trials by referencing our clinical and nonclinical data and launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case, and our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially harmed.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information, our business and competitive position would be harmed.
We rely upon unpatented confidential and proprietary information, including technical information, know- how, and other trade secrets to develop and maintain our competitive position with respect to the Genio system. While we generally enter into non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements with our employees and other third parties to protect our intellectual property and trade secrets, we cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or has had access to our proprietary information. Further, despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to copy or reverse engineer certain aspects of our product candidates that we consider proprietary. Monitoring unauthorized uses and disclosures is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary information will be effective. If any of our proprietary information is disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor or other third party, our competitive position would be materially and adversely harmed.
We depend on exclusive licenses and agreements with third parties, which might not provide adequate protection for our technology.
We rely on licensing agreements providing us exclusivity in the field of our practice. While we have ensured through multiple robust agreements acquisition of exclusive licenses and freedom to operate for our technology, as with any agreement, under unexpected or unpredictable circumstances, these could be under a risk of being terminated despite companies’ efforts and diligence in ensuring integrity of the agreement. Should the agreements be found invalid or licenses revoked and the licensor decide to sue us for infringement of its patents rights, this could expose us to risks of litigation. In addition, any intellectual property litigation could force us to do one or more of the following: (i) stop selling the Genio system or using technology that contains the allegedly infringing intellectual property; (ii) forfeit the opportunity to license our patented technology to others or to collect royalty payments based upon successful protection and assertion of our intellectual property rights against others; (iii) pay substantial damages to the party whose intellectual property rights we may be found to be infringing; or (iv) redesign those products that contain or utilize the allegedly infringing intellectual property. The requirement to obtain licenses to third party intellectual property could also arise in the future. If we need to license in any third-party intellectual property, we could be required to pay lump sums or royalties on our products. In addition, if we are required to obtain licenses to third party intellectual property, we might not be able to obtain such licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
We may be subject to claims by third parties asserting that we or our employees have infringed upon, misappropriated or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights, or claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.
Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants and advisors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these individuals have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such individual’s former employer. We may also be subject to claims that patents and applications we have filed to protect inventions of our employees, consultants and advisors, even those related to one or more of our product candidates, are rightfully owned by their former or concurrent employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims.
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If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs, delay development of our product candidates and be a distraction to management. Any of the foregoing events would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.
Our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential collaborators or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. We may license our trademarks and trade names to third parties, such as distributors. Though these license agreements may provide guidelines for how our trademarks and trade names may be used, a breach of these agreements or misuse of our trademarks and tradenames by our licensees may jeopardize our rights in or diminish the goodwill associated with our trademarks and trade names. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade names, and domain names, or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example:
● | others may be able to make products that are similar to any product candidates we may develop or utilize similar technology but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we license or may own in the future; |
● | we, or our current or future licensors might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by the issued patent or pending patent application that we license or may own in the future; |
● | we, or our current or future licensors might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our or their inventions; |
● | others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our owned or licensed intellectual property rights; |
● | it is possible that our pending owned or licensed patent applications or those that we may own or license in the future will not lead to issued patents; |
● | issued patents that we hold rights to may be held invalid or unenforceable, including as a result of legal challenges by our competitors; |
● | our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets; |
● | we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; |
● | the patents of others may harm our business; and |
● | we may choose not to file a patent in order to maintain certain trade secrets or know-how, and a third party may subsequently file a patent covering such intellectual property. |
Should any of these events occur, they could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Risks Related to the Ordinary Shares
The dual listing of our ordinary shares may adversely affect the liquidity and value of the ordinary shares.
Our ordinary shares trade on both Euronext Brussels and the Nasdaq Global Market. Trading of the ordinary shares in these markets will take place in different currencies (U.S. dollars on the Nasdaq Global Market and € on Euronext Brussels), and at different times (resulting from different time zones, different trading days and different public holidays in the United States and Belgium). The trading prices of our ordinary shares on these two markets may differ due to these and other factors. Any decrease in the price of our ordinary shares on Euronext Brussels could cause a decrease in the trading price of the ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Global Market. Investors could seek to sell or buy our ordinary shares to take advantage of any price differences between the markets through a practice referred to as arbitrage. Any arbitrage activity could create unexpected volatility in both the trading prices on one exchange and the ordinary shares available for trading on the other exchange. However, the dual listing of the ordinary shares may reduce the liquidity of these securities in one or both markets and may adversely affect the development of an active trading market for the ordinary shares in the United States.
The trading price of our equity securities may be volatile due to factors beyond our control, and holders of our ordinary shares could incur substantial losses.
The market prices of the ordinary shares may be volatile. The stock market in general and the market for biotechnology companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may not be able to sell their ordinary shares or shares at or above the price originally paid for the security. The market price for the ordinary shares may be influenced by many factors, including:
● | actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and operating results; |
● | the release of new data from our DREAM and other clinical trials; |
● | actual or anticipated changes in our growth rate relative to our competitors; |
● | competition from existing products or new products that may emerge; |
● | announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, collaborations or capital commitments; |
● | failure to meet or exceed financial estimates and projections of the investment community or that we provide to the public; |
● | issuance of new or updated research or reports by securities analysts; |
● | fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us; |
● | currency fluctuations; |
● | additions or departures of key management or scientific personnel; |
● | disputes or other developments related to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies; |
● | changes to coverage policies or reimbursement levels by commercial third-party payors and government payors and any announcements relating to coverage policies or reimbursement levels; |
● | announcement or expectation of additional debt or equity financing efforts; |
● | uncertainty caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; |
● | issuances or sales of the ordinary shares by us, our insiders or our other shareholders; and |
● | general economic and market conditions, including inflation, higher interest rates and potential recession. |
These and other market and industry factors may cause the market price and demand for the ordinary shares to fluctuate substantially, regardless of our actual operating performance, which may limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares or ordinary shares and may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of the trading market for ordinary shares.
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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of the ordinary shares and their trading volume could decline.
The trading market for the ordinary shares depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If no or only limited securities or industry analysts cover our company, the trading price for the ordinary shares could be negatively impacted. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our equity securities or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of ordinary shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, or downgrades our securities, demand for ordinary shares could decrease, which could cause the price of the ordinary shares or their trading volume to decline.
We intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of the ordinary shares.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our shares, and we intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business. Therefore, you are not likely to receive any dividends on your ordinary shares for the foreseeable future and the success of an investment in ordinary shares will depend upon any future appreciation in their value. Consequently, investors may need to sell all or part of their holdings of ordinary shares after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. There is no guarantee that the ordinary shares will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which our investors have purchased them. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase the ordinary shares.
In addition, if we choose to pay dividends in the future, exchange rate fluctuations may affect the amount of Euros that we are able to distribute, and the amount in U.S. dollars that our shareholders receive upon the payment of cash dividends or other distributions we declare and pay in euros, if any. Any dividends will generally be subject to Belgian withholding tax. See the section of this Annual Report titled “Material Belgian Income Tax Consequences” for a more detailed description of Belgian taxes on dividends. These factors could harm the value of the ordinary shares.
Investors should be aware that the rights provided to our shareholders under Belgian corporate law and our articles of association differ in certain respects from the rights that you would typically enjoy as a shareholder of a U.S. company under applicable U.S. federal and state laws.
We are a Belgian company with limited liability. Our corporate affairs are governed by our articles of association and by the laws governing companies incorporated in Belgium. The rights of shareholders and the responsibilities of members of our board of directors may be different from the rights and obligations of shareholders and boards of directors in companies governed by the laws of U.S. jurisdictions. In the performance of its duties, our board is required by Belgian law to consider the interests of our company, its shareholders, its employees and other stakeholders. It is possible that some of these parties will have interests that are different from, or in addition to, the interests of our shareholders.
If we issue ordinary shares in future financings, shareholders may experience dilution and, as a result, our ordinary share price may decline.
We may from time to time issue additional ordinary shares at a discount from the trading price of our ordinary shares. As a result, our shareholders would experience immediate dilution upon the issuance of any of our ordinary shares at such discount. In addition, as opportunities present themselves, we may enter into financing or similar arrangements in the future, including the issuance of debt securities, preference shares or shares. If we issue ordinary shares or securities convertible into ordinary shares of our share capital, our shareholders would experience additional dilution and, as a result, our ordinary share price may decline.
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It may be difficult for investors outside Belgium to serve process on, or enforce foreign judgments against, us or our directors and senior management.
We are a Belgian public limited liability company. Less than a majority of the members of our board of directors and members of our executive management team are residents of the United States. All or a substantial portion of the assets of such non-resident persons and most of our assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors to effect service of process upon such persons or on us or to enforce against them or us a judgment obtained in U.S. courts. Original actions or actions for the enforcement of judgments of U.S. courts relating to the civil liability provisions of the federal or state securities laws of the United States are not directly enforceable in Belgium.
The United States and Belgium do not currently have a multilateral or bilateral treaty providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments, other than arbitral awards, in civil and commercial matters. In order for a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by U.S. courts based on civil liability to produce any effect on Belgian soil, it is accordingly required that this judgment be recognized or be declared enforceable by a Belgian court in accordance with Articles 22 to 25 of the 2004 Belgian Code of Private International Law. Recognition or enforcement does not imply a review of the merits of the case and is irrespective of any reciprocity requirement. A U.S. judgment will, however, not be recognized or declared enforceable in Belgium, unless (in addition to compliance with certain technical provisions) the Belgian courts are satisfied of the following:
● | the effect of the enforcement judgment is not manifestly incompatible with Belgian public policy; |
● | the judgment did not violate the rights of the defendant’ |
● | the judgment was not rendered in a matter where the parties transferred rights subject to transfer restrictions with the sole purpose of avoiding the application of the law applicable according to Belgian international private law; |
● | the judgment is not subject to further recourse under U.S. law; |
● | the judgment is not incompatible with a judgment rendered in Belgium or with a subsequent judgment rendered abroad that might be recognized in Belgium; |
● | the claim was not filed outside Belgium after the same claim was filed in Belgium, while the claim filed in Belgium is still pending; |
● | the Belgian courts did not have exclusive jurisdiction to rule on the matter; |
● | the U.S. court did not accept its jurisdiction solely on the basis of the presence of the plaintiff or the location of goods not direct linked to the dispute in the United States; |
● | the judgment did not concern the deposit or validity of intellectual property rights when the deposit or registration of those intellectual property rights was requested, done or should have been done in Belgium pursuant to international treaties; |
● | the judgment did not relate to the validity, operation, dissolution, or liquidation of a legal entity that has its main seat in Belgium at the time of the petition of the U.S. court; |
● | if the judgment relates to the opening, progress or closure of insolvency proceedings, it is rendered on the basis of the European Insolvency Regulation (EC Regulation No. 1346/2000 of May 29, 2000) or, if not, that (a) a decision in the principal proceedings is taken by a judge in the state where the most important establishment of the debtor was located or (b) a decision in territorial proceedings was taken by a judge in the state where the debtor had another establishment than its most important establishment; |
● | the judgment submitted to the Belgian court is authentic under the laws of the state where the judgment was issued; in case of a default judgment, it can be shown that under locally applicable laws the invitation to appear in court was properly served on the defendant; a document can be produced showing that the judgment is, under the rules of the state where it was issued, enforceable and was properly served on the defendant. |
In addition to recognition or enforcement, a judgment by a federal or state court in the United States against us may also serve as evidence in a similar action in a Belgian court if it meets the conditions required for the authenticity of judgments according to the law of the state where it was rendered. The findings of a federal or state court in the United States will not, however, be taken into account to the extent they appear incompatible with Belgian public policy.
Based on the lack of a treaty as described above, U.S. investors may not be able to enforce against us or members of our board of directors or our executive management any judgments obtained in U.S. courts in civil and commercial matters, including judgments under the U.S. federal securities laws.
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We are an “emerging growth company” and as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, the ordinary shares may be less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As an emerging growth company, we are required to report only two years of financial results and selected financial data compared to three and five years, respectively, for comparable data reported by other public companies. We may take advantage of these exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the aggregate market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of our second fiscal quarter before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31st (the last day of our fiscal year). We cannot predict if investors will find the ordinary shares less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find the ordinary shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for the ordinary shares and the price of the ordinary shares may be more volatile.
As a foreign private issuer and as permitted by the listing requirements of Nasdaq, we rely on certain home country corporate governance practices rather than the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.
We qualify as a foreign private issuer and our ordinary shares have been approved for listing on Nasdaq. As a result, in accordance with the listing requirements of Nasdaq, we rely on home country governance requirements and certain exemptions thereunder rather than relying on the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq. For example, we are exempt from certain rules under the Exchange Act that regulate disclosure obligations and procedural requirements related to the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations applicable to a security registered under the Exchange Act, including the U.S. proxy rules under Section 14 of the Exchange Act. In addition, our officers and directors are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and related rules with respect to their purchases and sales of our securities. Moreover, while we currently publish annual and semi-annual reports on our website pursuant to the rules of Euronext Brussels and expect to file such financial reports with the SEC, we will not be required to file periodic reports with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. public companies. Specifically, we are not required to file quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K that a domestic company would be required to file under the Exchange Act. Accordingly, there may be less publicly available information concerning our company than there would be if we were not a foreign private issuer.
In addition, the Listing Rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market require a majority of the directors of a listed U.S. company to be independent, whereas in Belgium, only three directors need to be independent. The Listing Rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market further require that each of the nominating, compensation and audit committees of a listed U.S. company be comprised entirely of independent directors. However, the Belgian Corporate Governance Code recommends only that a majority of the directors on the nomination committee meet the technical requirements for independence under Belgian corporate law. At present, our audit committee is composed of three independent directors out of three members, whereas our nomination and remuneration committees are composed of two independent directors out of three members. Our board of directors has no plan to change the composition of our audit committee and nomination and remuneration committee, and we intend to follow home country practice to the maximum extent possible. Therefore, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would have under corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.
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We may lose our foreign private issuer status in the future, which could result in significant additional costs and expenses.
As a foreign private issuer, we are not required to comply with all the periodic disclosure and current reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and related rules and regulations. The determination of foreign private issuer status will be made annually on the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter. Accordingly, we will next make a determination with respect to our foreign private issuer status on June 30, 2024. There is a risk that we will lose our foreign private issuer status in the future.
We would lose our foreign private issuer status if, for instance more than 50% of our ordinary shares are owned by U.S. residents or persons and more than 50% of our assets are located in the United States and we continue to fail to meet additional requirements necessary to maintain our foreign private issuer status. The regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities laws as a U.S. domestic issuer may be significantly greater than the costs we incur as a foreign private issuer. If we are not a foreign private issuer, we will be required to file periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms with the SEC, which are more detailed and extensive in certain respects than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. We would be required under current SEC rules to prepare our financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP and modify certain of our policies to comply with corporate governance practices associated with U.S. domestic issuers. Such conversion and modifications would involve additional costs. In addition, we may lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements on U.S. stock exchanges that are available to foreign private issuers, which could also increase our costs.
U.S. Holders may suffer adverse tax consequences if we are characterized as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC.
In general, a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year in which (i) 50% or more of the average value of its assets (generally determined on a quarterly basis) consists of assets that produce, or are held for the production of, passive income, or (ii) 75% or more of its gross income consists of passive income. For purposes of the above calculations, a non-U.S. corporation that owns, directly or indirectly, at least 25% by value of the shares of another corporation is treated as if it held its proportionate share of the assets of the other corporation and received directly its proportionate share of the income of the other corporation. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, investment gains and certain rents and royalties. Cash is generally a passive asset for these purposes. The value goodwill is generally treated as an active asset if it is associated with business activities that produce active income.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. holder (as defined below under “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. holders”) holds ordinary shares, we will generally continue to be treated as a PFIC with respect to such U.S. holder in all succeeding years during which the U.S. holder owns the ordinary shares regardless of whether we continue to meet the PFIC test described above, unless the U.S. holder makes a specified election once we cease to be a PFIC. If we are classified as a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. holder holds ordinary shares, the U.S. holder may be subject to adverse tax consequences regardless of whether we continue to qualify as a PFIC, including ineligibility for any preferred tax rates on capital gains or on actual or deemed dividends, interest charges on certain taxes treated as deferred, and additional reporting requirements.
Based on the current estimates, and expected future composition, of our income and the value of our assets, including goodwill, we do not expect to be a PFIC for our current taxable year. However, our PFIC status for any taxable year is an annual determination that can be made only after the end of that year and will depend on the composition of our income and assets and the value of our assets from time to time. The determination of whether we are a PFIC is fact-intensive and the applicable law is subject to varying interpretation. There can be no assurance that the United States Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, will agree with our conclusion or that the IRS will not successfully challenge our position including our classification of certain income and assets as non-passive or our valuation of our tangible and intangible assets.
A U.S. holder may in certain circumstances mitigate the adverse tax consequences of the PFIC rules by filing an election to treat the PFIC as a QEF, or, if shares of the PFIC are “marketable stock” for purposes of the PFIC rules, by making a mark-to-market election with respect to the shares of the PFIC. However, we do not currently intend to provide the information necessary for U.S. holders to make a QEF election if we were treated as a PFIC for any taxable year and prospective investors should assume that a QEF election will not be available. Furthermore, if a U.S. holder were to make a mark-to-market election with respect to its ordinary shares, the U.S. holder would be required to include annually in its U.S. federal taxable income (taxable at ordinary income rates) an amount reflecting any year end increase in the value of its ordinary shares. For further discussion of the PFIC rules and the adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences in the event we are classified as a PFIC, see the section titled “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. holders.”
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The U.S. federal income tax rules relating to PFICs are very complex. Prospective U.S. holders are strongly urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the impact of PFIC status on the purchase, ownership and disposition of ordinary shares, the consequences to them of an investment in a PFIC, any elections available with respect to the ordinary shares and the IRS information reporting obligations with respect to the purchase, ownership and disposition of ordinary shares of a PFIC.
If a U.S. Holder is treated as owning at least 10% of our ordinary shares, such holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
If a U.S. holder (as defined below under “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. Holders”) is treated as owning, directly, indirectly or constructively, at least 10% of the value or voting power of our ordinary shares, such U.S. holder may be treated as a “United States shareholder” with respect to each “controlled foreign corporation” in our group, if any. Because our group currently includes at least one U.S. subsidiary, under current law, any of our current non-U.S. subsidiaries and any future newly formed or acquired non-U.S. subsidiaries will be treated as controlled foreign corporations, regardless of whether we are treated as a controlled foreign corporation. A United States shareholder of a controlled foreign corporation may be required to annually report and include in its U.S. taxable income its pro rata share of “Subpart F income,” “global intangible low-taxed income” and investments in U.S. property by controlled foreign corporations, regardless of whether we make any distributions. An individual that is a United States shareholder with respect to a controlled foreign corporation generally would not be allowed certain tax deductions or foreign tax credits that would be allowed to a United States shareholder that is a U.S. corporation. Failure to comply with controlled foreign corporation reporting obligations may subject a United States shareholder to significant monetary penalties. We cannot provide any assurances that we will furnish to any United States shareholder information that may be necessary to comply with the reporting and tax paying obligations applicable under the controlled foreign corporation rules of the Code. U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the potential application of these rules to their investment in ordinary shares. See section titled “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. holders” for a more detailed discussion.
Our business may become subject to economic, political, regulatory and other risks associated with international operations.
As a company based in Belgium, our business is subject to risks associated with conducting business internationally. Many of our suppliers and collaborative and clinical trial relationships are located outside the United States. Accordingly, our future results could be harmed by a variety of factors, including:
● | economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular non-U.S. economies and markets; |
● | differing and changing regulatory requirements for drug approvals in non-U.S. countries; |
● | differing jurisdictions could present different issues for securing, maintaining or obtaining freedom to operate in such jurisdictions; |
● | potentially reduced protection for intellectual property rights; |
● | difficulties in compliance with non-U.S. laws and regulations; |
● | changes in non-U.S. regulations and customs, tariffs and trade barriers; |
● | changes in non-U.S. currency exchange rates of the pound sterling, the euro and currency controls; |
● | changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic environment, including the implications of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union; |
● | trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements or other restrictive actions by U.S. or non-U.S. governments; |
● | differing reimbursement regimes and price controls in certain non-U.S. markets; |
● | negative consequences from changes in tax laws; |
● | compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad; |
● | workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States; |
● | difficulties associated with staffing and managing international operations, including differing labor relations; |
● | production shortages resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad; |
● | the potential for economic or political instability resulting from the ongoing conflicts between Russian and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas, including any impacts to energy prices or the supply chain; and |
● | business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, floods and fires. |
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We or the third parties upon which we depend may be adversely affected by general political, unstable market and economic conditions and other events beyond our control and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.
We have become increasingly subject to the risks arising from adverse changes in market and economic and political conditions, both domestically and globally, including trends toward protectionism and nationalism, other unfavorable changes in economic conditions as well as disruptions in global credit and financial markets, such as inflation, failures and instability in U.S. and international banking systems, downgrades of the U.S. credit rating, rising interest rates, slower economic growth or a recession, and other events beyond our control, such as natural disasters, pandemics such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus), epidemics, political instability, and armed conflicts and wars, including the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas.
Increases in inflation could raise our costs for commodities, labor, materials and services and other costs required to grow and operate our business, and failure to secure these on reasonable terms may adversely impact our financial condition. Additionally, increases in inflation, along with the uncertainties surrounding geopolitical developments and global supply chain disruptions, have caused, and may in the future cause, global economic uncertainty and uncertainty about the interest rate environment. A failure to adequately respond to these risks could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In response to high levels of inflation and recession fears, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England have raised, and may continue to raise, interest rates and implement fiscal policy interventions. Even if these interventions lower inflation, they may also reduce economic growth rates, create a recession, and have other similar effects.
The U.S. debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns have increased the possibility of credit-rating downgrades and economic slowdowns, or a recession in the United States. Although U.S. lawmakers have previously passed legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling on multiple occasions, there is a history of ratings agencies lowering or threatening to lower the long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States given such uncertainty. On August 1, 2023, Fitch Ratings downgraded the United States’ long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to AA+ from AAA as a result of these repeated debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns. The impact of this or any further downgrades to the U.S. government’s sovereign credit rating or its perceived creditworthiness could adversely affect the U.S. and global financial markets and economic conditions.
If the equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary equity or debt financing more difficult to secure, more costly or more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could harm our growth strategy, financial performance and stock price and could require us to delay or abandon plans with respect to our business, including clinical development plans. Further, recent developments in the banking industry could adversely affect our business. If the financial institutions with which we do business enter receivership or become insolvent in the future, there is no guarantee that the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) will intercede to provide us and other depositors with access to balances in excess of the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit, that we would be able to access our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments, that we would be able to maintain any required letters of credit or other credit support arrangements, or that we would be able to adequately fund our business for a prolonged period of time or at all, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot predict the impact that the high market volatility and instability of the banking sector more broadly could have on economic activity and our business in particular. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current service providers, manufacturers or other third parties with which we conduct business may not survive difficult economic times, including the current global situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Hamas, the instability of the banking sector, and the uncertainty associated with current worldwide economic conditions, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget.
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The short and long-term implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are difficult to predict at this time. We continue to monitor any adverse impact that the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the subsequent institution of sanctions against Russia by the United States and several European and Asian countries may have on the global economy in general, on our business and operations and on the businesses and operations of our suppliers and customers. For example, a prolonged conflict may result in challenges associated with timely receipt of customer payments and banking transactions, supply-chain issues, increased inflation, escalating energy prices and constrained availability, and thus increasing costs, of raw materials. We will continue to monitor this fluid situation and develop contingency plans as necessary to address any disruptions to our business operations as they develop. To the extent the war in Ukraine may adversely affect our business as discussed herein, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described herein. Such risks include, but are not limited to, adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, including inflation; disruptions to our global technology infrastructure, including through cyber-attack, ransom attack, or cyber-intrusion; adverse changes in international trade policies and relations; our ability to maintain or increase our product prices; disruptions in global supply chains; our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations; and constraints, volatility, or disruption in the capital markets, any of which could negatively affect our business and financial condition.
Our research and development facility and all manufacturing facilities are located in Tel Aviv, Israel. In addition, the majority of our employees and some officers are residents of Israel. Accordingly, political, economic and military conditions in Israel, including the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, may directly adversely affect our business. Any armed conflicts, terrorist activities, political instability in the region or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners could adversely affect our business conditions in general and harm our results of operations. Our commercial insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of an event associated with the security situation in the Middle East. Although Israeli legislation requires the Israeli government to cover the reinstatement value of direct damages that are caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure that this government coverage will be maintained, or if maintained, will be sufficient to fully compensate us if any damages are incurred. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business.
The effects of current and future economic and political conditions and other events beyond our control on us, patients, our third party vendors, including clinical trial sites, and our partners could severely disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters, that damaged critical infrastructure, such as the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place may prove inadequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Climate change or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change may negatively affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.
We believe that climate change has the potential to negatively affect our business and results of operations, cash flows and prospects. We are exposed to physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels), risks in transitioning to a low-carbon economy (such as additional legal or regulatory requirements, changes in technology, market risk and reputational risk) and social and human effects (such as population dislocations and harm to health and well-being) associated with climate change. These risks can be either acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term).
The adverse impacts of climate change include increased frequency and severity of natural disasters and extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tornados, wildfires (exacerbated by drought), flooding, and extreme heat. Extreme weather and sea-level rise pose physical risks to our facilities as well as those of our suppliers. Such risks include losses incurred as a result of physical damage to facilities, loss or spoilage of inventory, and business interruption caused by such natural disasters and extreme weather events. Other potential physical impacts due to climate change include reduced access to high-quality water in certain regions and the loss of biodiversity, which could impact future product development. These risks could disrupt our operations and supply chains, which may result in increased costs.
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New legal or regulatory requirements may be enacted to prevent, mitigate, or adapt to the implications of a changing climate and its effects on the environment. These regulations, which may differ across jurisdictions, could result in us being subject to new or expanded carbon pricing or taxes, increased compliance costs, restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, investment in new technologies, increased carbon disclosure and transparency, upgrade of facilities to meet new building codes, and the redesign of utility systems, which could increase our operating costs, including the cost of electricity and energy used by us. Our supply chain would likely be subject to these same transitional risks and would likely pass along any increased costs to us.
We are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
We incur some of our expenses, and derive certain of our revenues, in currencies other than the Euro. In particular, as we expand our operations and conduct additional clinical trials in the United States, we will incur additional expenses in U.S. dollars. As a result, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange risk as our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
We currently do not engage in hedging transactions to protect against uncertainty in future exchange rates between particular foreign currencies and the Euro. Therefore, an unfavorable change in the value of the Euro against the U.S. dollar could have a negative impact on our revenue and earnings growth. We cannot predict the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, and foreign currency fluctuations in the future may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Our ordinary shares in the U.S. trade in U.S. dollars on Nasdaq, while our ordinary shares trade in Euro on Euronext Brussels. Our financial statements are prepared in euro. Therefore, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. dollar will also affect, among other matters, the value of our ordinary shares.
We could also sign contracts denominated in currencies other than the euro, which would increase our exposure to currency risk. In accordance with our business decisions, our exposure to this type of risk could change depending on:
● | the currencies in which we receive our revenues; |
● | the currencies chosen when agreements are signed, such as licensing agreements, or co-marketing or co-development agreements; |
● | the location of clinical trials; and |
● | our policy for insurance cover. |
At present, we have not put any specific hedging arrangements in place to address these risks. Should any of these risks materialize, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Shareholders outside Belgium may be subject to exchange rate risk.
Our ordinary shares are denominated in euros. Accordingly, an investment in the ordinary shares by an investor whose principal currency is not the Euro may expose such investor to foreign currency exchange rate risk. Any depreciation of the Euro against such foreign currency would reduce the value of the investment in the ordinary shares in terms of such foreign currency.
We incur significant increased costs as a result of operating as a company that is publicly listed on both Nasdaq in the United States and Euronext Brussels in Belgium, and our management is required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.
As a U.S. public company listed on Nasdaq, we incur legal, accounting, and other expenses that we would not incur if we were only listed on Euronext Brussels. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Nasdaq listing requirements and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Continued compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company” and/or a foreign private issuer. The Exchange Act requires that, as a public company, we file annual, semi-annual and current reports with respect to our business, financial condition and result of operations. However, as a foreign private issuer, we are not required to file quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and results. In 2023, we made annual, semiannual and quarterly reporting with respect to our listing on Euronext Brussels.
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Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, which in turn could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified senior management personnel or members for our board of directors.
However, these rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.
Further, being a U.S. listed company and a Belgian public company with ordinary shares admitted to trading on Euronext Brussels impacts the disclosure of information and requires compliance with two sets of applicable rules. From time to time, this may result in uncertainty regarding compliance matters and result in higher costs necessitated by legal analysis of dual legal regimes, ongoing revisions to disclosure and adherence to heightened governance practices. As a result of the enhanced disclosure requirements of the U.S. securities laws, business and financial information that we report is broadly disseminated and highly visible to investors, which we believe may increase the likelihood of threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties, which could, even if unsuccessful, divert financial resources and the attention of our management from our operations.
As a result of becoming a U.S. public company, we are subject to additional regulatory compliance requirements, including Section 404, and if we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.
Pursuant to Section 404, our management is required to assess and attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in connection with issuing our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ending December 31, 2023. See “Item 15. Controls and Procedures.” Section 404 also requires an attestation report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting be provided by our independent registered public accounting firm beginning with our annual report following the date on which we are no longer an “emerging growth company”, which may be up to five fiscal years from the date of our listing of ordinary shares on Nasdaq.
Complying with Section 404 is costly and challenging, and management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our results. We have hired employees and engaged outside consultants, and may need to continue to hire employees and engage outside consultants, to comply with these requirements, which may further increase expenses. If we fail to comply with the requirements of Section 404, we may be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, including the SEC and Nasdaq. Furthermore, our inability to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting may result in the loss of investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our ordinary shares may decline. Our failure to implement or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also restrict our future access to the capital markets and subject each of us, our directors and our officers to both significant monetary and criminal liability.
In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expense and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business, financial position, results and prospects may be adversely affected.
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If we fail to implement and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired.
We are subject to reporting obligations under U.S. securities laws and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we include a report from management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. As a result of our failure to remediate the material weaknesses identified herein, our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2023. This conclusion could adversely impact the market price of our ordinary shares due to a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our reporting processes and the accuracy or completeness of our reported financial information.
We are required to perform system and process evaluations and testing of our internal controls over financial reporting to allow our management to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will require that we incur substantial accounting expense, spend significant management effort, continue to hire additional accounting and financial staff with the appropriate experience and technical accounting knowledge, and compile the system and process documentation necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, any testing by us conducted in connection with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or any subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal additional deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses or that may require prospective or retroactive changes to our financial statements or identify other areas for further attention or improvement. We cannot assure you that there will not be additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting in the future.
For as long as we are an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We could be an “emerging growth company” for up to five years. At the time when we are no longer an emerging growth company, we may report that there continue to exist material weaknesses and our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event if the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating is not satisfactory. Our remediation efforts may not enable us to avoid a material weakness in the future. Undetected material weaknesses in our internal controls could lead to financial statement restatements and require us to incur remediation costs. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.
In connection with our preparation and the audit of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Additionally, we may identify additional material weaknesses in the future that may cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. If we fail to remediate our material weaknesses, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud.
As a public company, we are operating in an increasingly demanding regulatory environment that requires us to comply with, among other things, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules and regulations of the SEC’s substantial disclosure requirements, accelerated reporting requirements and complex accounting rules. Company responsibilities required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act include establishing corporate oversight and adequate internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to help prevent financial fraud.
In connection with our preparation and the audit of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. As defined in the standards established by the PCAOB, a “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
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The material weaknesses identified during the audit of our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023 relate to
● | Insufficient accounting and supervisory personnel who have the appropriate level of technical accounting experience and training, as well as a lack of sufficient oversight of external advisors; |
● | Lack of a comprehensive risk based control assessment to establish an effective structure of internal controls, which leads to insufficient procedures and controls, including IT General Controls, to ensure that accurate financial statements can be prepared and reviewed on a timely basis for annual reporting purposes. |
To address the material weaknesses identified, we have taken, and continue to take, several remedial actions, including engaging an external professional advisor that is evaluating and validating the design effectiveness of our internal control framework and based on the outcomes of such evaluation, we are continuing to adapt our internal controls. Our remediation plan is underway, however, it had not sufficiently advanced by December 31, 2023 to remediate these material weaknesses.
If we are unable to successfully remediate our identified ongoing material weaknesses, or if we discover additional material weaknesses, we would be required to continue disclosing such material weaknesses in future filings with the SEC, which could adversely impact investor confidence in our company and the market price of our ordinary shares, and could subject us to litigation or regulatory enforcement actions.
We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management’s attention.
The market price of the ordinary shares may be volatile and, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.
We are a Belgian public limited liability company, and shareholders of our company may have different and in some cases more limited shareholder rights than shareholders of a U.S. listed corporation.
We are a Belgian company with limited liability. Our corporate affairs are governed by our articles of association and by the laws governing companies incorporated in Belgium. The rights of shareholders and the responsibilities of members of our board of directors may be different from the rights and obligations of shareholders and boards of directors in companies governed by the laws of U.S. jurisdictions. In the performance of its duties, our board is required by Belgian law to consider the interests of our company, its shareholders, its employees and other stakeholders, in all cases with due observation of the principles of reasonableness and fairness. It is possible that some of these parties will have interests that are different from, or in addition to, the interests of our shareholders.
Investors resident in countries other than Belgium may suffer dilution if they are unable to participate in future preferential subscription rights offerings.
Under Belgian law and our constitutional documents, shareholders have a waivable and cancellable preferential subscription right to subscribe pro rata to their existing shareholdings to the issuance, against a contribution in cash, of new ordinary shares or other securities entitling the holder thereof to new ordinary shares, unless such rights are limited or cancelled by resolution of our general shareholders’ meeting or, if so authorized by a resolution of such meeting, our board of directors. The exercise of preferential subscription rights by certain shareholders not residing in Belgium (including those in the United States, Australia, Israel, Canada or Japan and taking into account the current shareholding and international network of our current board of directors) may be restricted by applicable law, practice or other considerations, and such shareholders may not be entitled to exercise such rights, unless the rights and ordinary shares are registered or qualified for sale under the relevant legislation or regulatory framework. In particular, we may not be able to establish an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act, and we are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to any such preferential subscription rights or underlying securities or to endeavor to have a registration statement declared effective under the U.S. Securities Act. Shareholders in jurisdictions outside Belgium who are not able or not permitted to exercise their preferential subscription rights in the event of a future preferential subscription rights, equity or other offering may suffer dilution of their shareholdings.
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Takeover provisions in the national law of Belgium may make a takeover difficult.
Public takeover bids on our shares and other voting securities, such as warrants or convertible bonds, if any, are subject to the Belgian Act of April 1, 2007 on public takeover bids, as amended and implemented by the Belgian Royal Decree of April 27, 2007, or Royal Decree, and to the supervision by the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority, or FSMA. Public takeover bids must be made for all of our voting securities, as well as for all other securities that entitle the holders thereof to the subscription to, the acquisition of or the conversion into voting securities. Prior to making a bid, a bidder must issue and disseminate a prospectus, which must be approved by the FSMA. The bidder must also obtain approval of the relevant competition authorities, where such approval is legally required for the acquisition of our company. The Belgian Act of April 1, 2007 provides that a mandatory bid will be required to be launched for all of our outstanding shares and securities giving access to ordinary shares if a person, as a result of its own acquisition or the acquisition by persons acting in concert with it or by persons acting on their account, directly or indirectly holds more than 30% of the voting securities in a company that has its registered office in Belgium and of which at least part of the voting securities are traded on a regulated market or on a multilateral trading facility designated by the Royal Decree. The mere fact of exceeding the relevant threshold through the acquisition of one or more shares will give rise to a mandatory bid, irrespective of whether or not the price paid in the relevant transaction exceeds the current market price.
There are several provisions of Belgian company law and certain other provisions of Belgian law, such as the obligation to disclose important shareholdings and merger control, that may apply to us and which may make an unfriendly tender offer, merger, change in management or other change in control, more difficult. These provisions could discourage potential takeover attempts that third parties may consider and thus deprive the shareholders of the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium (which is typically offered in the framework of a takeover bid).
Item 4.Information on the Company
A.History and Development of the Company
We were incorporated on July 15, 2009 as a company with limited liability (naamloze vennootschap/ société anonyme) incorporated and operating under the laws of Belgium. We are registered with the legal entities register (Brabant Wallon) under enterprise number 0817.149.675. We were publicly listed on Euronext Brussels in September 2020 and we were publicly listed on The Nasdaq Global Market in July 2021.
We have four wholly owned subsidiaries: Nyxoah Ltd, an Israeli limited company incorporated in January 2008 under the name M.L.G. Madaf G. Ltd and our subsidiary since October 2009, Nyxoah Pty Ltd, an Australian limited company incorporated in 2017, Nyxoah, Inc., a Delaware corporation incorporated in May 2020, and Nyxoah GmbH, a German limited liability company incorporated in May 2023 under the name Blitz F23-668 GmbH and our subsidiary since July 2023. Our headquarters and principal executive offices are located at Rue Edouard Belin 12, 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, and our telephone number is +32 10 22 23 55. Our website address is www.nyxoah.com. Our website and the information contained on or accessible through our website are not part of this Annual Report. Our authorized representative in the United States is Nyxoah, Inc. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Corporation Service Company, 1090 Vermont Avenue N.W., Washington D.C. 20005.
We file reports and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC (http://www.sec.gov).
Capital Expenditures
Our capital expenditures amounted to €10.5 million, €16.3 million and €11.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, our principal capital expenditure mainly related to capitalized development expenses, establishment of U.S. production line and purchases of laboratory equipment and investments in the construction of new clean rooms.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, our principal capital expenditures mainly related to capitalized development expenses and to laboratory equipment and furniture and office equipment.
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For the year ended December 31, 2021, our principal capital expenditures mainly related to purchases of laboratory equipment and investments in the construction of new clean rooms.
B.Business
Overview
We are a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative solutions to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea, or OSA. Our lead solution is the Genio system, a CE-Marked, patient-centric, minimally invasive, next generation hypoglossal neurostimulation, or HGNS, therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe OSA. OSA is the world’s most common sleep disordered breathing condition and is associated with increased mortality risk and comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases, depression and stroke. Our innovative technology platform is a first-of-its-kind HGNS device designed to treat OSA through bilateral stimulation, by maintaining an open airway for a restful night’s sleep. We started generating revenue from the sale of the Genio system in Europe in July 2020, and we are currently conducting our DREAM pivotal trial designed to support marketing authorization in the United States. We are developing a significant body of clinical evidence to further support the strong value proposition of the Genio system and its ability to improve the health and quality of life of OSA patients.
OSA occurs due to the relaxation of the soft tissue, throat and tongue muscles in a patient’s airway, which causes an obstruction that temporarily prevents breathing during sleep. In patients with OSA, the airway repeatedly becomes partially or completely blocked, thereby limiting the airflow reaching the lungs from sufficiently oxygenating the blood. Approximately 425 million people between the ages of 30 and 69 globally suffer from moderate to severe OSA. This chronic disease negatively affects a patient’s health and quality of life.
Published scientific literature estimates that there are currently approximately 23.8 million individuals with moderate to severe OSA in our initial target markets in Europe. Based on published scientific literature, we estimate that approximately 2.6 million patients are diagnosed annually in those countries and that approximately 80% of diagnosed patients are prescribed a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, device. Published scientific literature reports non-compliance rates to CPAP between 29% and 83%. Based on these data, and for purposes of calculating the total addressable market in Europe for the Genio system, we estimate that approximately 35% of patients that are prescribed CPAP in those countries are not compliant with the therapy. Additionally, certain patients possess anatomical characteristics, including higher body-mass-index or increased tongue fat deposition that make them ineligible for HGNS. Taking that into account, we estimate that approximately 70% of those non-compliant patients are eligible for HGNS based on their anatomical characteristics. As a result, we believe the total addressable market in Europe for the Genio system is at least 515,000 patients which represents an estimated annual market opportunity of approximately $10 billion based on our current pricing for the Genio system. We also plan to enter the United States market, assuming we obtain marketing authorization in the United States, where published scientific literature estimates that there are approximately 23.7 million individuals with moderate to severe OSA. Based on the same assumptions set out above, we estimate a target market of approximately 510,000 patients in the United States, which represents an estimated annual total addressable market of approximately $10 billion based on our current pricing for the Genio system.
The standard of care first-line therapy for patients with moderate to severe OSA is CPAP. CPAP is a treatment whereby air, at a constant or automated pressure, is pushed into the upper airway via a facial or nasal mask that the patient must wear during sleep. Despite its proven efficacy, CPAP has been associated with many limitations, making compliance a serious challenge. Second-line treatments, such as mandibular oral devices, are more suitable to treat mild-to-moderate OSA, and other therapies, such as anatomical surgical procedures, are highly invasive. In recent years, neurostimulation technology has emerged as a viable second-line therapy to treat patients suffering from moderate to severe OSA. This technology is centered on stimulating the hypoglossal nerve, which activates the genioglossus muscle resulting in a forward protrusion of the tongue. HGNS therapies have proven to be a safe and effective treatment for those suffering from moderate to severe OSA. Systems competing with our Genio system consist of multiple incisions and implantable components, including an implantable pulse generator with a battery and one or more leads. In addition, competing systems exclude a substantial subset of the OSA patient population. OSA patients diagnosed with complete concentric collapse at the level of the soft palate, or CCC, are currently contraindicated for other HGNS OSA therapies. Unlike other HGNS technologies indicated for treating OSA that provide unilateral stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve, our Genio system provides bilateral stimulation that we believe results in a stronger muscle contraction, a more symmetric tongue movement and a wider opening of the airway, which we believe has the potential to provide better clinical outcomes. Further, we believe that bilateral stimulation enables the Genio system to potentially address moderate to severe OSA patients with CCC, who are currently contraindicated for, or unable to be treated with, existing HGNS OSA therapies.
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In order to diagnose CCC, a drug induced sleep endoscopy, or DISE, procedure is required. During this procedure, the patient receives propofol and/or midazolam to artificially induce sleep, and the pharyngeal collapse patterns are visualized using a flexible fiber optic nasopharyngoscope, a soft and flexible endoscope which is inserted in the patient’s nose to visualize the pharyngeal area and assess the level, direction and degree of the collapsed area. Currently, the only HGNS therapy approved in the United States requires all patients seeking HGNS OSA therapy to undergo a DISE procedure. It is estimated that approximately 35% of moderate to severe OSA patients are affected by CCC and are therefore unable to receive currently available neurostimulation treatment in the United States.
Our Genio system includes the first battery-free, leadless and minimally invasive neurostimulator, capable of delivering bilateral HGNS for moderate to severe OSA patients who did not tolerate, have failed or refused conventional positive airway pressure, or PAP, therapy. We developed the Genio system with a patient-centric approach, designed for comfort and safety, to increase compliance and improve quality of life. The Genio system includes a single implanted device that can be placed through a minimally invasive, single-incision surgery under the chin. The power source for the stimulator is external. Unlike competing HGNS therapies, the lack of an implantable battery or additional leads limits the need for complex tunneling and only requires a single incision for implantation. This minimally invasive procedure is typically completed in approximately one hour and allows patients to recover quickly and resume normal activities typically within a week. Patients return to the physician approximately six weeks later for device titration, which typically involves an in-lab sleep trial to analyze breathing frequency. Further, the external activation chip eliminates the need for additional surgical procedures to replace depleted batteries and enables software, firmware or external hardware updates and upgrades to be implemented without the need for surgical intervention thereby limiting potential infection risk due to an additional procedure.
We continue to develop a substantial body of clinical evidence on the Genio system. In 2019, we completed our BiLAteral hypoglossal nerve STimulation for treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, or BLAST OSA, trial, a prospective, open label, non-randomized, single arm treatment trial involving 27 implanted participants. Twenty-two patients completed the protocol, and the trial met all primary, secondary and exploratory endpoints. In the six-month data, the mean individual reduction in the Apnea-Hypopnea Index, or AHI, events per hour was 47.3%. Participants’ AHI decreased from 23.7±12.2 to 12.9±10.1, representing a mean change of 10.8 events per hour. The results of the trial were published in the European Respiratory Journal in October 2019 and were the basis for receiving CE-Mark on the Genio system.
We are seeking to expand indications of the Genio system by obtaining clinical evidence through our ongoing multicenter, prospective, open-label BilatEral Hypoglossal Nerve StimulaTion for TreatmEnt of ObstRuctive SLEEP Apnoea With and Without Complete Concentric Collapse clinical trial in Australia and New Zealand, or the BETTER SLEEP trial, to evaluate the effectiveness of the Genio system for patients suffering from CCC. We believe that positive results from this trial may eliminate the need for Genio system patients to be selected based on a DISE procedure prior to implantation of the Genio system, thereby leading to a potential indication expansion in Europe. In June 2021, we announced initial top-line results from the six-month data for the BETTER SLEEP trial. Based on this data, in October 2021, the EU Notified Body granted CE-Marked indication to include OSA patients with CCC for the Genio system in Europe, which should eliminate the need for a DISE procedure. Additionally, in September 2021, we received breakthrough device designation in the United States for the Genio system from the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the treatment of OSA with CCC, based on the initial clinical evidence from the BETTER SLEEP trial. We plan to continue to obtain authorization in additional target markets and are currently conducting our Dual-sided Hypoglossal neRvE stimulAtion for the treatMent of Obstructive Sleep Apnea clinical trial, or DREAM trial, a multicenter, prospective, open-label, pivotal Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, trial designed to support marketing authorization in the United States. Additionally, we presented 12-month data on the first 34 DREAM patients reaching 12-month follow-up as a late-breaking abstract at SLEEP 2023, a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, demonstrating a 65% AHI responder rate, a 76% ODI responder rate and safety in line with expectations. These data are preliminary and not conclusive of final success of the DREAM trial. On March 19, 2024, we issued a press release announcing that the DREAM U.S. pivotal trial met its primary endpoints. For more information see “—Clinical Results and Studies—Pivotal DREAM Trial” below. We expect to apply for marketing authorization in the United States with the aim of being commercially available in the United States in late 2024.
In July 2022, we announced that the FDA approved an IDE to enable us to initiate a clinical trial, called ACCCESS, to evaluate the use of the Genio system for the treatment of adult patients with moderate-to-severe OSA with CCC that have failed, did not tolerate, or refused PAP. In the ACCCESS trial, we plan to implant up to 106 subjects with co-primary efficacy endpoints of AHI responder rate, per the Sher criteria, and ODI responder rate, both assessed at twelve months post-implant. The first enrolled subjects have been implanted, and we anticipate completing implantation in late 2024.
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We are initially targeting markets in Europe where we have identified a country- specific reimbursement pathway or execution strategy. We began our commercial launch in Germany in July 2020. After obtaining reimbursement approval in Germany through the existing HGNS special innovation funding program, or NUB, we generated our first revenue in the second half of 2020. In 2021, we successfully obtained reimbursement in Germany under a dedicated DRG code for HGNS and obtained reimbursement under an OSA-specific DRG code in Switzerland from the Federal Statistic Office, or BFS. The reimbursement coverage in both Germany and Switzerland includes the cost of the Genio system, implant procedure, hospital stay and follow-up care. In 2021, we began marketing products in Switzerland and also secured first revenue in Spain and we began commercialization in Finland in 2022. We generated our first revenue in Austria in 2023. Based on market access activities conducted by us over the past several years, we have developed tailored reimbursement strategies using assessments of the local requirements of target countries. In countries where there is existing reimbursement coverage in place, we plan to piggyback on existing coding and reimbursement, acting as a fast follower. In countries where there is no existing reimbursement coverage, we will seek to be the first in that market to obtain reimbursement coverage. In countries without existing reimbursement coverage, the strategy could include (i) making the Genio system commercially available for patients through country specific innovation funding pathways for procedures and products that would not yet be covered by an existing code, (ii) supporting case-by-case funding submission in focus hospitals that can use their budget to fund the therapy, (iii) entering into specific commercial deals with privately funded hospital groups, or (iv) out-of-pocket payment.
We have established a systematic approach to commercializing the Genio system in our target markets, focusing on active engagement, education and market development across patients, physicians and hospitals. We currently market our therapy to physicians and hospitals where ear, nose, and throat doctors, or ENTs, sleep doctors and general practitioners see, diagnose and treat patients with OSA. We are actively expanding our current European sales and marketing organization with country-specific sales teams established in connection with obtaining reimbursement. Our sales teams are focused on prioritizing high volume ENT centers and sleep centers, and on building long-standing relationships with key physicians such as sleep doctors, ENTs and general practitioners who have strong connections to the OSA patient population that may be eligible for our therapy. We also seek to establish long-term partnerships with key opinion leaders, or KOLs, and patient associations that are oriented towards the needs of our patients. Our sales and marketing organization is focused on building physician awareness through referral network development, education, targeted KOL development and training, and direct-to-consumer marketing.
In addition to our ongoing clinical studies, we are also committed to continuing our research and development efforts related to the Genio system, with an emphasis on improving clinical outcomes, optimizing patient adoption and comfort, increasing access for a greater number of patients, and allowing more physicians to perform the implantation procedure. The primary focus of our research and development efforts in the near-term will be the continued technological advancement of the Genio system. Some of these improvements include features aimed at enhancing a physician’s ability to monitor patient compliance and therapeutic efficacy. The Genio 2.1 system further reflects such improvements and is designed to improve patient comfort and compliance with a new smartphone application and an upgraded external activation chip. The Genio 2.1 system offers patients daily feedback on therapy usage and the autonomy to adjust stimulation amplitude within pre-defined boundaries. Physicians can also fine-tune stimulation amplitude to determine the optimal level of comfort for patients without compromising therapy efficacy. In the long term, including through our partnership with Vanderbilt University, we intend to provide new neurostimulation technologies for OSA patients. We continue to enhance our scalable technology platform to allow for quick and streamlined release of new features and functionalities through software, firmware and hardware updates and upgrades and therapy enhancement, and anticipate making regulatory submissions relating to our Genio 3.1 system in late 2024.
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Our Competitive Strengths
We are focused on transforming the lives of patients who suffer from moderate to severe OSA by continuing to develop, clinically validate, manufacture and commercialize our innovative Genio system. We believe the Genio system offers a compelling solution for a large and significantly underpenetrated global patient population and that our focus and experience in treating patients with OSA, combined with the following strengths, will allow us to build our business and potentially expand our market opportunity:
● | Disruptive, patient-centric neurostimulation solution to treat moderate to severe OSA. We specifically designed the Genio system with the goal of advancing a therapy to treat moderate to severe OSA and providing a safe and effective patient-centric solution offering significant benefits to address the unmet needs of patients. The Genio system includes the first battery-free, leadless, neurostimulator designed to be implanted in a minimally invasive procedure using a single incision. The Genio system delivers bilateral HGNS for patients who suffer from moderate to severe OSA and did not tolerate, failed or refused standard first-line therapy, including CPAP. We believe that bilateral stimulation could lead to better therapeutic performance and address more therapeutic indications compared to other HGNS-based technologies. While other commercially available neurostimulation platforms require implantation of leads and a pulse generator containing a battery, our Genio system only requires implantation of a battery-free neurostimulator. Due to its unique design, the Genio system’s implantable stimulator is the only neurostimulation-based OSA therapy that has received CE-Mark conditional labeling for 1.5T and 3T full-body MRI scans. CE-Mark conditional labeling for MRI scans have become more and more important for physicians and patients due to the growing need and incidence of MRI scans. Implantable medical devices that have not been tested and approved with MR conditional labeling are considered as MR unsafe, and MR scans are contra-indicated for these patients. We believe our Genio system technology has the potential to become the leading neurostimulation solution for many of the estimated 425 million diagnosed and undiagnosed OSA patients worldwide suffering from moderate to severe OSA. |
● | Growing body of clinical data and long-term clinical strategy. The Genio system is predicated on a well-established mechanism of action of electrically stimulating the hypoglossal nerve. Our BLAST OSA trial provided positive data for the Genio system, demonstrating that treatment with the Genio system resulted in statistically significant improvements in sleep apnea symptoms and quality of life measures. These data results were also associated with high therapy compliance. The trial’s results supported receipt of the CE-Mark in 2019 and have been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the European Respiratory Journal. We are continuing our clinical research to evaluate the efficacy of the Genio system on a longer-term basis through our post- market clinical trial for the treatment of OSA in adults, or the EliSA trial. In December 2020, we implanted the first patient in the DREAM trial, which is designed to support marketing authorization in the United States. In addition, in June 2021, we announced initial top-line results from the six-month data for the BETTER SLEEP trial. Based on this data, in October 2021, we expanded the CE-Marked indication to include OSA patients with CCC, which should eliminate the need for a DISE procedure. In September 2021, we received breakthrough device designation in the United States for the Genio system from the FDA for the treatment of OSA with CCC, based on the initial clinical evidence from the BETTER SLEEP trial. Further, in June 2022, we announced that the FDA approved the use of our next generation Genio 2.1 system for use in the DREAM trial. In June 2023, we presented 12-month data on the first 34 DREAM patients reaching 12-month follow-up as a late-breaking abstract at SLEEP 2023, a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, demonstrating a 65% AHI responder rate, a 76% ODI responder rate and safety in line with expectations. On March 19, 2024, we issued a press release announcing that the DREAM trial met its primary endpoints. For more information see “—Clinical Results and Studies—Pivotal DREAM Trial”below. These data are preliminary and not conclusive of final success of the DREAM trial. Additionally, in July 2022, we announced that the FDA approved an IDE to enable us to initiate a clinical trial, called ACCCESS, to evaluate the use of the Genio system for the treatment of adult patients with moderate-to-severe OSA with CCC that have failed, did not tolerate, or refused PAP. |
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● | Significant product development and new indication pipeline. The Genio system is a scalable-technology platform that allows for future external hardware, software and firmware updates to enhance therapeutic capabilities without requiring additional surgical procedures. We continue to invest in improving the Genio system to develop next generation products with features designed to improve patient comfort and compliance, efficacy and patient and market acceptance. Some of these improvements include features aimed at enhancing the physician’s ability to monitor patient compliance and therapeutic efficacy, including sensor technology to monitor a patient’s sleep position. We are also committed to expanding current treatment options for moderate to severe OSA patients by developing next generation neurostimulation-based technologies. We previously entered into a licensing agreement with Vanderbilt University pursuant to which we are exploring additional neurostimulation technologies. Under the agreement, we have an exclusive, worldwide license to make, use, sell or distribute products for treating sleep disordered breathing covered by certain patent rights owned, or that may be owned, by Vanderbilt. We will also work together with Vanderbilt University to continue prosecution of patent applications made by Vanderbilt. |
● | Platform technology protected by comprehensive and broad intellectual property. Our platform technology is supported by a strong and growing portfolio of intellectual property rights, which includes utility and design patents, know-how and trade secrets, including therapy protocols, electrodes and methods. As of December 31, 2023, we had 199 granted or pending patent applications (with 54 issued or allowed U.S. patents), and 40 pending patent applications, ten of which are U.S. pending patent applications and hold six trademark registrations (with three U.S. trademark registrations). Additionally, we operate a manufacturing facility responsible for silicone overmolding and select assembly of external components, which provides us with enhanced proprietary know-how and control of the supply chain to meet future demand. |
● | Strong and experienced team. Our senior management team has many years of experience in the healthcare and medical device industry. Specifically, our team has extensive operating experience in product development, clinical, regulatory approval and commercialization activities as well as established relationships with industry leaders in the academic, clinical and commercial neuromodulation industries. Members of our management team have served in leadership positions with well-regarded medical technology companies such as St. Jude Medical Inc., Medtronic Inc., Stryker Corp and Nevro Corp. Since our founding, we have been supported by a seasoned Board of Directors with extensive industry and public company experience and a Scientific Advisory Committee that consists of industry-relevant KOLs. |
Our Strategy
Our mission is to become a global leader in providing innovative, clinically proven solutions to treat patients suffering from OSA. The key elements of our strategy to achieve this goal and promote future growth include:
● | Obtaining marketing authorization in the United States. We are conducting clinical trials to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Genio system for treating patients with moderate to severe OSA. We are currently conducting the DREAM trial, a pivotal trial designed to support marketing authorization for the Genio system in the United States via a premarket approval, or PMA, application. The DREAM trial is a multicenter, prospective, open-label trial designed to enroll 115 patients in approximately 20 centers in the United States and internationally. The trial aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Genio system to treat patients with moderate to severe OSA who either did not tolerate, failed or refused first-line PAP therapy. In June 2022, we announced that the FDA approved the use of our next generation Genio 2.1 system for use in the DREAM trial. On March 19, 2024, we issued a press release announcing that the DREAM U.S. pivotal trial met its primary endpoints. For more information see “—Clinical Results and Studies—Pivotal DREAM Trial” below. We expect to apply for marketing authorization in the United States with the aim of being commercially available in the United States in late 2024. |
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● | Promoting awareness of the Genio system among physicians, patients and payors to accelerate market adoption. We believe that the Genio system has the potential to become the leading neurostimulation solution for moderate to severe OSA patients. To accomplish this, we intend to raise market awareness and educate physicians, payors and patients on the negative impact of OSA and position the Genio system as a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe OSA patients. We currently offer education and training programs to sleep centers and surgeons, which we believe provide a better understanding of the Genio system’s benefits and increase surgeons’ confidence implanting our technology. In addition, we provide programs targeted towards patients who use the Genio system to promote and increase their engagement, long-term observance, quality of life and well-being. We intend to establish long-term partnerships with KOLs, ENTs and sleep scientific societies and patient associations that are built on mutual trust and oriented towards the needs of OSA patients and their families. Finally, we intend to establish relationships with government and commercial payors to help reduce barriers to treating OSA by highlighting our clinical data, costs affiliated with untreated OSA patients and the clinical benefit of the Genio system. We plan to build upon this multi-pronged approach with direct-to-consumer marketing initiatives that help to educate patients and can frequently result in patient leads. |
● | Continuing to enhance the Genio system and expand its indications. We continue to invest in our solutions and services to further improve the implantation procedure and enhance the patient experience and product features. Potential feature improvements could include design alterations, information driven integrated capabilities, diagnostics or monitoring, sleep apnea testing or various other technological advancements. We believe that bilateral stimulation could lead to better therapeutic performance and address more therapeutic indications compared to other hypoglossal nerve stimulation-based technologies. In June 2021, we announced initial top-line results from the six-month data for the BETTER SLEEP clinical trial. Based on this data, in October 2021, the EU Notified Body granted CE-Marked indication to include OSA patients with CCC for the Genio system in Europe. Currently, CCC patients are contraindicated for other HGNS OSA therapies. Further, in June 2022, we announced that the FDA approved the use of our next generation Genio 2.1 system for use in the DREAM trial. In July 2022, we obtained the CE-Mark for the Genio 2.1 system. In addition, we may look for strategic opportunities, including partnerships or collaborations, to broaden our capabilities and expertise in line with our patient-centric vision. |
● | Pursuing and establishing favorable reimbursement coverage of the Genio system. While there is general consensus among physicians and payors of the medical necessity to treat OSA and increase the number of HGNS therapy coverage decisions, we continue to develop further clinical evidence intended to demonstrate a long-term meaningful improvement in health outcomes for patients meeting the specified criteria. We are initially targeting markets in Europe where we have identified a clear reimbursement pathway or execution strategy. In Germany, we have successfully obtained reimbursement under a dedicated DRG code for HGNS. In Switzerland, we obtained reimbursement under an OSA-specific DRG code by the Federal Statistic Office, or BFS. Each of these reimbursement coverages includes the cost of the Genio system, implant procedure, hospital stay and follow-up care. We expect that the outcomes of the ongoing pivotal DREAM trial, if positive, will support marketing authorization and reimbursement in the United States. We believe that establishing and maintaining reimbursement will be important in achieving broad acceptance of our system by healthcare providers in these markets. |
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● | Continuing to build a commercial infrastructure in selected geographies. We have grown our commercial team to include a sales and marketing organization of over a dozen representatives with substantial medical device sales, education and clinical experience to support commercialization of the Genio system. Our initial strategy is to employ a targeted approach to increase therapy penetration within specific physician practice groups instead of a broad outreach strategy to physicians in general. Our sales and marketing organization is focused on prioritizing high volume centers that are strategically located and building long-standing relationships with key physicians with strong connections to the population of OSA patients indicated for the Genio system. We are focusing our efforts on developing Centers of Excellence in each of our commercial markets, where we plan to invest in developing the Genio system as the preferred treatment option for indicated moderate to severe OSA patients. Using a direct commercialization model in most of our target countries, we plan to utilize account managers to support these Centers of Excellence to strengthen the referral physician network, guiding new patients to these Centers of Excellence. We expect to gradually scale up our commercial organization in line with market entry and access in the various countries that we are targeting. Based on our experience gained from the commercial roll-out in Europe, but also taking into account particular dynamics of the local markets, we will determine and prepare what we believe to be the optimal sales and marketing structure for commercial launch in the United States if we obtain marketing authorization. |
Market Overview
Overview of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
OSA is the most prevalent sleep disordered breathing condition. It is estimated that OSA currently affects approximately 936 million people globally between the ages of 30 and 69, of which approximately 425 million people suffer from moderate to severe OSA and require treatment. Every year, there are over 5.3 million new patients diagnosed with moderate to severe OSA, representing approximately 2.6 million in the United States and 2.6 million in our initial target markets in Europe.
OSA occurs due to the relaxation of the soft tissue, throat and tongue muscles in a patient’s airway causing an obstruction that temporarily prevents breathing during sleep. In patients with OSA, the airway repeatedly becomes partially or completely blocked thereby limiting the airflow reaching the lungs to sufficiently oxygenate the blood. During an obstruction, the patient’s oxygen level in the blood, or SpO2, drops, causing an increase of their Oxygen Desaturation Index, or ODI, leading to significant and repeated sleep interruptions. The lack of airflow can last anywhere from ten seconds to more than a minute and, in severe cases, may occur 30 or more times during an hour of sleep. When the airway becomes blocked, the brain detects a stress signal from various biological sources including the chest muscles, lungs and, at times, a drop in blood oxygen content that causes the individual to awaken unconsciously, just enough to tighten the airway muscles and allow normal breathing to resume. A hypopnea is a partially blocked airway; apnea is a fully blocked airway. While regular breathing is restored temporarily, the obstruction typically occurs again, which restarts the apnea cycle. This cycle of obstructions and waking can repeat dozens of times per hour throughout the night, disrupting the rapid eye movement and deep, restorative sleep that are critical to maintaining good health. The overall quality of a patient’s sleep, health and quality of life are diminished.