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Cell Source Inc (CLCS)
OTHER OTC:CLCS
US Market

Cell Source (CLCS) Risk Analysis

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Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

Cell Source disclosed 48 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Cell Source reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.

Risk Overview Q3, 2024

Risk Distribution
48Risks
42% Finance & Corporate
27% Tech & Innovation
19% Legal & Regulatory
6% Production
4% Macro & Political
2% Ability to Sell
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

2022
Q4
S&P500 Average
Sector Average
Risks removed
Risks added
Risks changed
Cell Source Risk Factors
New Risk (0)
Risk Changed (0)
Risk Removed (0)
No changes from previous report
The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q3, 2024

Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 20 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 20 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
48
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
48
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
0Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Sep 2024
0Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Sep 2024
Number of Risk Changed
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
See the risk highlights of Cell Source in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 48

Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 20/48 (42%)Above Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights10 | 20.8%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
There may be additional issuances of shares of preferred stock in the future.
Our Articles of Incorporation permit us to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock and our board of directors has authorized 1,350,000 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred, 2,000,000 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred, and 1,000,000 shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock, for issuance. Our board of directors could authorize the issuance of additional series of preferred stock in the future and such preferred stock could grant holders preferred rights on parity with the Series A Preferred and Series C Preferred as to dividend payments and liquidation preference. The issuances of other series of preferred stock could have the effect of reducing the amounts available to the holders Series A Preferred and Series C Preferred in the event of our liquidation, winding-up or dissolution. It may also reduce cash dividend payments on the Series A Preferred if we do not have sufficient funds to pay dividends on all Series A Preferred outstanding and outstanding parity preferred stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
Our articles of incorporation allow for our board to create a new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our Common Stock.
Our Board of Directors has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Our Board of Directors have the authority to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of our preferred stock, the terms of which may be determined by the Board without further stockholder approval. As a result, our Board of Directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that would grant to holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of Common Stock and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our Common Stock. In addition, our Board of Directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our Common Stock or that is convertible into our Common Stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our Common Stock or result in dilution to our existing stockholders.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
There is not an active liquid trading market for the Company's Common Stock.
The Company is required to report under the Exchange Act and its Common Stock is eligible for quotation on the OTC Markets Expert Market. Quotations in Expert Market securities are restricted from public viewing. In addition, there is no regular active trading market in the Company's Common Stock, and we cannot give an assurance that an active trading market will develop. If an active market for the Company's Common Stock develops,- variations in our quarterly operating results;         - announcements that our revenue or income are below analysts' expectations;         - general economic slowdowns;         - sales of large blocks of the Company's Common Stock; and         - announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
Our Common Stock is subject to the "penny stock" rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which may make it more difficult for stockholders to sell our Common Stock.
The SEC has adopted Rule 15g-9 which establishes the definition of a "penny stock," for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require that a broker or dealer approve a person's account for transactions in penny stocks, and the broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to be purchased. In order to approve a person's account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must obtain financial information and investment experience objectives of the person, and make a reasonable determination that the transactions in penny stocks are suitable for that person and the person has sufficient knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of transactions in penny stocks. The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the SEC relating to the penny stock market, which, in highlight form sets forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability determination, and that the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the investor prior to the transaction. Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the "penny stock" rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose of the Company's Common Stock if and when such shares are eligible for sale and may cause a decline in the market value of its stock. Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
Voting power of our shareholders is highly concentrated by insiders.
Our officers, directors and affiliates currently own or have rights to acquires shares of common stock and preferred stock representing approximately 28% of the voting power of our outstanding securities. Such concentrated control of the Company may adversely affect the value of our shares of common stock. If you acquire shares of our common stock, you may have no effective voice in our management. Sales by our insiders or affiliates, along with any other market transactions, could affect the value of our ordinary shares.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
We are required to comply with certain provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and if we fail to comply in a timely manner, our business could be harmed and our stock price could decline.
Rules adopted by the SEC pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 require an annual assessment of internal controls over financial reporting, and for certain issuers an attestation of this assessment by the issuer's independent registered public accounting firm. The standards that must be met for management to assess the internal controls over financial reporting as effective are evolving and complex, and require significant documentation, testing, and possible remediation to meet the detailed standards. We expect to incur significant expenses and to devote resources to Section 404 compliance on an ongoing basis. It is difficult for us to predict how long it will take or how costly it will be to complete the assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for each year and to remediate any deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. As a result, we may not be able to complete the assessment and remediation process on a timely basis. In addition, although attestation requirements by our independent registered public accounting firm are not presently applicable to us, we could become subject to these requirements in the future and we may encounter problems or delays in completing the implementation of any resulting changes to internal controls over financial reporting. In the event that our principal executive and financial officer determines that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective as defined under Section 404, we cannot predict how regulators will react or how the market prices of our shares will be affected; however, we believe that there is a risk that investor confidence and share value may be negatively affected.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
As an issuer of "penny stock," the protection provided by the federal securities laws relating to forward looking statements does not apply to us.
Although federal securities laws provide a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by a public company that files reports under the federal securities laws, this safe harbor is not available to issuers of penny stocks. As a result, we will not have the benefit of this safe harbor protection in the event of any legal action based upon a claim that the material provided by us contained a material misstatement of fact or was misleading in any material respect because of our failure to include any statements necessary to make the statements not misleading. Such an action could hurt our financial condition.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
Our issuance of Common Stock upon exercise of warrants or options may depress the price of our Common Stock.
As of December 31, 2023, we had 39,830,802 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding and outstanding warrants to purchase 15,438,607 shares of Common Stock. The issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of outstanding warrants or options could result in substantial dilution to our stockholders, which may have a negative effect on the price of our Common Stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
Our stock price may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, resulting in substantial losses for investors.
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are related in complex ways. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including the factors listed below and other factors describe in this "Risk Factors" section: - the commencement, enrollment, or results of current and future preclinical studies and clinical trials and trials we may conduct, or changes in the development status of our product candidates;         - any delay in our regulatory filings for our product candidates and any adverse development or perceived adverse development with respect to the applicable regulatory authority's review of such filings, including, without limitation, the issuance by the FDA of a "refusal to file" letter or a request for additional information;         - adverse results or delays in clinical trials;         - our decision to initiate a preclinical study or clinical trial, not to initiate a preclinical study or clinical trial or to terminate an existing preclinical study or clinical trial;         - adverse actions taken by regulatory agencies with respect to our preclinical studies or clinical trials, manufacturing supply chain or sales and marketing activities, including failure to receive regulatory approval of our product candidates;         - changes in laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, preclinical study or clinical trial requirements for approvals;         - any adverse changes to our relationship with manufacturers or suppliers;         - manufacturing, supply or distribution shortages;         - our failure to commercialize our product candidates;         - changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;         - additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel;         - unanticipated serious safety concerns related to the use of our product candidates;         - disputes or other developments relating to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters, and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies;         - variations in our results of operations;         - our cash position;         - our failure to meet the estimates and projections of the investment community or that we may otherwise provide to the public;- publication of research reports about us or our industry, or in vivo and ex vivo cell engineering products in particular, or positive or negative recommendations or withdrawal of research coverage by securities analysts;         - announcements made by us or our competitors of new product and service offerings, acquisitions, strategic relationships, joint ventures, or capital commitments;         - our inability to establish collaborations, if needed;         - our ability to effectively manage our growth;         - the size and growth of our initial target markets;         - changes in the market valuations of similar companies;         - press reports, whether or not true, about our business;         - sales or perceived potential sales of our common stock by us or our stockholders in the future;         - overall fluctuations in the equity markets;         - ineffectiveness of our internal controls;         - changes in accounting practices or principles;         - changes or developments in the global regulatory environment;         - litigation involving us, our industry or both, or investigations by regulators into our operations or those of our competitors;         - general political and economic conditions; and         - other events or factors, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, the stock market in general and biopharmaceutical companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. If the market price of our common stock after this offering does not exceed the initial public offering price, you may not realize any return on, and may lose some or all of, your investment.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10
If we take advantage of specified reduced disclosure requirements applicable to a "smaller reporting company", the information that we provide to stockholders may be different than they might receive from other public companies.
As a company with less than $100 million in revenue during our last fiscal year and a public float of less than $250 million, we qualify as a "smaller reporting company". As a smaller reporting company, we may take advantage of specified reduced disclosure and other requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include: - Only two years of audited financial statements in addition to any required unaudited interim financial statements with correspondingly reduced "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" disclosure;         - Reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements;         - Exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. As a result of our status as a "smaller reporting company," the information that we provide stockholders may be different than you might get from other public companies in which you hold stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations5 | 10.4%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, as modified by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability Act, or CARES Act, our federal net operating losses, or NOLs, generated in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such federal NOLs in tax years beginning after December 31, 2020, is limited to 80% of taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the CARES Act. In addition. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an "ownership change," generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period, the corporation's ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research and development tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. Shifts in our stock ownership (some of which are outside our control). As a result, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs and tax credits to offset post-change taxable income, if any, could be subject to limitations. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
If we fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, the price of our common stock may be adversely affected.
In the past, our management identified weaknesses in our internal controls and although our management believes such weaknesses have been remediated, our internal control over financial reporting may still or could in the future have weaknesses and conditions that could require correction or remediation, the disclosure of which may have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock. We are required to establish and maintain appropriate internal controls over financial reporting. Failure to establish those controls, or any failure of those controls once established, could adversely affect our public disclosures regarding our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, management's assessment of internal controls over financial reporting may identify weaknesses and conditions that need to be addressed in our internal controls over financial reporting or other matters that may raise concerns for investors. Any actual or perceived weaknesses and conditions that need to be addressed in our internal control over financial reporting or disclosure of management's assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting may have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly or may fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, each of which may cause our stock price to fluctuate or decline.
We expect our operating results to be subject to quarterly fluctuations. Our net loss and other operating results will be affected by numerous factors, including: - timing and variations in the level of expense related to the current or future development of our programs;         - timing and status of enrollment for our clinical trials;         - results of clinical trials, or the addition or termination of clinical trials or funding support by us or potential future partners;         - our execution of any collaboration, licensing or similar arrangements, and the timing of payments we may make or receive under potential future arrangements or the termination or modification of any such potential future arrangements;- any intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or violation lawsuit or opposition, interference or cancellation proceeding in which we may become involved;         - additions and departures of key personnel;         - strategic decisions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, joint ventures, strategic investments or changes in business strategy;         - if any product candidate we may develop receive regulatory approval, the timing and terms of such approval and market acceptance and demand for such product candidates;         - the timing and cost to establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval and intend to commercialize on our own or jointly with current or future collaborators;         - regulatory developments affecting current or future product candidates or those of our competitors;         - the amount of expense or gain associated with the change in value of the success payments and contingent consideration; and         - changes in general market and economic conditions. If our quarterly operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Furthermore, any quarterly fluctuations in our operating results may, in turn, cause the price of our stock to fluctuate substantially. We believe that quarterly comparisons of our financial results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
We do not intend to pay dividends to holders of Common Stock for the foreseeable future.
We have paid no dividends on our Common Stock to date and it is not anticipated that any dividends will be paid to holders of our Common Stock in the foreseeable future. While our future dividend policy will be based on the operating results and capital needs of the business, it is currently anticipated that any earnings will be retained to finance our future expansion and for the implementation of our business plan. As an investor, you should take note of the fact that a lack of a dividend can further affect the market value of our stock and could significantly affect the value of any investment in our Company.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5
We have a limited operating history and a history of operating losses and expect to incur significant additional operating losses.
Our planned principal operations are the development and commercialization of new cell therapy products focused on treatment of blood cancers, certain non-malignant disorders and organ transplantations. We are currently conducting research and development activities in order to facilitate the continued transition of the patented technology we license from the laboratory to clinical trials. We have a limited operating history. Therefore, there is limited historical financial information upon which to base an evaluation of our performance. Our prospects must be considered in light of the uncertainties, risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in their early stages of operations. We have generated net losses since we began operations, including net losses of $5,321,212 and $5,167,748 for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We expect to incur substantial additional net expenses over the next several years as our research, development, and commercial activities increase. The amount of future losses and when, if ever, we will achieve profitability are uncertain. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability will depend on, among other things, successful completion of the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates; obtaining necessary regulatory approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA") and international regulatory agencies; successful manufacturing, sales, and marketing arrangements; and raising sufficient funds to finance our activities. If we are unsuccessful at some or all of these undertakings, our business, prospects, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Debt & Financing2 | 4.2%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
We will need to secure additional financing.
We anticipate that we will incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. As of December 31, 2023, we had cash in the amount of $22,203. Based on our current resources, we will not be able to continue to operate without additional immediate funding. If we are not successful in securing additional financing, we may be required to delay significantly, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our research or development programs, downsize our general and administrative infrastructure, or seek alternative measures to avoid insolvency, including arrangements with collaborative partners or others that may require us to relinquish rights to certain of our technologies, product candidates or products. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including: - the scope, timing, progress, costs, and results of discovery, preclinical development, and clinical trials for our current or future product candidates;         - the number of clinical trials required for regulatory approval of our current or future product candidates;         - the costs, timing, and outcome of regulatory review of any of our current or future product candidates;         - the cost of manufacturing clinical and commercial supplies of our current or future product candidates;         - the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;         - the costs and timing of preparing, filing, and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights, and defending any intellectual property-related claims, including any claims by third parties that we are infringing upon their intellectual property rights;         - our ability to maintain existing, and establish new, strategic collaborations, licensing, or other arrangements and the financial terms of any such agreements, including the timing and amount of any future milestone, royalty, or other payments due under any such agreement;         - the revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;         - expenses to attract, hire, and retain skilled personnel;         - the costs of operating as a public company;         - our ability to establish a commercially viable pricing structure and obtain approval for coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party and government payers;         - the effect of competing technological and market developments; and         - the extent to which we acquire or invest in businesses, products, and technologies. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend on financial, economic, political and market conditions and other factors, over which we may have no or limited control. Market volatility resulting other factors could also adversely impact our ability to access capital as and when needed. Additional funds may not be available when we need them, on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis, we could be required to: - delay, limit, reduce, or terminate preclinical studies, clinical trials, or other research and development activities, or eliminate one or more of our development programs altogether; and         - delay, limit, reduce, or terminate our efforts to access manufacturing capacity, establish sales and marketing capabilities or other activities that may be necessary to commercialize our product candidates, or reduce our flexibility in developing or maintaining our sales and marketing strategy.
Debt & Financing - Risk 2
We are in default of payment obligations under certain promissory notes.
As of December 31, 2023 and through the date of this filing, notes payable with principal amounts totaling $1,876,093 and $1,906,093, respectively, were past due. Although only one holder of a note with the principal amount of $250,000 has elected to pursue remedies against us, no assurance can be given that the other holders will not do so in the future. The institution of collection actions could have a material adverse effect on our business and could force us to seek relief through insolvency or other proceedings.
Corporate Activity and Growth3 | 6.3%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
As of December 31, 2023, we had a working capital deficit and accumulated deficit of $15,611,543 and $41,667,388, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we incurred a net loss of $5,321,212. We have historically incurred operating losses and may continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. We believe that these conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year from the date these financial statements are issued. This may hinder our future ability to obtain financing or may force us to obtain financing on less favorable terms than would otherwise be available. We have not generated revenues to-date. Our primary source of operating funds since inception has been equity and debt financings. Our plans include continued efforts to raise additional capital through debt and equity financings. There is no assurance that these funds will be sufficient to enable us to fully complete our development activities or attain profitable operations. If we are unable to obtain such additional financing on a timely basis or, notwithstanding any request we may make, if our debt holders do not agree to convert their notes into equity or extend the maturity dates of their notes, we may have to curtail our development, marketing and promotional activities, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and ultimately we could be forced to discontinue our operations and liquidate. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue as a going concern.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
We are an early-stage company with an unproven business strategy and may never achieve commercialization of our candidate products or profitability.
We are at an early stage of development and commercialization of our technologies and product candidates. We have not yet begun to market any products and, accordingly, have not begun to generate revenues from the commercialization of our products. Our products will require significant additional clinical testing and investment prior to commercialization. A commitment of substantial resources by ourselves and, potentially, our partners to conduct time-consuming research and clinical trials will be required if we are to complete the development of our product candidates. There can be no assurance that any of our product candidates will meet applicable regulatory standards, obtain required regulatory approvals, be capable of being produced in commercial quantities at reasonable costs or be successfully marketed. Most of our product candidates are not expected to be commercially available for several years, if at all.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3
We may not be able to attract the attention of brokerage firms because we became a public company by means of a reverse acquisition.
Because we became public through a "reverse acquisition," securities analysts of brokerage firms may not provide coverage of us since there is little incentive to brokerage firms to recommend the purchase of our Common Stock. No assurance can be given that brokerage firms will want to conduct any secondary offerings on behalf of the Company in the future.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 13/48 (27%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D10 | 20.8%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
We may in the future conduct clinical trials for our products or product candidates outside the United States and the FDA may not accept data from such trials.
We may in the future choose to conduct one or more of our clinical trials outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of such study data by the FDA is subject to certain conditions. For example, the study must be well designed and conducted and performed by qualified investigators in accordance with ethical principles. The study population must also adequately represent the U.S. population, and the data must be applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice in ways that the FDA deems clinically meaningful. Generally, the patient population for any clinical studies conducted outside of the United States must be representative of the population for whom we intend to label the product in the United States. In addition, such studies would be subject to the applicable local laws and FDA acceptance of the data would be dependent upon its determination that the studies also complied with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. There can be no assurance the FDA will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept any such data, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time consuming and delay aspects of our business plan. Potential disruptions to our preclinical development efforts include, but are not limited to: - delays or disruptions in preclinical experiments and IND-enabling studies due to restrictions of on-site staff, limited or no access to animal facilities, and unforeseen circumstances at contract research organizations (CROs) and vendors;         - limitations on employee or other resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our preclinical work and any clinical trials we subsequently commence, including because of sickness of employees or their families, the desire of employees to avoid travel or contact with large groups of people, an increased reliance on working from home, school closures, or mass transit disruptions;         - delays in necessary interactions with regulators, ethics committees, and other important agencies and contractors due to limitations in employee resources or forced furlough of government or contractor personnel; and         - limitations in maintaining our corporate culture that facilitates the transfer of institutional knowledge within our organization and fosters innovation, teamwork, and a focus on execution.         - interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site data monitoring and efficacy, safety and translational data collection, processing and analyses, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal, state, or local governments, employers and others or interruption of clinical trial subject visits, which may impact the collection and integrity of subject data and clinical study endpoints;- delays or difficulties in initiating or expanding clinical trials, including delays or difficulties with clinical site initiation and recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;         - delays or difficulties in enrolling and retaining patients in our clinical trials;         - interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of our product candidates from our contract manufacturing organizations due to staffing shortages, production slowdowns, or stoppages and disruptions in materials and reagents;         - diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;         - interruption or delays in the operations of the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory agencies;         - delays in receiving approval from local regulatory authorities to initiate our planned clinical trials;         - limitations on employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people;         - interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of our product candidates from our contract manufacturing organizations due to staffing shortages, production slowdowns or stoppages and disruptions in delivery systems;         - refusal of the FDA or comparable regulatory authorities to accept data from clinical trials in affected geographies; and Future developments in these and other areas present material uncertainty and risk with respect to our clinical trials, business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 2
If we are unable to keep up with rapid technological changes in our field or compete effectively, we will be unable to operate profitably.
We are engaged in a rapidly changing field. Other products and therapies that will compete directly with the products that we are seeking to develop and market currently exist or are being developed. Competition from fully integrated pharmaceutical companies and more established biotechnology companies is intense and is expected to increase. Most of these companies have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in discovery and development, manufacturing, preclinical and clinical testing, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing than us. Smaller companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large pharmaceutical and established biopharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. Many of these competitors have significant products that have been approved or are in development and operate large, well-funded discovery and development programs. Academic institutions, governmental agencies and other public and private research organizations also conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for therapeutic products and clinical development and marketing. These companies and institutions compete with us in recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientific and management personnel. In addition to the above factors, we will face competition based on product efficacy and safety, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals, availability of supply, marketing and sales capability, reimbursement coverage, price and patent position. There is no assurance that our competitors will not develop more effective or more affordable products, or achieve earlier patent protection or product commercialization, than our own. Other companies may succeed in developing products earlier than ourselves, obtaining Health Canada, European Medicines Agency (the "EMA") and FDA approvals for such products more rapidly than we will, or in developing products that are more effective than products we propose to develop. While we will seek to expand our technological capabilities in order to remain competitive, there can be no assurance that research and development by others will not render our technology or products obsolete or non-competitive or result in treatments or cures superior to any therapy we develop, or that any therapy we develop will be preferred to any existing or newly developed technologies.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 3
Our clinical trials may fail to demonstrate substantial evidence of the safety and efficacy of our product candidates or any future product candidates, which would prevent or delay or limit the scope of regulatory approval and commercialization.
To obtain the requisite regulatory approvals to market and sell any of our product candidates and any other future product candidates, we must demonstrate through clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective for use in each targeted indication. Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical development process. Most product candidates that begin clinical trials are never approved by regulatory authorities for commercialization. We may be unable to establish clinical endpoints that applicable regulatory authorities would consider clinically meaningful, and a clinical trial can fail at any stage of testing. Further, the process of obtaining regulatory approval is expensive, often takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials, and can vary substantially based upon the type, complexity, and novelty of the product candidates involved, as well as the target indications, patient population, and regulatory agency. Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize our product candidates and any future product candidates in the United States or abroad, we or our potential future collaborators must demonstrate with substantial evidence from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, that such product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. Clinical trials that we conduct may not demonstrate the efficacy and safety necessary to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates. In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety or efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations, changes in and adherence to the clinical trial protocols, and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. If the results of our ongoing or future clinical trials are inconclusive with respect to the efficacy of our product candidates, if we do not meet the clinical endpoints with statistical and clinically meaningful significance, or if there are safety concerns associated with our product candidates, we may be delayed in obtaining marketing approval, if at all. Additionally, any safety concerns observed in any one of our clinical trials in our targeted indications could limit the prospects for regulatory approval of our product candidates in those and other indications. Even if the trials are successfully completed, clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and we cannot guarantee that the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities will interpret the results as we do, and more trials could be required before we submit our product candidates for approval. We cannot guarantee that the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities will view our product candidates as having efficacy even if positive results are observed in clinical trials. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not agree with our manufacturing strategy or find comparability between our clinical trial product candidates and proposed commercial product candidates even if positive results are observed in clinical trials, which may result in regulatory delays or a need to perform additional clinical studies. Moreover, results acceptable to support approval in one jurisdiction may be deemed inadequate by another regulatory authority to support regulatory approval in that other jurisdiction. To the extent that the results of the trials are not satisfactory to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for support of a marketing application, approval of our product candidates and any future product candidates may be significantly delayed, or we may be required to expend significant additional resources, which may not be available to us, to conduct additional trials in support of potential approval of our product candidates. Even if regulatory approval is secured for a product candidate, the terms of such approval may limit the scope and use of the specific product candidate, which may also limit its commercial potential.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 4
Preclinical studies and Phase 1 or 2 clinical trials of our product candidates may not predict the results of subsequent human clinical trials.
Preclinical studies, including studies of our product candidates in animal models, may not accurately predict the result of human clinical trials of those product candidates. In particular, promising animal studies suggesting the efficacy of our products may not predict the ability of these products to treat humans. Our technology may be found not to be efficacious when studied in human clinical trials. To satisfy FDA or foreign regulatory approval standards for the commercial sale of our product candidates, we must demonstrate in adequate and controlled clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective. Success in early clinical trials, including Phase 2 trials, does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful. Our initial results from Phase ½ clinical trials also may not be confirmed by later analysis or subsequent larger clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after obtaining promising results in earlier clinical trials.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 5
Our product candidates must undergo rigorous clinical testing, the results of which are uncertain and could substantially delay or prevent us from bringing them to market.
Before we can obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, we must undertake extensive clinical testing in humans to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA or other regulatory agencies. Clinical trials of new drug candidates sufficient to obtain regulatory marketing approval are expensive and take years to complete. We cannot be certain of successfully completing clinical testing within the time frame we have planned, or at all. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent us from receiving regulatory approval or commercializing our product candidates, including the following: - our clinical trials may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical and/or preclinical testing or to abandon programs;         - the results obtained in earlier stage clinical testing may not be indicative of results in future clinical trials;         - clinical trial results may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or other regulatory agencies;         - enrollment in our clinical trials for our product candidates may be slower than we anticipate, resulting in significant delays and additional expense;         - we, or regulators, may suspend or terminate our clinical trials if the participating patients are being exposed to unacceptable health risks; and         - the effects of our product candidates on patients may not be the desired effects or may include undesirable side effects or other characteristics that may delay or preclude regulatory approval or limit their commercial use, if approved. Completion of clinical trials depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients, which is a function of many factors, including: - the therapeutic endpoints chosen for evaluation;         - the eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;         - the perceived benefit of the investigational drug under study;         - the size of the patient population required for analysis of the clinical trial's therapeutic endpoints;         - our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators and sites with the appropriate competencies and experience;         - our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and         - competition for patients by clinical trial programs for other treatments. We may experience difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials, which could increase the costs or affect the timing or outcome of these clinical trials. This is particularly true with respect to diseases with relatively small patient populations.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 6
Delays in our clinical trials could result in us not achieving anticipated developmental milestones when expected, increased costs and delay our ability to obtain regulatory approval and commercialize our product candidates.
Delays in our ability to commence or enroll patients for our clinical trials could result in us not meeting anticipated clinical milestones and could materially impact our product development costs and delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. We do not know whether planned clinical trials will be commenced or completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including: - delays in the development of manufacturing capabilities for our product candidates to enable their consistent production at clinical trial scale;         - delays in the commencement of clinical trials as a result of clinical trial holds or the need to obtain additional information to complete an Investigational New Drug Application (IND);         - delays in obtaining regulatory approval to commence new trials;         - adverse safety events experienced during our clinical trials;         - insufficient efficacy during trials leading to withdrawal of product candidate;         - delays in obtaining clinical materials;         - slower than expected patient recruitment for participation in clinical trials; and         - delays in reaching agreement on acceptable clinical trial agreement terms with prospective sites or obtaining institutional review board approval. If we do not successfully commence or complete our clinical trials on schedule, the price of our common stock may decline.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 7
We may be required to suspend or discontinue clinical trials due to unexpected side effects or other safety risks that could preclude approval of our product candidates.
Our clinical trials may be suspended at any time for a number of reasons. For example, we may voluntarily suspend or terminate our clinical trials if at any time we believe that they present an unacceptable risk to the clinical trial patients. In addition, the FDA or other regulatory agencies may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical trials at any time if they believe that the clinical trials are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements or that they present an unacceptable safety risk to the clinical trial patients. Administering any product candidate to humans may produce undesirable side effects. These side effects could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials of our product candidates and could result in the FDA or other regulatory authorities denying further development or approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Ultimately, some or all of our product candidates may prove to be unsafe for human use. Moreover, we could be subject to significant liability if any volunteer or patient suffers, or appears to suffer, adverse health effects as a result of participating in our clinical trials.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 8
Clinical trials for our product candidates are expensive and time consuming, and their outcome is uncertain.
The process of obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals for new therapeutic products is expensive, lengthy and uncertain. Costs and timing of clinical trials may vary significantly over the life of a project owing to any or all of the following non-exclusive reasons: - the duration of the clinical trial;         - the number of sites included in the trials;         - the countries in which the trial is conducted;         - the length of time required and ability to enroll eligible patients;         - the number of patients that participate in the trials;         - the number of doses that patients receive;         - the drop-out or discontinuation rates of patients;         - per patient trial costs;         - third party contractors failing to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner;         - our final product candidates having different properties in humans than in laboratory testing;         - the need to suspend or terminate our clinical trials;         - insufficient or inadequate supply of quality of necessary materials to conduct our trials;         - potential additional safety monitoring, or other conditions required by FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials, or other studies requested by regulatory agencies;         - problems engaging institutional review boards ("IRB") to oversee trials or in obtaining and maintaining IRB approval of studies;         - the duration of patient follow-up;         - the efficacy and safety profile of a product candidate;         - the costs and timing of obtaining regulatory approvals; and         - the costs involved in enforcing or defending patent claims or other intellectual property rights. Late-stage clinical trials are especially expensive, typically requiring tens of millions of dollars, and take years to reach their outcomes. Such outcomes often fail to reproduce the results of earlier trials. It is often necessary to conduct multiple late-stage trials, including multiple Phase 3 trials, in order to obtain sufficient results to support product approval, which further increases the expense. Sometimes trials are further complicated by changes in requirements while the trials are underway (for example, when the standard of care changes for the disease that is being studied in the trial). Accordingly, any of our current or future product candidates could take a significantly longer time to gain regulatory approval than we expect, or may never gain approval, either of which could delay or stop the commercialization of our product candidates.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 9
We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on research programs, therapeutic platforms, and product candidates that we identify for specific indications. Additionally, we have contractual commitments under our collaboration agreements to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop certain programs and, thus, do not have unilateral discretion to vary from such agreed to efforts. In addition, we have contractual commitments to conduct certain development plans, and thus may not have discretion to modify such development plans, including clinical trial designs, without agreement from our collaboration partners. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other therapeutic platforms or product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs, therapeutic platforms, and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing, or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 10
Interim, topline, or preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data becomes available or as we make changes to our manufacturing processes and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, topline, or preliminary data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations, and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. Further, modifications or improvements to our manufacturing processes for a therapy may result in changes to the characteristics or behavior of the product candidate that could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of our ongoing clinical trials. As a result, the topline results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, topline data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. From time to time, we may also disclose preliminary or interim data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials. Preliminary or interim data from clinical trials are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects. Additionally, disclosure of preliminary or interim data by us or by our competitors could result in volatility in the price of our common stock. Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions, or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate, and our company in general. If the interim, topline, or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, any of our potential product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects, or financial condition.
Trade Secrets3 | 6.3%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
Confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties may not prevent unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information.
In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we seek to rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce, and any other elements of our product candidates, technology and product discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information, or technology that is not covered by patents. Any disclosure, either intentional or unintentional, by our employees, the employees of third parties with whom we share our facilities or third-party consultants and vendors that we engage to perform research, clinical trials or manufacturing activities, or misappropriation by third parties (such as through a cybersecurity breach) of our trade secrets or proprietary information could enable competitors to duplicate or surpass our technological achievements, thus eroding our competitive position in our market. Because we expect to rely on third parties in the development and manufacture of our product candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.
Trade Secrets - Risk 2
We are dependent on protecting our proprietary rights.
Our success and competitive position and future overall revenues will depend in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection over the patents that we have an exclusive license to use for our product candidates, methods, process and other technologies to preserve our trade secrets, to prevent third parties from infringing on our proprietary rights and to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. Although our patents and related technologies are owned by Yeda, under our exclusive license agreement, we are required to pay all patent related expenses for applications, renewals, etc., as well as any and all legal or other costs associated with the defending and protecting such proprietary rights. However, we cannot predict: - the degree and range of protection any patents will afford us against competitors, including whether third parties will find ways to invalidate or otherwise circumvent the patents that we license;         - whether or not others will obtain patents claiming aspects similar to those covered by the patents that we license; or         - whether we will need to initiate litigation or administrative proceedings, which may be costly whether we win or lose. For a complete list of the patents that we license from Yeda, please see the section entitled "Science and Technology Overview" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We may be required to obtain licenses from third parties to avoid infringing patents or other proprietary rights. No assurance can be given that any licenses required under any such patents or proprietary rights would be made available, if at all, on terms we find acceptable. If we do not obtain such licenses, we could encounter delays in the introduction of products, or could find that the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring such licenses could be prohibited. A number of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and research and academic institutions have developed technologies, filed patent applications or received patents on various technologies that may be related to or affect our business. Some of these technologies, applications or patents may conflict with our technologies or patent applications. Such conflict could limit the scope of the patents, if any, that we may be able to obtain. Such conflict may also result in the denial of our patent applications. In addition, if patents that cover our activities are issued to other companies, there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain licenses to these patents at a reasonable cost or be able to develop or obtain alternative technology. If we do not obtain such licenses, we could encounter delays in the introduction of products, or could find that the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring such licenses could be prohibited. In addition, we could incur substantial costs in defending ourselves in suits brought against us on patents that our products might infringe or in filing suits against others to have such patents declared invalid. Patent applications in the U.S. are maintained in secrecy and not published if either: i) the application is a provisional application or, ii) the application is filed and we request no publication and certify that the invention disclosed "has not and will not" be the subject of a published foreign application. Otherwise, U.S. applications or foreign counterparts, if any, publish 18 months after the priority application has been filed. Since publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that we or any licensor were the first creator of inventions covered by pending patent applications or that we or such licensor was the first to file patent applications for such inventions. Moreover, we might have to participate in interference proceedings declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine priority of invention, which could result in substantial cost to us, even if the eventual outcome were favorable to us. There can be no assurance that our patents, if issued, would be held valid or enforceable by a court or that a competitor's technology or product would be found to infringe such patents. Much of our know-how and technology may not be patentable. To protect our rights, we require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. There can be no assurance, however, that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use or disclosure. Further, our business may be adversely affected by competitors who independently develop competing technologies, especially if we obtain no, or only narrow, patent protection.
Trade Secrets - Risk 3
We do not own any patents and rely on the patents we license from Yeda Research and Development Limited.
We do not currently own any patents and only have an exclusive worldwide license to certain intellectual property owned by Yeda pursuant to a license agreement between us and Yeda. Under the license agreement with Yeda, Yeda retains ownership of the licensed patents. If we were to default under the license agreement, then our rights to Yeda's intellectual property would be extinguished and we would lose all rights to operate the license. In such an event, we would effectively cease to operate unless we re-obtained licensing with Yeda.
Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 9/48 (19%)Below Sector Average
Regulation6 | 12.5%
Regulation - Risk 1
Regulatory approval of our product candidates may be withdrawn at any time.
After regulatory approval has been obtained for medicinal products, the product and the manufacturer are subject to continual review, including the review of adverse experiences and clinical results that are reported after our products are made available to patients, and there can be no assurance that such approval will not be withdrawn or restricted. Regulators may also subject approvals to restrictions or conditions or impose post-approval obligations on the holders of these approvals, and the regulatory status of such products may be jeopardized if such obligations are not fulfilled. If post-approval studies are required, such studies may involve significant time and expense. The manufacturer and manufacturing facilities we use to make any of our products will also be subject to periodic review and inspection by the FDA or EMA, as applicable. The discovery of any new or previously unknown problems with the product, manufacturer or facility may result in restrictions on the product or manufacturer or facility, including withdrawal of the product from the market. We will continue to be subject to the FDA or EMA requirements, as applicable, governing the labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, recordkeeping, and submission of safety and other post-market information for all of our product candidates, even those that the FDA or EMA, as applicable, had approved. If we fail to comply with applicable continuing regulatory requirements, we may be subject to fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approval, product recalls and seizures, operating restrictions and other adverse consequences.
Regulation - Risk 2
We may fail to comply with regulatory requirements.
Our success will be dependent upon our ability, and our collaborative partners' abilities, to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements, including cGMP, and safety reporting obligations. The failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in, among other things, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, total or partial suspension of regulatory approvals, refusal to approve pending applications, recalls or seizures of products, operating and production restrictions and criminal prosecutions.
Regulation - Risk 3
We may become subject to increased government regulation.
Increased government regulation could: (i) reduce any future revenues; (ii) increase our operating expenses; and (iii) expose us to significant liabilities. We cannot be sure what effect any future material noncompliance by us with any future laws and regulations or any material changes in current laws and regulations could have on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Regulation - Risk 4
We are subject to various government regulations.
The manufacture and sale of human therapeutic and diagnostic products in the U.S., Canada and foreign jurisdictions are governed by a variety of statutes and regulations. These laws require approval of manufacturing facilities, controlled research and testing of products and government review and approval of a submission containing manufacturing, preclinical and clinical data in order to obtain marketing approval based on establishing the safety and efficacy of the product for each use sought, including adherence to current Good Manufacturing Practice (or cGMP) during production and storage, and control of marketing activities, including advertising and labeling. The products we are currently developing will require significant development, preclinical and clinical testing and investment of substantial funds prior to their commercialization. The process of obtaining required approvals can be costly and time-consuming, and there can be no assurance that future products will be successfully developed and will prove to be safe and effective in clinical trials or receive applicable regulatory approvals. Markets other than the U.S. and Canada have similar restrictions. Potential investors and shareholders should be aware of the risks, problems, delays, expenses and difficulties which we may encounter in view of the extensive regulatory environment which controls our business.
Regulation - Risk 5
We may not receive regulatory approvals for our product candidates or there may be a delay in obtaining such approvals.
Our products and our ongoing development activities are subject to regulation by regulatory authorities in the countries in which we or our collaborators and distributors wish to test, manufacture or market our products. For instance, the FDA will regulate the product in the U.S. and equivalent authorities, such as the EMA, will regulate in Europe. Regulatory approval by these authorities will be subject to the evaluation of data relating to the quality, efficacy and safety of the product for its proposed use, and there can be no assurance that the regulatory authorities will find our data sufficient to support product approval. The time required to obtain regulatory approval varies between countries. In the U.S., for products without "Fast Track" status, it can take up to eighteen (18) months after submission of an application for product approval to receive the FDA's decision. Even with Fast Track status, FDA review and decision can take up to twelve (12) months. Different regulators may impose their own requirements and may refuse to grant, or may require additional data before granting, an approval, notwithstanding that regulatory approval may have been granted by other regulators. Regulatory approval may be delayed, limited or denied for a number of reasons, including insufficient clinical data, the product not meeting safety or efficacy requirements or any relevant manufacturing processes or facilities not meeting applicable requirements as well as case load at the regulatory agency at the time.
Regulation - Risk 6
Applicable regulatory requirements, including those contained in and issued under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, may make it difficult for the Company to retain or attract qualified officers and directors, which could adversely affect the management of its business and its ability to obtain or retain listing of its Common Stock.
The Company may be unable to attract and retain those qualified officers, directors and members of board committees required to provide for effective management because of the rules and regulations that govern publicly held companies, including, but not limited to, certifications by principal executive officers. The enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has resulted in the issuance of a series of related rules and regulations and the strengthening of existing rules and regulations by the SEC, as well as the adoption of new and more stringent rules by the stock exchanges. The perceived increased personal risk associated with these changes may deter qualified individuals from accepting roles as directors and executive officers. Further, some of these changes heighten the requirements for board or committee membership, particularly with respect to an individual's independence from the corporation and level of experience in finance and accounting matters. The Company may have difficulty attracting and retaining directors with the requisite qualifications. If the Company is unable to attract and retain qualified officers and directors, the management of its business and its ability to obtain or retain listing of our shares of Common Stock on any stock exchange (assuming the Company elects to seek and are successful in obtaining such listing) could be adversely affected.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities2 | 4.2%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
We may be exposed to potential product and clinical trials liability.
Our business exposes us to potential product liability risks, which are inherent in the testing, manufacturing, marketing and sale of therapeutic products. Human therapeutic products involve an inherent risk of product liability claims and associated adverse publicity. While we will continue to take precautions we deem appropriate, there can be no assurance that we will be able to avoid significant product liability exposure. We do not currently maintain liability insurance coverage as such insurance is expensive and difficult to obtain. As we move forward with our own clinical trials, we plan to obtain liability insurance coverage in the jurisdictions applicable to such clinical trials. However, when we seek such insurance, it may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The inability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage on reasonable terms or to otherwise protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit our ability to conduct clinical trials in certain jurisdiction or the commercialization of our current or potential products. A product liability claim brought against us in a clinical trial or a product withdrawal could have a material adverse effect upon us and our financial condition. Should the insurance coverage be insufficient in amount or scope to address multiple and diverse claims, liabilities not covered by insurance could represent a significant financial liability for Cell Source. Since Yeda does not conduct human trials, there is no need for Cell Source to have insurance for trials there. As Cell Source continues to contract facilities at hospitals to conduct human trials on its behalf, it will ensure that full and proper insurance coverage will be in place with respect to such clinical facilities. Cell Source plans to insure its direct participation in clinical trials, above and beyond whatever insurance coverage is already held by the institutions and facilities providing services with respect to such clinical trials, as may be required.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 2
We could be subject to securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of a company's securities. This type of litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management's attention and resources, which would harm our business, operating results, or financial condition. Additionally, the dramatic increase in the cost of directors' and officers' liability insurance may cause us to opt for lower overall policy limits or to forgo insurance that we may otherwise rely on to cover significant defense costs, settlements, and damages awarded to plaintiffs.
Environmental / Social1 | 2.1%
Environmental / Social - Risk 1
We may become subject to liabilities related to risks inherent in working with hazardous materials.
Our discovery and development processes involve the controlled use of hazardous and radioactive materials. We are subject to federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of such materials and certain waste products. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials comply with the standards prescribed by such laws and regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any such liability could exceed our resources. We are not specifically insured with respect to this liability. Although we believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with applicable environmental laws and regulations and currently do not expect to make material capital expenditures for environmental control facilities in the near-term, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to incur significant costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations in the future, or that our operations, business or assets will not be materially adversely affected by current or future environmental laws or regulations.
Production
Total Risks: 3/48 (6%)Below Sector Average
Employment / Personnel1 | 2.1%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
We rely on key personnel and, if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel or hire qualified personnel, we may not be able to grow effectively.
We are dependent on our Chief Executive Officer, Itamar Shimrat, our Executive Chairman, Dennis Brown, and on scientific and drug development consultants, the loss of services of one or more of whom could materially adversely affect us. Other than our Chief Executive Officer, we currently do not have full-time employees, but we retain the services of independent contractors/consultants on a contract-employment basis. Our ability to manage growth effectively will require us to continue to implement and improve our management systems and to recruit and train new employees. Although we have done so in the past and expect to do so in the future, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel.
Supply Chain1 | 2.1%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
We are dependent on our collaborative partners and service providers the loss of which would hurt our business.
Our strategy is to enter into various arrangements with corporate and academic collaborators, licensors, licensees, service providers and others for the research, development, clinical testing and commercialization of our products. We intend to or have entered into agreements with academic, medical and commercial organizations to research, develop and test our products. In addition, we intend to enter into corporate partnerships to commercialize the Company's core products. There can be no assurance that such collaborations can be established on favorable terms, if at all. Should any collaborative partner or service provider fail to appropriately research, develop, test or successfully commercialize any product to which the Company has rights, our business may be adversely affected. Failure of a collaborative partner or service provider to successfully conduct or complete their activities or to remain a viable collaborative partner or commercial enterprise for any particular program could delay or halt the development or commercialization of any products arising out of such program. While management believes that collaborative partners and service providers will have sufficient economic motivation to continue their activities, there can be no assurance that any of these collaborations or provisions of required services will be continued or result in successfully commercialized products. Notably, we maintain an exclusive worldwide license to certain intellectual property owned by Yeda pursuant to the Yeda License Agreement, as further discussed in the "Intellectual Property" section hereinafter. If we should default under the License Agreement, then our rights to Yeda's intellectual property would extinguish, and we would lose all rights to operate the licenses. In such event, we would effectively cease to operate unless we re-obtained licensing with Yeda. In addition, there can be no assurance that the collaborative research or commercialization partners will not pursue alternative technologies or develop alternative products either on their own or in collaboration with others, including our competitors, as a means for developing treatments for the diseases or conditions targeted by our programs.
Costs1 | 2.1%
Costs - Risk 1
Our ability and our collaborators' ability to sell therapeutic products will depend to a large extent upon reimbursement from health care insurance companies.
Our success may depend, in part, on the extent to which reimbursement for the costs of therapeutic products and related treatments will be available from third-party payers such as government health administration authorities, private health insurers, managed care programs, and other organizations. Over the past decade, the cost of health care has risen significantly, and there have been numerous proposals by legislators, regulators and third-party health care payers to curb these costs. Some of these proposals have involved limitations on the amount of reimbursement for certain products. Similar federal or state health care legislation may be adopted in the future and any products that we or our collaborators seek to commercialize may not be considered cost-effective. Adequate third-party levels that are sufficient for realization of an appropriate return on investment in product development.
Macro & Political
Total Risks: 2/48 (4%)Below Sector Average
Economy & Political Environment1 | 2.1%
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1
The Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars have disrupted global markets and my adversely impact our ability to obtain financing.
On February 24, 2022, Russian military forces invaded Ukraine, and the length, impact, and outcome of the ongoing war in Ukraine is highly unpredictable. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel's border with the Gaza Strip and conducted a series of attacks on civilian and military targets. Hamas has also launched extensive rocket attacks on Israeli population and industrial centers located along Israel's border with the Gaza Strip and in other areas within the State of Israel. These attacks have resulted in extensive deaths, injuries and kidnapping. Following the attack, Israel's security cabinet declared war against Hamas and a military campaign against these terrorist organizations commenced in parallel to their continued rocket and terror attacks. The intensity and duration of Israel's current war against Hamas is similarly difficult to predict. As a result of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars and other geopolitical and macroeconomic events, the global credit and financial markets have experienced volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, and uncertainty about economic stability. If the equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly or more dilutive.
Capital Markets1 | 2.1%
Capital Markets - Risk 1
We may be subject to foreign exchange fluctuation.
We maintain our accounts in both U.S. dollars and Israeli Shekels. A portion of our expenditures are in foreign currencies, most notably in Israeli Shekels, and therefore we are subject to foreign currency fluctuations, which may, from time to time, impact our financial position and results. We may enter into hedging arrangements under specific circumstances, typically through the use of forward or futures currency contracts, to minimize the impact of increases in the value of the Israeli Shekel. In order to minimize our exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations we may hold sufficient Israeli Shekels to cover our expected Israeli Shekel expenditures.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 1/48 (2%)Below Sector Average
Sales & Marketing1 | 2.1%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
Even if approved, our products may not gain market acceptance, in which case we may not be able to generate product revenues, which will materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Even if the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority approves the marketing of any product candidates that we develop, physicians, healthcare providers, patients, or the medical community may not accept or use them. Additionally, the product candidates that we are developing are based on our proprietary platforms, which are new technologies. If these products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues or any profits from operations. The degree of market acceptance of any of our product candidates will depend on a variety of factors, including: - the timing of market introduction;         - the terms of any approvals and the countries in which approvals are obtained;         - the number and clinical profile of competing products;         - our ability to provide acceptable evidence of safety and efficacy;         - the prevalence and severity of any side effects;         - relative convenience and ease of administration;         - cost-effectiveness;         - patient diagnostics and screening infrastructure in each market;         - marketing and distribution support;         - adverse publicity about our product candidates;         - availability of coverage, adequate reimbursement and sufficient payment from health maintenance organizations and other insurers, both public and private, for our product candidates, or the procedures utilizing our product candidates, if approved;         - the willingness of patients to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of coverage by third-party payors and government authorities; and         - other potential advantages over alternative treatment methods. In addition, although we are not utilizing replication competent vectors, adverse publicity due to the ethical and social controversies surrounding the therapeutic use of such technology, and reported side effects from any clinical trials using these technologies or the failure of such trials to demonstrate that these therapies are safe and effective may limit market acceptance of our product candidates. If our product candidates are approved but fail to achieve market acceptance among physicians, patients, hospitals, cancer treatment centers or others in the medical community, we will not be able to generate significant revenue. If our product candidates fail to gain market acceptance, this will have a material adverse impact on our ability to generate revenues to provide a satisfactory, or any, return on our investments. Even if some products achieve market acceptance, the market may prove not to be large enough to allow us to generate significant revenues.
See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?
Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.
    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.
      They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.
        It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.
          How do companies disclose their risk factors?
          Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.
            Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.
              Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.
                According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.
                  How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?
                  Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.
                    You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.
                      Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.
                        A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.
                          What are all the risk factor categories?
                          TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.
                          1. Financial & Corporate
                          • Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
                          • Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
                          • Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
                          • Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.
                          2. Legal & Regulatory
                          • Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
                          • Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
                          • Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
                          • Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.
                          3. Production
                          • Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
                          • Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
                          • Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
                          • Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.
                          4. Technology & Innovation
                          • Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
                          • Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
                          • Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
                          • Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.
                          5. Ability to Sell
                          • Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
                          • Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
                          • Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
                          • Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.
                          6. Macro & Political
                          • Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
                          • Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
                          • International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
                          • Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.