Aldeyra Therapeutics (ALDX) Risk Analysis

As part of our growth strategy, we plan to evaluate the development and commercialization of other therapies related to immune-mediated and metabolic diseases. We will evaluate internal opportunities from our compound libraries, and also may choose to continue to in-license or acquire other product candidates, as well as commercial products, to treat patients suffering from immune-mediated and metabolic disorders with high unmet medical needs and limited treatment options. These other product candidates will require additional, time-consuming development efforts prior to commercial sale, including preclinical studies, clinical trials, and approval by the FDA and/or applicable foreign regulatory authorities. In-licensed product candidates may have been unsuccessfully developed by others in indications similar to those that we may pursue. All product candidates are prone to the risks of failure that are inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that the product candidate will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and/or effective for approval by regulatory authorities. For example, in June 2023, we received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA regarding our NDA for ADX-2191 for the treatment of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (the ADX-2191 Complete Response Letter). The ADX-2191 Complete Response Letter stated that there was a "lack of substantial evidence of effectiveness" due to "a lack of adequate and well-controlled investigations" in the literature-based NDA submission. In light of the FDA's ADX-2191 Complete Response Letter, we halted pre-commercial activities related to ADX-2191 for the treatment of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma. In January 2024 we de-prioritized the previously announced programs of ADX-629 in chronic cough and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome due to regulatory and trial feasibility challenges, respectively. Additionally, in the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we deprioritized and subsequently ceased development of ADX-2191 for the treatment of proliferative vitreoretinopathy due to the requirement from the FDA to run clinical trials that we did not deem to be feasible. If marketing approval for our other product candidates is delayed, limited or denied, our ability to market the product candidate, and our ability to generate product sales, would be adversely affected. Such a delay could occur because a competitor product is approved before our product and secures patent protection, market exclusivity, or both, and thereby precludes our product approval for a number of years. It is also possible that additional studies or clinical trials may not suffice to make our application approvable. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such products that are approved will be manufactured or produced economically, adequately priced, successfully commercialized, or widely accepted in the marketplace or be more effective than other commercially available alternatives.

Delays in the commencement or completion of our ongoing or planned clinical trials for our product candidates could significantly affect our product development costs and timeline. We do not know whether future trials will begin on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. The commencement and completion of clinical trials can be delayed for a number of reasons, including delays related to: - public health epidemics or pandemics or responses thereto;- the FDA, or an institutional review board, or IRB, failing to grant permission to proceed or placing a clinical trial on hold;- subjects failing to enroll or remain in our clinical trials at the rate we expect;- subjects choosing an alternative treatment for the indication for which we are developing our product candidates, or participating in competing clinical trials;- lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial;- subjects experiencing severe, serious, or unexpected drug-related adverse effects, whether drug-related or otherwise;- a facility manufacturing our product candidates, or drug product components being ordered by the FDA or other government or regulatory authorities to temporarily or permanently shut down due to violations of cGMP or other applicable requirements, or infections or cross-contaminations of product candidates in the manufacturing process;- any changes to our manufacturing process that may be necessary or desired;- inability to timely manufacture sufficient quantities of the applicable product candidate for a clinical trial or expiration of materials intended for use in a clinical trial;- third-party clinical investigators losing the licenses or permits necessary to perform our clinical trials, not performing our clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol, cGMP, or regulatory requirements, or other third parties not performing data collection or analysis in a timely or accurate manner;- inspections of clinical trial sites by the FDA or the finding of regulatory violations by the FDA or IRB, that require us or others to undertake corrective action, result in suspension or termination of one or more sites or the imposition of a clinical hold in part or on the entire trial, or that prohibit us from using some or all of the data in support of our marketing applications;- delays in shipment of clinical trial material reaching clinical sites;- third-party contractors becoming debarred or suspended or otherwise penalized by the FDA or other government or regulatory authorities for violations of regulatory requirements, in which case we may need to find a substitute contractor, and we may not be able to use some or all of the data produced by such contractors in support of our marketing applications; or - one or more IRBs refusing to approve, suspending, or terminating the trial at an investigational site; precluding enrollment of additional subjects; or withdrawing approval of the trial. Product development costs will increase if we have delays in testing or approval of our product candidates or if we need to perform more, larger, or longer clinical trials than planned. Additionally, changes in regulatory requirements and policies may occur and we or our partners may need to amend clinical trial protocols to reflect these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit our clinical trial protocols to IRBs for reexamination, which may impact the costs, timing, or successful completion of a clinical trial. If we experience delays in completion of, or if we, the FDA, or other regulatory authorities, the IRB, other reviewing entities, or any of our clinical trial sites suspend or terminate any of our clinical trials, the commercial prospects for a product candidate may be harmed and our ability to generate product revenue, if any, will be delayed. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, termination or suspension of, or a delay in the commencement or completion of, clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate. Further, if one or more clinical trials are delayed, our competitors may be able to bring products to market before we do, and the commercial viability of our product candidates could be significantly reduced.

Drug development has inherent risk. We or any of our future development partners will be required to demonstrate through adequate and well-controlled clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective, with a favorable benefit-risk profile, for use in their target indications before we can seek regulatory approvals for their commercial sale. Drug development is a long, expensive, and uncertain process, and delay or failure can occur at any stage of development, including after commencement of any of our clinical trials. Any negative results or perceived negative results in clinical trials for one indication may have an adverse effect on our ability to develop and potentially commercialize reproxalap or our other product candidates for the treatment of another indication. In addition, as product candidates proceed through development, the trial designs may often be different and may need to evolve and change from phase to phase or within the same phase or same trial, as is the case for adaptive trials; the vehicles or controls may be modified from trial to trial; and the product formulations or manufacturing process may differ due to the need to test product candidate samples that can be manufactured on a commercial scale. Success in run-in cohorts, earlier clinical trials, or clinical trials focused on a different indication does not mean that later clinical trials will be successful because product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety or efficacy despite having progressed through other phases of clinical testing. In addition, discussions with regulatory bodies, such as the FDA, may lead to changes in trial designs or programs. Companies frequently suffer significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after run-in cohorts or earlier clinical trials have shown promising results. For example, the results of the TRANQUILITY Trial of reproxalap in dry eye disease did not reflect the results of the TRANQUILITY run-in cohort. Moreover, only a small percentage of drugs under development result in the submission of an NDA to the FDA and even fewer are approved for commercialization.

Our clinical focus is on the development of new products for immune-mediated and metabolic diseases. We performed an adaptive trial in proliferative vitreoretinopathy, the GUARD trial, and may do so with other indications in the future. In an adaptive trial, the initial parts of the trial are not designed to be pivotal or definitive. Rather, the initial parts of adaptive trials are expected to provide data to guide subsequent parts of the trial, which could require design changes, including but not limited to, different endpoints. In addition, following the initial parts of adaptive trials, we may, among other things, decide to continue to the subsequent parts of the trial, conclude the trial based on its success or failure in such initial parts, or discuss the trial results and regulatory pathway with regulatory authorities prior to determining next steps with respect to the trial and development program. As such, the likelihood of success in our late-stage clinical programs cannot necessarily be predicted. We could also face challenges in designing clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates due to the lack of historical clinical trial experience for novel classes of therapeutics. Thus, it is difficult to determine whether regulatory agencies will be receptive to the approval of our product candidates, and to predict the time and costs associated with obtaining regulatory approvals. The clinical trial requirements of the FDA and other regulatory agencies and the criteria regulators use to determine the safety and efficacy of a product candidate vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty, and intended use and market of the potential products. The regulatory approval process for novel product candidates such as ours can be more expensive and require more time and trial data than for other, better known, or more extensively studied classes of product candidates. In addition, it is possible that, as regulatory bodies gain more familiarity with our type of product candidates by reviewing competitor candidates, those agencies could impose new conditions on our product candidates that we did not expect. Any inability to design clinical trials with protocols, methodology, and endpoints acceptable to applicable regulatory authorities, and to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates, would have an adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.

Some of our product candidates are, to our knowledge, new chemical entities, and unexpected problems related to new technologies may arise that can cause us to delay, suspend, or terminate our development efforts. As a result, short and long-term safety, as well as prospects for efficacy, are not fully understood and are difficult to predict. Regulatory approvals of new product candidates can be more expensive and take longer than approvals for well-characterized or more extensively studied pharmaceutical product candidates. Following discussions with the FDA and experts in the field, we may determine that it is not cost effective for us to develop one or more of our products in certain indications or we may decide to cease development in that area or seek a strategic partner.

Adaptive clinical trials are often performed such that the initial parts of the trial are used to determine sample size and endpoints for subsequent, possibly pivotal parts of the trial. Results from the initial parts of adaptive trials are therefore not designed to be pivotal or definitive, and, in some cases, detailed trial data may not be disclosed so as not to positively or negatively bias investigators or patients involved in subsequent parts of the trial. Further, the initial parts of adaptive trials may be performed in part to assess biomarkers or surrogate markers that may require substantial time to generate, analyze, and interpret. Thus, disclosure of clinical results from the initial parts of adaptive trials may also be delayed due to the time required for biomarker or surrogate marker assessment.

As part of our business strategy, we have and continue to evaluate the development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of orphan and other rare diseases, including Sjögren-Larsson and retinitis pigmentosa. We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials if we are unable to locate a sufficient number of eligible patients willing and able to participate in the clinical trials required by the FDA or other non-United States regulatory agencies. In addition, if others develop products for the treatment of similar diseases, we would potentially compete with them for the enrollment in rare patient populations, which may adversely impact the rate of patient enrollment in and the timely completion of our current and planned clinical trials. Any negative results or perceived negative results in clinical trials of our product candidates may make it difficult or impossible to recruit or retain patients in other clinical trials of the same product candidate. Insufficient patient enrollment may be a function of other factors, including the size and nature of the patient population, the nature of the protocol, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the timing and magnitude of disease symptom presentation, the availability of effective treatments for the relevant disease, and the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial. Our inability to identify and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients for any of our current or future clinical trials would result in significant delays or may require us to abandon one or more clinical trials or development program. Public health epidemics or pandemics and the response thereto may have an impact on our ability to enroll and retain patients in our clinical trials. For instance, patient enrollment in our GUARD trial of ADX-2191 in proliferative vitreoretinopathy was negatively impacted as a result of limited clinical trial staffing at trial sites and some patients electing to delay surgery. Delays in patient enrollment in the future as a result of these and other factors may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of our clinical trials, which could prevent us from completing these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates. For instance, in rare diseases such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, lack of availability of, or difficulty recruiting or retaining a sufficient number of, patients may make it difficult or cost-prohibitive to sufficiently power our clinical trials, which may not enable us to continue development and seek regulatory approval for the applicable product candidate. Further, if our products are approved by regulatory agencies, we may not be able to identify sufficient number of patients to generate significant revenue.

The biotechnology industry has been characterized by frequent litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. Because patent applications are maintained in secrecy until the application is published, we may be unaware of third-party patents that may be infringed by commercialization of reproxalap or our other product candidates. In addition, identification of third-party patent rights that may be relevant to our technology is difficult because patent searching is imperfect due to differences in terminology among patents, incomplete databases, and the difficulty in assessing the meaning of patent claims. Any claims of patent infringement asserted by third parties would be time consuming and could likely: - result in costly litigation;- divert the time and attention of our technical personnel and management;- cause development or commercialization delays;- prevent us from commercializing reproxalap or our other product candidates until the asserted patent expires or is held finally invalid or not infringed in a court of law;- require us to develop non-infringing technology; or - require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. Although no third-party has asserted a claim of patent infringement against us, others may hold proprietary rights that could prevent reproxalap or our other product candidates from being marketed. Any patent-related legal action against us claiming damages and seeking to enjoin commercial activities relating to our product candidate or processes could subject us to potential liability for damages and require us to obtain a license to continue to manufacture or market reproxalap or our other product candidates. We cannot predict whether we would prevail in any such actions or that any license required under any of these patents would be made available on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, we cannot be sure that we could redesign our product candidate or processes to avoid infringement, if necessary. Accordingly, an adverse determination in a judicial or administrative proceeding, or the failure to obtain necessary licenses, could prevent us from developing and commercializing reproxalap or our other product candidates, which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. Any such claims against us could also be deemed to constitute an event of default under the loan and security agreement. In the case of a continuing event of default under the loan, Hercules could, among other remedies, elect to declare all amounts outstanding to be immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit. In the event we do not or are not able to repay the obligations at the time a default occurred, Hercules may elect to commence and prosecute bankruptcy and/or other insolvency proceedings, or proceed against the collateral granted to Hercules under the loan.

If we or any of our future development partners were to initiate legal proceedings against a third-party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, or one of our future product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that our patent is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO, or made a misleading statement during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar claims before the USPTO, even outside the context of litigation. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to validity, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on such product candidate. Such a loss of patent protection would have a material adverse impact on our business.

As is common in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, we engage the services of consultants to assist us in the development of our product candidates. Many of these consultants and our employees were previously employed at, or may have previously provided or may be currently providing consulting services to, other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies including our competitors or potential competitors. We may become subject to claims that our company or an employee, consultant, or agent inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other information proprietary to their former employers or their former or current clients. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management team.

Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of FDA marketing approval of reproxalap or other product candidates, one or more of our United States patents may be eligible for limited patent term restoration under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, we may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents, or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or restoration or the term of any such extension is less than we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and our revenue could be reduced, possibly materially.

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 partners 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 registered 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. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights, or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, and could adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.

As is the case with other biotechnology companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biopharmaceutical industry involves technological and legal complexity. Therefore, obtaining and enforcing biotechnology patents is costly, time consuming, and inherently uncertain. In addition, Congress may pass patent reform legislation. The Supreme Court has ruled on several patent cases in recent years, either narrowing the scope of patent protection available or weakening the rights of patent owners. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the United States Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents, or to enforce our existing patents and patents we might obtain in the future.

While we have issued composition-of-matter patents covering reproxalap and certain of our other product candidates in the United States and other countries, filing, prosecuting, and defending patents on reproxalap and our other product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States may be less extensive and of significantly shorter duration than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products, and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but where enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our product candidates, and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to pharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license. Furthermore, the growing use of generative AI presents an increased risk of unintentional and/or unauthorized disclosure or use of our intellectual property rights.

In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding healthcare systems that could prevent or delay marketing approval for our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. The pharmaceutical industry has been a particular focus of these efforts and has been significantly affected by legislative initiatives. Current laws, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any FDA approved product. Healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, more rigorous coverage criteria, new payment methodologies, and additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product and/or the level of reimbursement physicians receive for administering any approved product we might bring to market. Reductions in reimbursement levels may negatively impact the prices we receive or the frequency with which our products are prescribed or administered. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. To date, there have been several recent U.S. congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted state and federal legislation and regulation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient support programs, reduce the costs of drugs under Medicare, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products. For example, included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 were several drug price reporting and transparency measures, such as a new requirement for certain Medicare plans to develop tools to display Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit information in real time and for group and health insurance issuers to report information on pharmacy benefit and drug costs to the Secretaries of the HHS, the Department of Labor, and the Treasury. Additionally, both Congress and the Biden administration have each indicated willingness to continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to address prescription drug costs. For example, on July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order to promote competition in the U.S. economy that included several initiatives addressing prescription drugs. Among other provisions, the Executive Order stated that the Biden administration will "support aggressive legislative reforms that would lower prescription drug prices, including by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, by imposing inflation caps, and through other related reforms." In response to the Executive Order, on September 9, 2021, the HHS issued a Comprehensive Plan for Addressing High Drug Prices that identified potential legislative policies and administrative tools that Congress and the agency can pursue in order to make drug prices more affordable and equitable, improve and promote competition throughout the prescription drug industry, and foster scientific innovation. Congress has also continued to conduct inquiries into the prescription drug industry's pricing practices. These initiatives recently culminated in the enactment of the IRA, in August 2022, which, among other things, will allow HHS to negotiate the selling price of certain drugs and biologics that CMS reimburses under Medicare Part B and Part D, although this will only apply to high-expenditure single-source drugs that have been approved for at least 7 years (11 years for biologics). The negotiated prices, which will first become effective in 2026, will be capped at a statutory ceiling price representing a significant discount from average prices to wholesalers and direct purchasers. The law will also, beginning in October 2023, penalize drug manufacturers that increase prices of Medicare Part B and Part D drugs at a rate greater than the rate of inflation. In addition, the law eliminates the "donut hole" under Medicare Part D beginning in 2025 by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost through a newly established manufacturer discount program. The IRA also extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. The IRA permits the Secretary of HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. Manufacturers that fail to comply with the IRA may be subject to various penalties, including civil monetary penalties. These provisions will take effect progressively starting in 2023, although they may be subject to legal challenges. Thus, although it is unclear how the IRA will be implemented, the IRA will likely have a significant impact on our business and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. At the state level, individual states are increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing. These include legislation and regulations regarding price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, legislative action designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. In addition, regional health care authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other health care programs. These measures could reduce the ultimate demand for our products, if approved, or put pressure on our product pricing. Legislative and regulatory proposals have also been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for pharmaceutical products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA regulations, guidance, or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the potential approval and marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be. Increased scrutiny by the U.S. Congress of the FDA's approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements. The continuing efforts of the government, insurance companies, managed care organizations, and other payors of healthcare services to contain or reduce costs of health care may adversely affect: - the demand for any product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval;- our ability to set a price that we believe is fair for our product candidates;- our ability to generate revenue and achieve or maintain profitability;- our ability to identify and establish strategic partnerships;- the level of taxes that we are required to pay;- the availability of capital.

Our arrangements with third-party payors, physicians, and other potential customers will subject us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Applicable U.S. federal and state healthcare laws and regulations include the following: - the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a criminal law, which prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward purchasing, leasing, ordering, or arranging for, referring, or recommending the purchase, lease, or order of any good or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under federal healthcare programs 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 in order to have committed a violation. Violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute can result in significant civil monetary penalties and criminal fines, as well as imprisonment and exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs;- the federal civil False Claims Act, which may be enforced through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions and imposes significant civil penalties, treble damages, and potential exclusion from federal healthcare programs against individuals or entities for, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent or for making a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay the federal government or for knowingly and improperly avoiding, decreasing, or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government. Further, a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute can serve as a basis for liability under the federal civil False Claims Act. There is also the federal Criminal False Claims Act, which is similar to the federal Civil False Claims Act and imposes criminal liability on those that make or present a false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim to the federal government;- the federal Civil Monetary Penalties Law, which authorizes the imposition of substantial civil monetary penalties against an entity that engages in activities including, among others (1) knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a claim for services not provided as claimed or that is otherwise false or fraudulent in any way; (2) arranging for or contracting with an individual or entity that is excluded from participation in federal health care programs to provide items or services reimbursable by a federal health care program; (3) violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute; or (4) failing to report and return a known overpayment;- federal criminal statutes created by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which impose criminal liability for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing or attempting to execute a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private insurance plans, or, in any matter involving a healthcare benefit program, for knowingly and willfully making materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits;- HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, and its implementing regulations, which also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, on certain types of people and entities with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;- the FDCA which among other things, strictly regulates drug marketing, prohibits manufacturers from marketing such products for off-label use or misbranding or adulterating their products, and regulates the distribution of samples;- the federal and state laws that require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report certain calculated product pricing metrics to the government or provide certain discounts or rebates to government authorities or private entities, often as a condition of product coverage and reimbursement under federal healthcare programs - the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which requires applicable manufacturers of covered drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children's Health Insurance Program, among others, to annually track and report payments and other transfers of value provided to U.S.-licensed physicians and teaching hospitals, and for reports submitted on or after January 1, 2022, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist assistants, and certified nurse-midwives, as well as certain ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate families;- analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, that may apply to our business practices, including sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers;- state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry's voluntary compliance guidelines and relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government;- state laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures;- other state laws that prohibit various marketing-related activities, such as the provision of certain kinds of gifts or meals; require the reporting of certain pricing information, including information pertaining to and justifying price increases, or prohibit prescription drug price gouging; and certain state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and - state and foreign laws that govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, 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 may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. 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 product candidates from government-funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid; disgorgement; contractual damages; reputational harm; diminished profits and future earnings; and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found not to be in compliance with applicable laws, they may also be subject to criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government-funded healthcare programs. Although effective compliance programs can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, these risks cannot be entirely eliminated. Any action for an alleged or suspected violation can cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert management's attention from the operation of the business, even if such action is successfully defended. Providing benefits or advantages to induce or reward improper performance generally to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order, or use of medicinal products is prohibited in the EU. The provision of benefits or advantages to induce or reward improper performance is governed by the national anti-bribery laws of EU Member States, and in respect of the U.K., the Bribery Act 2010. Infringement of these laws may result in substantial fines and imprisonment. EU Directive 2001/83/EC, which is the EU Directive governing medicinal products for human use, provides that, where medicinal products are being promoted to healthcare professionals, no gifts, pecuniary advantages, or benefits in kind may be supplied, offered or promised to such individuals unless they are inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy. This provision was transposed into the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 and as such remains applicable in the UK. Payments made to physicians in certain EU Member States must be publicly disclosed. In addition, agreements with healthcare professionals must often be the subject of prior notification and approval by the healthcare professional's employer, his or her competent professional organization, and/or the regulatory authorities of individual EU Member States. These requirements are set out in national laws, industry codes, or professional codes of conduct, applicable in the EU Member States and in the UK. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines, or imprisonment.

If we and any of our future development partners are successful in commercializing our products, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities will require that we and any of our future development partners report certain information about adverse medical events if those products may have caused or contributed to those adverse events. The timing of our obligation to report would be triggered by the date we become aware of the adverse event as well as the nature of the event. We and any of our future development partners may fail to report adverse events we become aware of within the prescribed timeframe or to perform inadequate investigations of their causes. We and any of our future development partners may also fail to appreciate that we have become aware of a reportable adverse event, especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of our products. If we and any of our future development partners fail to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA or a foreign regulatory authority could take enforcement action including the issuance of a Warning Letter, the requirement of a labeling change, the initiation of a criminal prosecution, the imposition of civil monetary penalties, the seizure of our products, or delay in approval or clearance of future products.

Our operations are subject to anti-corruption laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Bribery Act and other anticorruption laws that apply in countries where we do business and may do business in the future. The FCPA, the Bribery Act, and other laws generally prohibit us, our officers, and our employees, and intermediaries from bribing, being bribed, or making other prohibited payments to government officials or other persons to obtain or retain business or gain some other business advantage. We may in the future operate in jurisdictions that pose a high risk of potential FCPA or Bribery Act violations, and we may participate in collaborations and relationships with third parties whose actions could potentially subject us to liability under the FCPA, the Bribery Act, or local anti-corruption laws. In addition, we cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our international operations might be subject or the manner in which existing laws might be administered or interpreted. We also are subject to other laws and regulations governing our international operations, including regulations administered by the governments of the United States, UK, and authorities in the EU, including applicable export control regulations, economic sanctions on countries and persons, customs requirements, and currency exchange regulations, which we collectively refer to as Trade Control Laws. There is no assurance that we will be completely effective in ensuring our compliance with all applicable anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA, the Bribery Act, or other legal requirements including Trade Control Laws. If we are not in compliance with the FCPA, the Bribery Act, and other anti-corruption laws or Trade Control Laws, we may be subject to criminal and civil penalties, legal expenses, disgorgement, and other sanctions and remedial measures, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity. The SEC also may suspend or bar issuers from trading securities on U.S. exchanges for violations of the FCPA's accounting provisions. Likewise, any investigation of any potential violations of the FCPA; the Bribery Act; or other anti-corruption laws or Trade Control Laws by U.S., U.K., or other authorities also could have an adverse impact on our reputation, our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Even if United States regulatory approval is obtained, the FDA may still impose significant restrictions on a product's indicated uses or marketing or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly and time-consuming post-approval studies or clinical trials, post-market surveillance, or other potential additional clinical trials. Following approval, if any, of reproxalap or any other product candidate, such candidate will also be subject to ongoing FDA requirements governing the labeling, packaging, storage, distribution, safety surveillance, advertising, promotion, recordkeeping, and reporting of safety and other post-market information. In addition, manufacturers of drug products and their facilities are subject to continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for compliance with cGMP requirements, including those relating to quality control, quality assurance, and corresponding maintenance of records and documents. If we or a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated seriousness, severity, or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product, the manufacturing facility or us, including requesting recall or withdrawal of the product from the market or suspension of manufacturing. If we or the manufacturing facilities for reproxalap or any other product candidate that may receive regulatory approval, if any, fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency may: - issue warning letters or untitled letters;- seek an injunction or impose civil or criminal penalties or monetary fines;- suspend or withdraw regulatory approval;- suspend any ongoing clinical trials;- refuse to approve pending applications or supplements or applications filed by us;- suspend or impose restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements; or - seize or detain products, refuse to permit the import or export of product, or request us to initiate a product recall. The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate revenue. The FDA has the authority to require a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) plan as part of an NDA or after approval, which may impose further requirements or restrictions on the distribution or use of an approved drug, such as limiting prescribing to certain physicians or medical centers that have undergone specialized training, limiting treatment to patients who meet certain safe-use criteria, and requiring treated patients to enroll in a registry. In addition, if reproxalap or any of our other product candidates is approved, its product labeling, advertising, and promotion would be subject to regulatory requirements and continuing regulatory review. The FDA strictly regulates the promotional claims that may be made about prescription products. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA as reflected in the product's approved labeling. If we receive marketing approval for a product candidate, physicians may nevertheless prescribe it to patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the approved label. If we are found to have promoted such off-label uses, we may become subject to significant liability. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant sanctions. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion and has enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. The government has also entered into consent decrees and Corporate Integrity Agreements under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed.

Even if our product candidates receive regulatory approval, they may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors, or the medical community. Coverage and reimbursement of our product candidates by third-party payors, including government payors, is also generally necessary for commercial success. In addition, we or are partners, if any, may not be able to secure advantageous contracts with payors or price our products at the expected level or at levels that make successful commercialization viable. The pricing of our products will be subject to numerous factors, many of which are outside of our control, including the pricing of similar products. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to: - demonstration of clinical efficacy and safety compared to other more-established products;- the limitation of our targeted patient populations and other limitations or warnings contained in any FDA-approved labeling;- acceptance of a new formulations by health care providers and their patients;- the prevalence, seriousness, and severity of any adverse effects;- new procedures or methods of treatment that may be more effective in treating conditions for which our products are intended to treat;- the safety of product candidates seen in a broader patient group, including their use outside the approved indications;- pricing and cost-effectiveness, including the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;- the effectiveness of our or any future collaborators' sales and marketing strategies;- our ability to obtain and maintain sufficient, commercially advantageous, and timely third-party coverage or reimbursement from government health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers and other third-party payors;- relative convenience and ease of administration;- the prevalence and severity of adverse events;- the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts;- unfavorable publicity; and - the willingness of patients to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of third-party coverage. In addition, because the active ingredient of ADX-2191 (methotrexate) is a generic drug, a generic manufacturer may be able to develop and market a competitive intravitreal formulation of methotrexate following expiration of commercial exclusivity mandated via certain orphan drug designations. Generic drug competition would have a material and adverse effect on the commercial potential of ADX-2191. Further, our ability to successfully commercialize ADX-2191, if approved, depends on a number of additional factors, including but not limited to, the level of enforcement by the FDA to ensure that compounded copies of commercially available FDA-approved products manufactured by compounding pharmacies, including compounded copies of ADX-2191, that may be in violation of the federal Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) and other relevant provisions of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), are not produced and dispensed to patients. Moreover, we cannot predict what healthcare reform initiatives may be adopted in the future. Further federal and state legislative and regulatory developments are likely, and we expect that ongoing initiatives in the United States will increase pressure on drug pricing. Such reforms could have an adverse effect on the pricing of and anticipated revenue from our current or future product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval and may affect our overall financial condition and ability to develop product candidates. If any product candidate is approved but does not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, hospitals, healthcare payors, or patients, we may not generate sufficient revenue from that product candidate and may not become or remain profitable. Our or our partners' efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of reproxalap or any of our other product candidates may require significant resources and may never be successful. In addition, our or our partners' ability to successfully commercialize our product candidate will depend on our ability to manufacture our products, differentiate our products from competing products and defend the intellectual property of our products. Competitors with numerous approved products may be able to negotiate pricing and reimbursement that is substantially more advantageous than that which we will be able to negotiate. Additionally, if any of our competitors' products are approved and are unable to gain market acceptance for any reason, there could be a market perception that products such as reproxalap are not able to adequately meet an unmet medical need. If we or our partners, if any, are unable to demonstrate to physicians, hospitals, third-party payors, or patients that our products are better alternatives, we or our partners, if any, may not be able to gain market acceptance for our products at the levels we anticipate and our business may be materially harmed as a result.

There exist several designations that we can apply for from the FDA and other regulators that would provide us with various combinations of the potential for expedited regulatory review, certain financial incentives as well as the potential for post-approval exclusivity for a period of time. These designations include but are not limited to orphan drug designation, breakthrough therapy designation, accelerated approval, fast track status, and priority review for our product candidates. We may seek one or more of these designations for our current and future product candidates. For example, ADX-2191 has received orphan designation for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. There can be no assurance that any of our other product candidates will qualify for any of these designations. There can also be no assurance that any of our product candidates, that do qualify for these designations, will be granted such designations or that the FDA will not revoke such a designation it grants at a later date. Further, there can be no assurance that any of our product candidates that are granted such designations will ever benefit from such designations or that the FDA would not withdraw such designations once granted. Were we to receive a designation that promised a period of market exclusivity, such as orphan drug exclusivity, such exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs can be approved for the same condition. Further, with respect to orphan drug status, even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same drug for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later drug is clinically superior if it is shown to be safer, more effective, or makes a major contribution to patient care.

The clinical development, manufacturing, labeling, storage, record-keeping, advertising, promotion, import, export, marketing, and distribution of our product candidates are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA in the United States and by comparable authorities in foreign markets. In the United States, we are not permitted to market our product candidates until we receive regulatory approval from the FDA. The process of obtaining regulatory approval is expensive and time-consuming, and can vary substantially based upon the type, complexity, and novelty of the products involved, as well as the target indication, and patient population. Approval policies or regulations may change, and the FDA has substantial discretion in the drug approval process, including the ability to delay, limit, or deny approval of a product candidate for many reasons. Despite the time and expense invested in clinical development of product candidates, regulatory approval, and subsequent commercial success is uncertain and not guaranteed. Reproxalap and our other product candidates, and the activities associated with development and commercialization, including testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution, are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory agencies in the United States and by comparable authorities in other jurisdictions. Our ongoing research and development activities and planned clinical development and commercialization for our product candidates may be delayed, modified, or ceased for a variety of reasons, including: - determining that a product candidate is ineffective or potentially causes harmful side effects during preclinical studies or clinical trials;- adverse events which had initially been considered unrelated to the product candidate may later, even following approval and/or commercialization, be found to be caused by the product candidate;- difficulty establishing predictive preclinical models for demonstration of safety and efficacy of a product candidate in one or more potential therapeutic areas for clinical development;- patients in our clinical trials may demonstrate greater response rates or improvements from vehicle or standard of care than was expected when designing and powering our clinical trials;- lack of availability of, or difficulty recruiting and retaining, a sufficient number of patients to adequately power our clinical trials;- difficulties in manufacturing a product candidate, including the inability to manufacture a product candidate in a sufficient quantity, suitable form, or in a cost-effective manner, or under processes acceptable to the FDA for marketing approval or commercial sale;- the proprietary rights of third parties, which may preclude us from developing or commercializing a product candidate;- determining that a product candidate may be uneconomical for us to develop or commercialize, or may fail to achieve market acceptance or adequate pricing or reimbursement;- determining that one or more clinical trials that may be required for approval of a product candidate was or would not be feasible;- our expectations regarding our expenses and revenue, the sufficiency or use of our cash resources, and needs for additional financing;- a safety concern or signal may arise that triggers a clinical hold;- any negative results or perceived negative results in clinical trials for one indication may have an adverse effect on our ability to develop and potentially commercialize reproxalap or our other product candidates for the treatment of another indication;- our inability to secure strategic partners which may be necessary for advancement of a product candidate into clinical development or commercialization; or - our prioritization of other indications or product candidates for advancement. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities can delay, limit, or deny approval of a product candidate for many reasons, including but not limited to: - such authorities may disagree with the design, conduct, or implementation of our or any of our future development partners' clinical trials, including the endpoints of our clinical trials;- such authorities may require clinical data in addition to clinical trial programs we expect, or may require changes to the designs and endpoints of subsequent clinical trials;- a competitor product may have patent protection or another type of market exclusivity that delays approval of our product;- we or any of our future development partners may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or other regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for any indication;- such authorities may not accept clinical data from trials if conducted at clinical facilities or in countries where the standard of care is potentially different from the United States;- the results of clinical trials may not demonstrate the safety or efficacy required by such authorities for approval;- we or any of our future development partners may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate's clinical and other benefits outweigh safety risks;- such authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials or the design of such trials or require additional trials and data;- changes in the leadership or operation of such authorities, which may result in, among other things, the implementation of new standards, or changes to the interpretation or enforcement of existing regulatory standards and requirements;- such authorities may find deficiencies in the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we or any of our future development partners contract for clinical and commercial supplies; or - the approval policies, standards, or regulations of such authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our or any of our future development partners' clinical data insufficient for approval. With respect to foreign markets, approval procedures vary among countries and, in addition to the aforementioned risks, can involve additional product testing, administrative review periods, and agreements with pricing authorities. In addition, events raising questions about the safety of certain marketed pharmaceuticals may result in increased cautiousness by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities in reviewing new drugs based on safety, efficacy, or other regulatory considerations and may result in significant delays in obtaining regulatory approvals. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approvals would prevent us or any of our future development partners from commercializing our product candidates. Moreover, we cannot predict healthcare reform initiatives, including potential reductions in federal funding or insurance coverage, that may be adopted in the future and whether or not any such reforms would have an adverse effect on our business and our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our current or future product candidates. There are evolving legal requirements that will continue to affect our business.

Our ability to generate revenue will depend on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of reproxalap. We submitted an NDA for reproxalap for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease in December 2022. In February 2023, the FDA accepted the reproxalap NDA for filing and set a PDUFA date of November 23, 2023. On November 27, 2023, we announced that we had received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA (the reproxalap Complete Response Letter). In the reproxalap Complete Response Letter, the FDA stated that the NDA did not demonstrate "efficacy in treating ocular symptoms associated with dry eyes" and that "at least one additional adequate and well-controlled study to demonstrate a positive effect on the treatment of ocular symptoms of dry eye" should be conducted. Based on feedback received from the FDA in December 2023, we amended the design and protocol of an ongoing dry eye disease chamber crossover clinical trial. In October 2024, we filed the Resubmitted NDA, which included results from the completed dry eye disease symptom clinical trial requested by the FDA following review of the previously submitted NDA. We cannot be certain that the design, conduct, and analysis of the results of the clinical trial will be sufficient to establish the effectiveness of reproxalap for treatment of dry eye disease to the FDA's satisfaction, and therefore allow us to receive approval of the Resubmitted NDA. The FDA could require additional studies or clinical trials, and the submission of the results of those studies or clinical trials before the Resubmitted NDA will be reconsidered, which would require us to expend more resources than we planned or that are available to us, and could substantially delay acceptance and/or approval, if any, of the Resubmitted NDA. Any such requirement would increase our costs and delay approval and commercialization of reproxalap for the treatment of dry eye disease and would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. Additionally, the FDA has substantial discretion in the approval process and may disagree with our interpretation of or the sufficiency of the data from our clinical trials. Clinical trial results frequently are susceptible to varying interpretations and regulatory authorities may disagree on what are appropriate methods for analyzing data, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that the Resubmitted NDA to the FDA will be accepted or approved in a timely manner or at all. If marketing approval for reproxalap is delayed, limited or denied, our ability to market reproxalap, and our ability to generate product sales, would be adversely affected. Even if reproxalap is approved for the treatment of dry eye disease, the FDA may limit use to certain patient populations, include extensive warnings on the product labeling, or require costly ongoing requirements for post-marketing clinical studies and surveillance or other risk management measures to monitor the safety or efficacy of reproxalap. Any regulatory approval of reproxalap, once obtained, may be withdrawn. Ultimately, the failure to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals would prevent reproxalap from being marketed and would have a material adverse effect on our business.

We intend to seek approval to market our product candidates in both the United States and in foreign jurisdictions. If we obtain approval to market our product candidates in the United States, we will be subject to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which, among other things, will allow Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate the selling price of certain drugs and biologics that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimburses under Medicare Part B and Part D. If we obtain approval in one or more foreign jurisdictions, we will be subject to rules and regulations in those jurisdictions relating to our product candidates. In some foreign countries, particularly in the EU, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product candidate. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we, or our collaborators, may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our drug to other available therapies. Furthermore, in some European countries, the authorities conduct a Health Technology Appraisal to assess the cost-effectiveness of the product, which may significantly impact effective access to the market. If reimbursement of our future products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.

Once an NDA is approved, the drug covered thereby becomes a "reference-listed drug" in the FDA's publication, "Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations." Manufacturers may seek marketing approval of generic versions of reference-listed drugs through submission of abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) in the United States. In support of an ANDA, a generic manufacturer need not conduct clinical trials demonstrating safety and efficacy. Rather, the applicant generally must show that its drug is pharmaceutically equivalent to the reference listed drug, in that it has the same active ingredient(s), dosage form, strength, route of administration and conditions of use or labeling as the reference-listed drug, and that the generic version is bioequivalent to the reference-listed drug, meaning it is absorbed in the body at the same rate and to the same extent. Generic drugs may be significantly less costly to bring to market than the reference-listed drug and companies that produce generic drugs are generally able to offer drug products at lower prices. Thus, following the introduction of a generic drug, a significant percentage of the sales of any branded product or reference-listed drug is typically lost to the generic drug. The FDA may not approve an ANDA for a generic drug until any applicable period of non-patent exclusivity for the reference-listed drug has expired. The FDCA provides a period of five years of non-patent exclusivity for a new drug containing a new chemical entity. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not accept for review an ANDA or a 505(b)(2) NDA submitted by another company for another version of such product candidate where the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference to all the data required for approval. However, an application may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity, enforceability or non-infringement. The FDCA also provides three years of marketing exclusivity for a 505(b)(1) NDA, 505(b)(2) NDA or supplement to an approved NDA if new clinical investigations other than bioavailability studies (e.g., investigations that support new indications, dosages, or strengths of an existing drug) were conducted or sponsored by the applicant and are deemed by the FDA to be essential to the approval of the application. The three-year exclusivity covers only the conditions associated with the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving competitor products for product candidates containing the original active agent for other conditions of use. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full 505(b)(1) NDA. Manufacturers may seek to launch these generic drugs following the expiration of the marketing exclusivity period, even if we still have patent protection for our drug. In the EU and the UK, innovative medicinal products are authorized based on a full marketing authorization application (as opposed to an application for marketing authorization that relies on data in the marketing authorization dossier for another, previously approved medicinal product). Applications for marketing authorization for innovative medicinal products must contain the results of pharmaceutical tests, preclinical tests, and clinical trials conducted with the medicinal product for which marketing authorization is sought (and where applicable the result of the pediatric studies unless a waiver or a deferral has been obtained - as described further below). In the EU, these applications must be made pursuant to either Directive 2001/83/EC (for the decentralized procedure or the mutual recognition procedure) or Regulation 726/2004 (for the centralized procedure). In the UK, there are various procedures available under the new regulatory legal framework to pharmaceutical products, including the possibility of a recognized assessment conducted by the European authorities under certain circumstance or by applying directly to the UK regulatory authority (MHRA). Where an applicant for a marketing authorization submits a full dossier containing its own pharmaceutical, pre-clinical tests and clinical trials data, and where the application does not fall within the "global marketing authorization" of an existing medicinal product, the applicant is entitled to eight years of regulatory data protection upon grant of the marketing authorization (the period starts to run from the first marketing authorization in the EU/ European Economic Area [EEA]). During the period, applicants for approval of generics or biosimilars cannot rely on data contained in the marketing authorization dossier submitted for the already authorized, or reference, medicinal product to support their application. After the expiration of the eight-year period of regulatory data protection, the reference medicinal product benefits from a further two-year period of marketing protection. During these two years of marketing protection, no generic or biosimilar medicinal product that relies upon the reference medicinal product's dossier may be placed on the EU market, but a generic or biosimilar marketing authorization application can be submitted to the competent regulatory authorities in the EU Member States during this time. The two-year period of marketing protection can further be extended by one year if, during the first eight years of the grant of the first marketing authorization, the marketing authorization holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. However, even if a compound is considered to be a new active substance and the innovator is able to gain the period of regulatory data protection and marketing protection, provided that no other IP or regulatory exclusivities applied, another unrelated company could also apply for a marketing authorization and market another competing medicinal product for the same therapeutic indication if such company obtained its own marketing authorization based on a separate marketing authorization application based on a full self-standing scientific data package supporting the application. The period of regulatory data protection and marketing protection applies in the UK (running from the date of the first authorization in Great Britain). In the EU, pursuant to Regulation 1901/2006, and in the UK pursuant to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended), marketing authorization applications must include pediatric data based on pediatric investigation plans agreed with the EMA if the MAA concerns (i) a new active substance, or (ii) a new indication, pharmacological form, or route of administration (where the product is protected by a supplementary protection certificate or a patent qualifying for a supplementary certificate). Applicants may obtain waivers or deferrals to these requirements in certain circumstances (for example a waiver may be obtained if the condition only occurs in adult populations). Where required, pediatric studies must cover all sub-sets of the pediatric population for both existing and new indications, pharmacological forms and route of administrations. Limited further exclusions apply, including in relation to generic or biosimilar applications. Certain rewards may be available for completion of pediatric studies. For example, where MAAs include the results of all studies conducted in compliance with an agreed pediatric investigation plan, the holder of the patent or supplementary protection certificate may be entitled to a six-month extension to the supplementary protection certificate. In order to obtain orphan designation in the EEA, the product must fulfill certain challenging criteria. Under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) 141/2000, a medicinal product may be designated as an orphan medicinal product if it meets the following criteria: (1) is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition; and (2) either the prevalence of such condition must not be more than five in 10,000 persons in the EU when the application is made, or without the benefits derived from orphan status, it must be unlikely that the marketing of the medicine would generate sufficient return in the EU to justify the investment needed for its development; and (3) there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of such condition authorized for marketing in the EU or if such a method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by the condition, as defined in Regulation (EC) 847/2000. Products receiving orphan designation in the EU may receive 10 years of orphan market exclusivity, which can be further extended by two years if pediatric studies have been conducted in accordance with an agreed pediatric investigational plan. Applications must first satisfy the orphan designation criteria and apply for orphan designation before making the application for marketing authorization. The applicant must then successfully maintain the orphan designation at the time of the marketing authorization application in order to qualify for 10 years of orphan market exclusivity. During this 10-year period, the competent authorities of the EU Member States and European Commission may not accept applications or grant marketing authorization for other similar medicinal products for the same orphan therapeutic indication. The protection afforded by orphan market exclusivity in the EU may, in some circumstances, be circumvented by competitor products which are demonstrated not to be "similar" or which are authorized for different therapeutic indications. There may be a risk that products may be prescribed "off-label" for the orphan therapeutic indication by healthcare professions in some EU Member States. There are also three exceptions to the orphan market exclusivity principle. Marketing authorization may be granted to a similar medicinal product for the same orphan therapeutic indication if: - The second applicant can establish in its application that its medicinal product, although similar to the orphan medicinal product already authorized, is safer, more effective, or otherwise clinically superior;- The holder of the marketing authorization for the original orphan medicinal product consents to a second orphan medicinal product application; or - The holder of the marketing authorization for the original orphan medicinal product cannot supply sufficient quantities of orphan medicinal product. An orphan product can also obtain an additional two years of orphan market exclusivity in the EU if the marketing authorization application contains the results of all pediatric studies conducted in accordance with and agreed pediatric investigation plan. The 10-year market exclusivity may be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria for orphan designation (e.g., the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity). The UK's regulatory legal framework provides for similar periods of protection, namely regulatory data protection, marketing protection and market exclusivity. It is important to note that the regulatory protection afforded to medicinal product such as data exclusivity, marketing protection, market exclusivity for orphan indications, and pediatric extension are currently under review at EU level. It is expected that the protection currently afforded in the EU will be reduced in the years to come. Competition that our product candidates may face from generic versions of our product candidates could materially and adversely impact our future revenue, profitability, and cash flows and could substantially limit our ability to obtain a return on the investments we have made in those product candidates. Our future revenue, profitability, and cash flows could also be materially and adversely affected and our ability to obtain a return on the investments we have made in those product candidates may be substantially limited if our product candidates, if and when approved, are not afforded the appropriate periods of non-patent exclusivity.

The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including budget and funding levels; ability to hire and retain key personnel; and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable. The ability of the FDA and other government agencies to properly administer their functions is highly dependent on the levels of government funding and the ability to fill key leadership appointments, among various factors. Delays in filling or replacing key positions could significantly impact the ability of the FDA and other agencies to fulfill their functions and could greatly impact healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. In December 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act was signed into law, and was designed to advance medical innovation and empower the FDA with the authority to directly hire positions related to drug and device development and review. In the past, the FDA was often unable to offer key leadership candidates (including scientists) competitive compensation packages as compared to those offered by private industry. The 21st Century Cures Act was designed to streamline the agency's hiring process and enable the FDA to compete for leadership talent by expanding the narrow ranges that are provided in the existing compensation structures. Disruptions at the FDA and other governmental agencies may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our operating results and business.

From time to time, we may become involved in various litigation matters and claims, including regulatory proceedings, administrative proceedings, governmental investigations, and contract disputes. We may face potential claims or liability for, among other things, breach of contract, defamation, libel, fraud, or negligence. We may also face employment-related litigation, including claims of age discrimination, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, immigration violations, or other local, state, and federal labor law violations. Because of the uncertain nature of litigation and insurance coverage decisions, the outcome of such actions and proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of them could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and the trading price of our securities. In addition, legal fees and costs associated with prosecuting and defending litigation matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and the trading price of our securities.

The process of manufacturing our products is complex, highly regulated, and subject to several risks, including: - The manufacturing of compounds is extremely susceptible to product loss due to contamination, equipment failure, improper installation or operation of equipment, or vendor or operator error. Even minor deviations from normal manufacturing processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects, and other supply disruptions. If microbial, viral, or other contaminations are discovered in our products or in the manufacturing facilities in which our products are made, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. - The manufacturing facilities in which our products are made could be adversely affected by equipment failures, labor shortages, natural disasters, power failures, and numerous other factors. - We and our contract manufacturers must comply with the cGMP regulations and guidelines. We and our contract manufacturers may encounter difficulties in achieving quality control and quality assurance and may experience shortages in qualified personnel. We and our contract manufacturers are subject to inspections by the FDA and comparable agencies in other jurisdictions to confirm compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Any failure to follow cGMP or other regulatory requirements or any delay, interruption, or other issues that arise in the manufacture, fill-finish, packaging, or storage of our products as a result of a failure of our facilities or the facilities or operations of third parties to comply with regulatory requirements or pass any regulatory authority inspection could significantly impair our ability to develop and commercialize our products, including leading to significant delays in the availability of products for our clinical trials, the termination or hold on a clinical trial, or the delay or prevention of a filing or approval of marketing applications for our product candidates. Significant noncompliance could also result in the imposition of sanctions, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, failure of regulatory authorities to grant marketing approvals for our product candidates, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of products, operating restrictions, and criminal prosecutions, any of which could damage our reputation or impair our ability to develop and commercialize our products. If we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may not be permitted to market our products and/or may be subject to product recalls, seizures, injunctions, or criminal prosecution. In order to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates, we will need to manufacture them in large quantities. Quality issues may arise during scale-up activities. Our reliance on a limited number of Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs), the complexity of drug manufacturing and the difficulty of scaling up a manufacturing process could cause the delay of clinical trials, regulatory submissions, required approvals or commercialization of our product candidates, and cause us to incur higher costs and prevent us from commercializing our product candidates successfully. Furthermore, if our CMOs fail to deliver the required commercial quality and quantities of materials on a timely basis and at commercially reasonable prices, and we are unable to secure one or more replacement CMOs capable of production in a timely manner at a substantially equivalent cost, then testing and clinical trials of that product candidate may be delayed or infeasible, and regulatory approval or commercial launch of any resulting product may be delayed or not obtained, which could significantly harm our business. In addition, failure of CMOs to comply with regulatory and quality requirements could delay manufacturing or the review of our marketing applications. Any adverse developments affecting manufacturing operations for our products, including public health epidemics or pandemics or responses taken thereto, may result in shipment delays; inventory shortages; lot failures; product withdrawals, recalls, approvals; or other interruptions in the supply of our products. We may also have to account for inventory write-offs and incur other charges and expenses for products that fail to meet specifications, undertake costly remediation efforts, or seek more costly manufacturing alternatives.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, vendors, principal investigators, CROs and consultants may engage in fraudulent conduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include: - intentional, reckless, or negligent conduct or disclosure to us of unauthorized activities that violate the regulations of the FDA or similar foreign regulatory authorities;- healthcare fraud and abuse in violation of U.S. and foreign laws and regulations;- violations of U.S. federal securities laws relating to trading in our common stock; and - failures to report financial information or data accurately. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations govern a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. While we have adopted a code of conduct and implemented other internal controls applicable to all our employees, it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person could allege 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 or cause reputational harm, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, and damages; possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs; and diminished profits and future earnings. In addition, during the course of our operations, our directors, executives, employees, consultants, and other third parties may have access to material nonpublic information regarding our business, our results of operations, or potential transactions we are considering. We may not be able to prevent trading in our common stock on the basis of, or while having access to, material nonpublic information. If any such person was to be investigated or an action were to be brought against them for insider trading, it could have a negative impact on our reputation and our stock price. Such a claim, with or without merit, could also result in substantial expenditures of time and money, and divert attention of our management team from other tasks important to the success of our business.

As of September 30, 2024, we had only 9 full-time employees and, as a result, we rely, and expect to continue to rely, on outsourcing arrangements for a significant portion of our activities, including clinical research, data collection and analysis, manufacturing, commercial readiness preparations, financial reporting and accounting, and human resources, as well as for certain functions required of publicly traded companies. We may have limited control over third parties and we cannot guarantee that any third-party will perform its obligations in an effective and timely manner. In addition, during challenging and uncertain economic environments, in tight credit markets and during public health epidemics, and with the continued hostilities in Ukraine and Israel and the surrounding areas, there may be a disruption or delay in the performance of our third-party contractors, suppliers, or partners. If such third parties are unable to satisfy their commitments to us, our business and results of operations would be adversely affected.

We are dependent in large part on regulatory approval and successful commercialization of reproxalap for our future business success. There is a significant risk that we will fail to successfully obtain marketing approval and/or we or our partners will fail to successfully commercialize reproxalap. Of the large number of drugs in development in the pharmaceutical industry, only a small percentage result in the submission of an NDA to the FDA, and even fewer are approved for commercialization. Prior to and following potential NDA approval, we will invest a significant portion of our time and financial resources on the commercialization of reproxalap. We cannot accurately predict when or if reproxalap will receive marketing approval. Our ability to generate product revenue will depend on our obtaining marketing approval for, and commercializing reproxalap alone or with others. The future regulatory and commercial success of reproxalap and our other product candidates is subject to a number of risks, including the following: - obtaining marketing approval for reproxalap or any other product candidates;- our ability to negotiate and enter into a collaboration agreement with a suitable third party on acceptable terms for the commercialization of reproxalap;- manufacturing at commercial scale, marketing, selling and distributing those products for which we obtain marketing approval;- hiring and building a full commercial organization required for the marketing, selling and distributing for those products which we obtain marketing approval;- achieving an adequate level of market acceptance of and obtaining and maintaining coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors for any products we commercialize;- obtaining, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights;- we may not be able to provide sufficient evidence of safety and efficacy to obtain regulatory approval;- the FDA, or comparable foreign regulatory bodies, may implement new standards, or change the interpretation of existing standards or requirements for the regulatory approval, in general or with respect to the indications for which we seek approval;- the FDA, or comparable foreign bodies, may require additional clinical data, as was the case with the reproxalap Complete Response Letter;- we may not have sufficient financial and other resources to pursue our business plans, complete necessary clinical trials of our product candidates and commercialize our approved products, if any;- if approved, reproxalap and our other product candidates will compete with well-established and other products or therapeutic options already approved for marketing by the FDA, or comparable foreign regulatory bodies;- competitive products may be more effectively or comprehensively marketed to physicians or patients, or contracted with payors more successfully;- the results of our clinical trials may not meet the endpoints, or level of statistical or clinical significance required by the FDA, or comparable foreign regulatory bodies, for marketing approval;- the safety and efficacy results of our later phase or larger clinical trials may not confirm the results of our earlier trials;- patients in our clinical trials may demonstrate greater response rates or improvements from vehicle or in the non-treatment arm then was expected when designing and powering our clinical trials;- there may be variability in patients, adjustments to clinical trial procedures, and inclusion of additional clinical trial sites;- the initial parts of adaptive clinical trials are not designed to be pivotal or definitive, and as such we may not satisfy the designated endpoints and may need to revise the design or endpoints to achieve success in later parts of the trial or potentially abandon the trial;- we may not be able to timely or adequately finalize the design or formulation of any product candidate or demonstrate that a formulation of our product candidate will be stable for commercially reasonable time periods;- we may be adversely affected by legislative or regulatory reform of the health care system in the United States or other jurisdictions in which we may do business; and - we may not be able to obtain, maintain, or enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights. Furthermore, even if we do receive regulatory approval to market reproxalap or any of our other product candidates, any such approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which we may market the product. Accordingly, even if we are able to obtain the requisite financing to commercialize our product candidates or continue to fund our development programs, we cannot assure that reproxalap will be successfully commercialized, or our other product candidates will be successfully developed or commercialized. If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval for or, if approved, we or any of our future partners are unable to successfully commercialize reproxalap, and our other product candidates, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business.

We have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome many of the pre-commercial and commercial risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields, particularly in the biopharmaceutical area. For example, to execute our business plan we will need to successfully: - execute our product candidate development activities, including successfully designing and completing our clinical trial programs and product design and formulation of future product candidates, in a cost- effective manner;- file for and obtain required regulatory approvals for our product candidates;- enter into a collaboration agreement with a suitable third party on acceptable terms for the commercialization of reproxalap;- manage our spending as costs and expenses increase due to the performance and completion of clinical trials, attempting to obtain regulatory approvals, manufacturing, and commercialization;- secure substantial additional funding;- develop and maintain successful strategic relationships;- build and maintain a strong intellectual property portfolio;- build and maintain appropriate clinical, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, compliance, sales, distribution, and marketing capabilities on our own or through third parties;- implement and maintain operational, financial, and management systems;- price our product candidates, if approved, at expected levels and obtain and maintain sufficient insurance and reimbursement from insurers and other payors; and - gain broad market acceptance for our product candidates. If we are unsuccessful in accomplishing these objectives, we may not be able to develop product candidates, raise capital, expand our business, or continue our operations. Further, even if we are successful in clinical trials of product candidates, we may choose to place further development or commercialization on hold given perceived marketing challenges or the relative differences in commercial attractiveness within our portfolio.