UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark one)
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For the quarterly period ended
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For the transition period from _______________ to _______________
Commission file number
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(Address, including zip code and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:
Copies to:
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Name of Exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, par value $ |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer |
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Accelerated filer |
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Smaller reporting company |
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Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No
As of May 6, 2024, the registrant had
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (Quarterly Report) contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy, commercial activities and costs, research and development costs, timing and likelihood of success, as well as plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that are in some cases beyond our control and may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report include, but are not limited to, statements about:
We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about our business, the industry in which we operate and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or development. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Quarterly Report, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and you are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
SEER, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
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March 31, |
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December 31, |
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(Unaudited) |
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ASSETS |
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Current assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
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$ |
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$ |
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Short-term investments |
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Accounts receivable, net |
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Related party receivables |
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Other receivables |
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Inventory |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
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Total current assets |
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Long-term investments |
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Operating lease right-of-use assets |
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Property and equipment, net |
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Restricted cash |
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Other assets |
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Total assets |
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$ |
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$ |
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LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY |
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Current liabilities: |
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Accounts payable |
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$ |
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$ |
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Accrued expenses |
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Deferred revenue |
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Operating lease liabilities, current |
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Other current liabilities |
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Total current liabilities |
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Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion |
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Other noncurrent liabilities |
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Total liabilities |
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Stockholders’ equity: |
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Preferred stock, $ |
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Class A common stock, $ |
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Class B common stock, $ |
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Additional paid-in capital |
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Accumulated other comprehensive loss |
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Accumulated deficit |
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Total stockholders’ equity |
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Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity |
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$ |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
1
SEER, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
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Three Months Ended March 31, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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Revenue: |
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Product |
$ |
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$ |
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Service |
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Related party |
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Grant and other |
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Total revenue |
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Cost of revenue: |
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Product |
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Service |
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Related party |
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Grant and other |
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Total cost of revenue |
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Gross profit |
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Operating expenses: |
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Research and development |
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Selling, general and administrative |
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Total operating expenses |
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Loss from operations |
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Other income (expense): |
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Interest income |
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Other expense |
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Total other income |
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Net loss |
$ |
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$ |
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Other comprehensive gain (loss): |
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Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale securities |
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Comprehensive loss |
$ |
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$ |
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Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted |
$ |
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$ |
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Weighted-average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
2
SEER, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except share amounts)
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Class A and Class B |
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Additional Paid-in |
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Accumulated |
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Accumulated Other Comprehensive |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Capital |
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Deficit |
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Loss |
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Total |
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Balance at December 31, 2023 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
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Issuance of Class A common stock from exercise of options and |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Vesting of early exercised stock options and restricted |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Stock-based compensation |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Other comprehensive loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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Net loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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— |
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( |
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Balance at March 31, 2024 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
3
SEER, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except share amounts)
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Class A and Class B |
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Additional Paid-in |
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Accumulated |
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Accumulated Other Comprehensive |
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Shares |
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Amount |
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Capital |
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Deficit |
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Income (Loss) |
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Total |
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Balance at December 31, 2022 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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$ |
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Issuance of Class A common stock from exercise of options and |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Vesting of early exercised stock options and restricted |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Stock-based compensation |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Other comprehensive gain |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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Net loss |
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— |
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— |
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— |
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( |
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— |
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( |
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Balance at March 31, 2023 |
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$ |
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$ |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
4
SEER, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
(in thousands)
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Three Months Ended March 31, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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OPERATING ACTIVITIES |
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Net loss |
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$ |
( |
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$ |
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Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: |
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Stock-based compensation |
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Depreciation and amortization |
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Loss on disposal of property and equipment |
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Net amortization (accretion) of premium (discount) on available-for-sale securities |
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Provision for inventory excess and obsolescence |
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Non-cash operating lease expense |
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Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Accounts receivable, net |
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( |
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Prepaid expenses and other assets |
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( |
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( |
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Inventory |
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( |
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( |
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Accounts payable |
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( |
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Deferred revenue |
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Accrued liabilities and other liabilities |
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( |
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( |
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Net cash used in operating activities |
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( |
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( |
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INVESTING ACTIVITIES |
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Purchases of property and equipment |
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( |
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Purchases of available-for-sale securities |
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( |
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Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities |
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Proceeds from maturities of available-for-sale securities |
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Net cash provided by investing activities |
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FINANCING ACTIVITIES |
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Proceeds from exercise of Class A common stock options |
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Net cash provided by financing activities |
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Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash |
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Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period |
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Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period |
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$ |
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$ |
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SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF NON-CASH ACTIVITIES |
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Capitalized stock-based compensation related to internal-use software development |
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$ |
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$ |
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Property and equipment purchases included in accounts payable and accrued expenses |
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$ |
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$ |
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Inventory transferred to property and equipment |
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$ |
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$ |
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Property and equipment transferred to inventory |
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$ |
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$ |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
5
SEER, INC.
Notes to Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
Seer, Inc. (the Company) was incorporated in Delaware on March 16, 2017, and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. The Company is a life sciences company focused on capturing deep molecular insights from the proteome to enable novel insights and breakthroughs in the understanding of biology and disease.
Liquidity
As of March 31, 2024, the Company has incurred significant losses and has had negative cash flows from operations. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP). The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Seer, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.
The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2024.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates and assumptions, including, but not limited to, those related to the determination of stand-alone selling price for revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, allowance for credit losses, inventory valuation, operating lease right-of-use assets and liabilities, useful lives and valuation of property and equipment, income tax uncertainties, and tax valuation allowances.
Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ materially from those estimates.
6
Concentration of Credit Risk and Other Risks and Uncertainties
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, and investments. The Company maintains bank deposits in federally insured financial institutions, and these deposits may exceed federally insured limits. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of default by the financial institutions holding its cash and cash equivalents and issuers of investments to the extent account balances exceed the amount insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized revenue from a related party that represented
For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023,
As of March 31, 2024, there were two customers which represented
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, all amounts recorded as cash and cash equivalents consist of cash, money market funds, corporate debt securities and U.S. Treasury securities and are stated at fair value.
Restricted cash as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 represents cash held by a financial institution as security for a letter of credit issued to the lessor for one of the Company’s operating leases and is classified as noncurrent.
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash to the total amount presented in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):
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Three Months Ended March 31, |
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2024 |
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2023 |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
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$ |
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$ |
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Restricted cash |
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Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash |
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$ |
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$ |
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7
Investments
The Company has designated all investments, which includes U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Non-Treasury securities, commercial paper, and corporate debt securities as available-for-sale, and therefore, such investments are reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported as a component of other comprehensive loss. The cost of available-for-sale securities is adjusted for the amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to expected maturity. Such amortization and accretion are included in other income (expense) on the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Realized gains and losses and interest income on available-for-sale securities are also included in other income (expense). The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method. The Company determines the appropriate classification of its investments in debt securities at the time of purchase and reevaluates such designation at each balance sheet date. As of March 31, 2024, the Company classifies its available-for-sale securities as short-term investments or long-term investments based on the remaining contractual maturity of the securities.
All of the Company’s investments are subject to a periodic impairment review. The Company recognizes an impairment charge when a decline in the fair value of its investments below the cost basis is judged to be other than temporary. Factors considered in determining whether a loss is temporary include the length of time and extent to which an investment’s fair value has been less than its cost basis, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the investee, extent of the loss related to credit of the issuer, the expected cash flows from the security, the Company’s intent to sell the security and whether or not the Company will be required to sell the security before the recovery of its amortized cost.
Any unrealized losses on available-for-sale debt securities that are attributed to credit risk are recorded to the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss through an allowance for credit losses.
Accounts Receivable, Net
Accounts receivable consist of amounts due from customers for the sales of products and services, net of any allowance for credit losses. The Company’s expected loss allowance methodology for receivables is developed using its historical collection experience, current and future economic market conditions and a review of the current aging status and financial condition of its customers. Balances are written off when they are ultimately determined to be uncollectible. The Company recorded a $
Leases
The Company determines if an arrangement is or contains a lease at contract inception and classifies each lease as operating, sales-type or finance lease.
Operating lease right-of-use (ROU) assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date of the lease. ROU assets also include any initial direct costs incurred and any lease payments made at or before the lease commencement date, less any lease incentive received. The Company uses its incremental borrowing rate in determining the present value of lease payments based on the information available at the date of lease commencement. The incremental borrowing rate reflects the rate of interest that a lessee would have to pay to borrow, on a collateralized basis over a similar term, an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. Lease expense for an operating lease is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
8
The Company elected to not separate non-lease components from the associated lease components and to not recognize ROU assets and lease liabilities for leases with a term of twelve months or less. Variable lease payments are primarily related to property taxes, insurance and common area maintenance, and are recognized as lease costs when incurred.
Revenue Recognition
The Company generates revenue primarily from sales of products and services. The Company’s product, the Proteograph Product Suite, consists of an instrument with embedded software essential to the instrument's functionality and consumables. The service revenue primarily consists of revenue received from the generation and analysis of proteomic data on behalf of customers.
The Company recognizes revenue when control of the products and services is transferred to its customers in an amount that reflects the consideration it expects to be entitled to receive from its customers in exchange for those products and services. This process involves identifying the contract with a customer, determining the performance obligations in the contract, determining the transaction price, allocating the transaction price to the distinct performance obligations in the contract, and recognizing revenue when the performance obligations have been satisfied. A performance obligation is considered distinct from other obligations in a contract when it provides a benefit to the customer either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer and is distinct within the context of the contract. The Company considers a performance obligation satisfied once it has transferred control of a good or service to the customer, meaning the customer has the ability to direct the use and obtain substantially all the economic benefits from the good or service.
Revenue from product sales is recognized when control of the product is transferred, which is generally upon shipment to the customer. In instances where right of payment or transfer of title is contingent upon the customer’s acceptance of the product, revenue is deferred until all acceptance criteria have been met. Revenue from services is recognized once the report is delivered to a customer, which is when the customer obtains the benefit of the service.
Revenue is recorded net of discounts and sales taxes collected on behalf of governmental authorities. Customers are invoiced generally upon shipment, or upon delivery of services, and payment is typically due within 30 or 60 days. Cash received from customers in advance of product shipment or providing services is recorded as a contract liability. The Company’s contracts with its customers generally do not include rights of return.
At times, the Company may enter into arrangements with payment terms which exceed one year from the transfer of control of the product or service. In such cases, the Company assesses whether the arrangement contains a significant financing component. If a significant financing component exists, the transaction price is adjusted for the financing portion of the arrangement, which is recorded as interest income over the payment term using the effective interest method. The Company does not assess whether a significant financing component exists when, at contract inception, the period between the transfer of control to a customer and final payment is one year or less.
The Company elected the practical expedient to account for shipping and handling activities that occur after the customer has obtained control as a fulfillment activity and not a separate performance obligation. The Company expenses incremental costs of obtaining a contract as and when incurred if the expected amortization period is one year or less or the amount is immaterial. The Company excludes from the transaction price all taxes assessed by a governmental authority on revenue-producing transactions that are collected by the Company from a customer.
9
The Company regularly enters into contracts that include various combinations of products and services, which are generally distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations. The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation in proportion to its standalone selling price. The Company determines the standalone selling price using average selling prices with consideration of current market conditions. If the product or service has no history of sales or if the sales volume is not sufficient, the Company relies upon prices set by management, adjusted for applicable discounts.
Grant and Other Revenue
Grant revenue represents funding under cost reimbursement programs from federal foundation sources for qualified research and development activities performed by the Company and are not based on estimates that are subject to change. Grants received are assessed to determine if the agreement should be accounted for as an exchange transaction or a contribution. An agreement is accounted for as a contribution if the resource provider does not receive commensurate value in return for the assets transferred. Such amounts are recorded as revenue as grant-funded activities are performed up to the amount of expenses incurred. Any advance funding payments are recorded as deferred revenue until the activities are performed.
A portion of the Company’s revenue relates to lease arrangements. Standalone lease arrangements are outside the scope of Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue From Contracts With Customers, and are therefore accounted for in accordance with ASC 842, Leases. The total consideration in a lease arrangement is allocated between lease and non-lease components on their relative stand-alone selling prices. The stand-alone selling price is based on the price the Company would separately sell that promised good or service to a customer. If a stand-alone price is not available for a component, it is estimated using the best information available.
In determining whether a transaction should be classified as a sales-type or operating lease, the Company considered the following criteria at lease commencement: (1) whether title of the instrument transfers automatically or for a nominal fee by the end of the lease term, (2) whether the present value of the minimum lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the leased instrument, (3) whether the lease term is for the major part of the remaining economic life of the leased instrument, (4) whether the lease grants the lessee an option to purchase the leased instrument that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise, and (5) whether the underlying instrument is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the Company at the end of the lease term. If any of these criteria were met, the lease was classified as a sales-type lease. If none of these criteria are met, the lease was classified as an operating lease.
Shipping revenue is recognized when control of the product is transferred to the customer. The related shipping and handling costs are included in the cost of revenue.
10
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which is intended to provide enhancements to segment disclosures, even for entities with only one reportable segment. In particular, the standard will require disclosures of significant segment expenses regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker and included within each reported measure of segment profit and loss. The standard will also require disclosure of all other segment items by reportable segment and a description of its composition. Finally, the standard will require disclosure of the title and position of the chief operating decision maker and an explanation of how the chief operating decision maker uses the reported measure(s) of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources. The standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance on its disclosures.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires that an entity disclose specific categories in the effective tax rate reconciliation as well as provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. Further, the ASU requires certain disclosures of state versus federal income tax expense and taxes paid. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance on its disclosures.
The following tables set forth the fair value of the Company’s financial assets that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis by level within the fair value hierarchy (in thousands).
|
|
March 31, 2024 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Level 1 |
|
|
Level 2 |
|
|
Level 3 |
|
|
Total |
|
||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Cash equivalents: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market funds |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Total cash equivalents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Investments: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Non-Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Commercial paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Corporate debt securities |
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total investments |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total assets measured at fair value |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
11
|
|
December 31, 2023 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Level 1 |
|
|
Level 2 |
|
|
Level 3 |
|
|
Total |
|
||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Cash equivalents: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market funds |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total cash equivalents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Investments: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Non-Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Commercial paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total investments |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total assets measured at fair value |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
There were no financial liabilities measured at fair value. The Company classifies money market funds within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices. The Company classifies its investments in U.S. Treasury securities (Treasury bills, Treasury notes, and Treasury bonds), U.S. Non-Treasury securities (government agency debt), commercial paper, and corporate debt securities as Level 2 instruments and obtains fair value from an independent pricing service, which may use quoted market prices for identical or comparable instruments or model-driven valuations using observable market data or inputs corroborated by observable market data.
The carrying amount of the Company’s accounts receivable, other receivables, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value due to their short maturities.
The following is a summary of the Company’s cash equivalents and investments and the gross unrealized holding gains and losses (in thousands):
|
|
March 31, 2024 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Amortized Cost Basis |
|
|
Unrealized Gains |
|
|
Unrealized Losses |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Cash equivalents: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market funds |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Total cash equivalents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Investments: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
U.S. Non-Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Commercial paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total investments |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total assets measured at fair value |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
12
|
|
December 31, 2023 |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Amortized Cost Basis |
|
|
Unrealized Gains |
|
|
Unrealized Losses |
|
|
Fair Value |
|
||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Cash equivalents: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Money market funds |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Total cash equivalents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Investments: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
U.S. Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
U.S. Non-Treasury securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Commercial paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Corporate debt securities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total investments |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|||
Total assets measured at fair value |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
|
|||
As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, unrealized losses on available-for-sale investments are not attributable to credit risk and are considered to be temporary. As of March 31, 2024, approximately $
Inventory
Inventory consists of the following (in thousands):
|
|
March 31, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Raw materials |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Work-in-progress |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Finished goods |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total inventory |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
13
Property and Equipment, Net
Property and equipment, net consists of the following (in thousands):
|
|
March 31, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Laboratory equipment |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Computer equipment and software |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Furniture and fixtures |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Leasehold improvements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Construction-in-progress |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Property and equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Total property and equipment, net |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment was $
Accrued Expenses
Accrued expenses consist of the following (in thousands):
|
|
March 31, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Accrued compensation |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Accrued professional services |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Accrued taxes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Other |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total accrued expenses |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Product revenue consists of instruments with embedded software essential to the instrument's functionality and consumables. Service revenue primarily consists of revenue received from the generation and analysis of proteomic data on behalf of the customer. Related party revenue is comprised of both the sale of products and services performed for related parties, as further discussed in Note 10. Grant and other revenue consists of grant revenue from services performed specifically for the reimbursement of research-related expenses and other revenue which relates to shipping revenue and lease arrangements, as further discussed below.
Deferred revenue activities consist of the following (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Deferred revenue, current and noncurrent, as of the beginning of period |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Additions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Revenue recognized |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
( |
) |
Deferred revenue, current and noncurrent, as of the end of period |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
14
Transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations represents contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized, which includes deferred revenue and non-cancelable amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue in future periods. As of March 31, 2024, $
Grant and Other Revenue
Since August 2019, the Company received total funding of $
For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized $
6. CAPITAL STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
As of March 31, 2024, the Company is authorized to issue
Class A and Class B common stock have a par value of $
Common stock issued and outstanding on the condensed consolidated balance sheets and condensed consolidated statements of changes in stockholders' equity includes shares related to early exercised options and restricted stock that are subject to repurchase.
As of March 31, 2024, there are
Stock Options
Stock option activity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 is as follows:
|
|
Options Outstanding |
|
|
Weighted-Average Exercise Price |
|
||
Balance at December 31, 2023 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Options granted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Options exercised |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Options forfeited |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Balance at March 31, 2024 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Vested and exercisable, March 31, 2024 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
15
Market Condition Options
In February 2024, the Company granted options to purchase an aggregate of
In February 2023, the Company granted Market Condition Options to purchase an aggregate of
Under each of the above Market Condition Options, if the Market Price Milestone is achieved,
Compensation expense is recognized using an accelerated attribution method based on the derived service periods for each of the Market Condition Options. Failure to meet the Market Price Milestone for an award does not result in reversal of previously recognized expense, so long as the service is provided for the duration of the respective derived service period.
The following assumptions were used to determine the grant date fair value of $
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Risk-free interest rate |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
Expected volatility |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
Expected dividend yield |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Strike price |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
For 2024 and 2023 Market Condition Options, the grant date fair value approximates $
For each of the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized compensation expense of $
As of March 31, 2024, $
16
As of March 31, 2024, $
Restricted Stock Awards
Certain stock options granted under the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan provide stock option holders the right to exercise unvested stock options in exchange for restricted shares of Class A common stock. The Company has also issued restricted shares of Class A common stock under the 2020 Plan to employees and directors. There were
Restricted Stock Units
Restricted stock unit activity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 is as follows:
|
|
Number of Shares |
|
|
Weighted-Average |
|
||
Balance at December 31, 2023 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Granted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Vested |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Forfeited |
|
|
( |
) |
|
|
|
|
Balance at March 31, 2024 |
|
|
|
|
$ |
|
||
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
A total of
Stock-Based Compensation
The following table summarizes the components of stock-based compensation recognized in the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Cost of revenue |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Research and development |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Selling, general and administrative |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total stock-based compensation |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
17
On June 21, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an option repricing to reduce the exercise price of certain vested, outstanding, and unexercised stock options with an exercise price greater than $
The Company recorded $
As a lessee, the Company leases approximately
The components of lease expense and supplemental information were as follows (dollars in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Operating lease cost |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Variable lease costs |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Short-term lease costs |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Total lease costs |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Weighted-average remaining lease term (in years) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Weighted-average incremental borrowing rate |
|
|
% |
|
|
% |
||
Variable lease costs primarily consist of common area maintenance.
Supplemental cash flow information related to leases is as follows (in thousands):
|
|
Three Months Ended March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
Lease liability obtained in exchange for right-of-use assets |
|
$ |
|
|
$ |
|
||
18
As of March 31, 2024, future minimum commitments under the Company’s non-cancelable facility operating leases are as follows:
Years ending December 31, |
|
(in thousands) |
|
|
2024 (remaining nine months) |
|
$ |
|
|
2025 |
|
|
|
|
2026 |
|
|
|
|
2027 |
|
|
|
|
2028 |
|
|
|
|
Thereafter |
|
|
|
|
Total undiscounted future minimum lease payments |
|
|
|
|
Present value adjustment for minimum lease commitments |
|
|
( |
) |
Total operating lease liabilities |
|
$ |
|
|
As a lessor, the Company has contracts for equipment leased to customers. The Company accounts for the non-lease component under the revenue recognition ASC 606 guidance and the lease component under ASC 842 guidance.
For an arrangement that has been classified as a sales-type lease, revenue is recognized when the transfer of control of the underlying leased asset has occurred and the net investment lease recorded, which is calculated at the present value of the remaining lease payments due from the lessee. For an arrangement that has been classified as an operating lease, revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Purchase Commitments and Obligations
The Company has certain purchase commitments related to its inventory management with certain manufacturing suppliers wherein the Company is required to purchase the amounts forecasted in a blanket purchase order within a certain time period. The Company also has certain contractual obligations for third-party technology used as part of the normal operations. The contractual obligations represent future cash commitments and liabilities under agreements with third parties and exclude orders for goods and services entered into in the normal course of business that are not enforceable or are subject to change. These outstanding commitments amounted to $
Guarantees and Indemnifications
In the normal course of business, the Company enters into agreements that contain a variety of representations and provide for general indemnification. The Company’s exposure under these agreements is unknown because it involves claims that may be made against the Company in the future. The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with certain directors and officers that require the Company, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of the status or service as directors or officers. To date, the Company has not paid any claims or been required to defend any action related to its indemnification obligations. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company does not have any material indemnification claims that were probable or reasonably possible and consequently has not recorded related liabilities.
Contingencies
From time to time, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company is not currently a party to any material legal proceedings.
19
In August 2020, the Company formed a new entity, PrognomiQ, Inc. (PrognomiQ), and entered into a stock purchase agreement with PrognomiQ, pursuant to which the Company transferred to PrognomiQ certain assets that comprise the Company’s human diagnostics activities in exchange for all the outstanding equity interests of PrognomiQ. The Company subsequently completed a pro-rata distribution to its stockholders of most of the shares of capital stock of PrognomiQ.
The Company has concluded that PrognomiQ is a variable interest entities (VIE) due to its reliance on future financing and insufficient equity investment at risk. However, the Company is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE as it does not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of PrognomiQ and does not have control over the PrognomiQ board of directors. The Company has determined that it has the ability to exercise significant influence over PrognomiQ and therefore has accounted for its investment in PrognomiQ using the equity method. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the carrying value of the Company’s investment in PrognomiQ was reduced to nil after recognizing net losses based on its percentage of ownership in PrognomiQ.
PrognomiQ constitutes a related party and, as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company recorded $
During 2022, a member of the Company’s Board of Directors served as a board member and an executive officer at a company that is a customer of the Company. There was
The following table shows the computation of basic and diluted net loss per share (in thousands, except share and per share data):
|
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Three Months Ended March 31, |
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|
|
2024 |
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|
2023 |
|
||
Numerator: |
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||
Net loss attributable to common stockholders |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
Denominator: |
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|
|
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||
Weighted-average common shares used in computing net loss per share |
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|
|
|
||
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted |
|
$ |
( |
) |
|
$ |
( |
) |
20
The following outstanding shares of potentially dilutive securities were excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the periods presented, because including them would have been anti-dilutive (on an as-converted basis):
|
|
March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
Class A common stock options issued and outstanding |
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|
||
Restricted common stock subject to future vesting |
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|
|
|
|
|
||
Restricted stock units |
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|
|
|
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|
||
Total |
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|
|
|
||
On May 3, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program (Share Repurchase Program) under which the Company is authorized to purchase (in the aggregate) up to $
21
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those described in the section titled “Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements.” Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those discussed below. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors.”
Overview
Our mission is to imagine and pioneer new ways to decode the biology of the proteome to improve human health. Our product, the Proteograph Product Suite (Proteograph), leverages our proprietary engineered nanoparticle (NP) technology to provide unbiased, deep, rapid and large-scale access to the proteome. The Proteograph Product Suite is an integrated solution that includes consumables, an automation instrument and software. We believe that broader access to the proteome is essential, not only to understanding its complexity and accelerating biological insights, but also to expanding end-markets. These markets may include basic research and discovery, translational research, diagnostics and applied applications. To comprehend the complexity and dynamic nature of the proteome, researchers must perform population-scale, deep, unbiased interrogation of biological samples over time. We believe that this level of interrogation was not previously feasible and that the Proteograph can enable researchers to perform these types of proteomics studies.
Since we were incorporated in 2017, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to research and development activities, including with respect to the Proteograph Product Suite, building our commercial infrastructure including manufacturing, operations, sales and marketing and service and support functions, establishing and maintaining our intellectual property portfolio, hiring personnel, raising capital, becoming and being a publicly-traded company, and providing general and administrative support for these activities.
Our ability to generate product and service revenue sufficient to achieve profitability, if ever, will depend on the successful commercialization of the Proteograph Product Suite. We are commercializing the Proteograph Product Suite as an integrated solution comprised of consumables, our SP100 automation instrument and software. Our commercial strategy is focused on growing adoption by the research community of the Proteograph, expanding the installed base and increasing utilization to generate revenue from the purchase of Proteograph consumables. We expect a highly efficient sales model because our workflow integrates with most existing proteomics laboratories’ workflows and also complements large-scale genomics research. We are focused on removing barriers to access to the Proteograph, including through our service offering.
We are broadly commercializing the Proteograph Product Suite through a direct sales channel in the United States, and through both direct and distributor sales channels in regions outside the United States. Since we are in the early stages of commercialization, we have built, and will continue to build our sales, marketing, support and product distribution capabilities. In addition, we will continue to build the necessary infrastructure for these activities in the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, and other countries and regions, including Asia-Pacific, as we execute on our commercialization strategy for the Proteograph.
22
We leverage well-established unit operations to formulate and manufacture our NPs at our facilities in Redwood City, California. We procure certain components of our consumables from third-party manufacturers, which includes the commonly available raw materials needed for manufacturing our proprietary engineered NPs. We are currently manufacturing using our production-scale and pilot lines and continue to build out our manufacturing capabilities to support broad commercial availability of our products. We obtain some of the reagents and components used in the Proteograph workflow from third-party suppliers. While some of these reagents and components are currently sourced from a single supplier, these products are readily available from numerous suppliers. While we currently perform some filling and packaging of the Proteograph assay and the related consumables, we may eventually have our filling and packaging outsourced to a third party. We conduct vendor and component qualification for components provided by third-party suppliers and quality control tests on our NPs.
We designed the SP100 automation instrument and have outsourced its manufacturing to Hamilton Company, a leading manufacturer of automated liquid handling workstations. We have entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Hamilton that covers the manufacturing of the SP100 automation instrument and its continued supply on a purchase order basis. The agreement has an initial term that expires three years following our commercial launch. We have the option to extend the term of the agreement with Hamilton upon written notice at the end of the initial term; provided that prices are only fixed during the initial term of the agreement. Hamilton has represented to us that it maintains ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certifications.
During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, we incurred a net loss of $20.7 million and $24.0 million and used $10.5 million and $19.3 million of cash in operations, respectively. As of March 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $326.5 million, and cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $359.2 million. We expect to continue to incur significant losses and do not expect positive cash flows from operations for the foreseeable future.
Our expenses may increase in connection with our ongoing activities, as we:
23
Components of Results of Operations
Revenue
Our product revenue consists of an instrument with embedded software essential to the instrument’s functionality and consumables. Our service revenue primarily consists of revenue received from the generation and analysis of proteomic data on behalf of the customer. Our related party revenue consists primarily of product sales to related parties. Our grant and other revenue consists of research-related grants, lease arrangements, and shipping revenue. Our revenue is primarily generated domestically. We intend to focus our commercial efforts in the United States and expect to grow our international presence.
Cost of Revenue
We utilize third-party manufacturers for production of our SP100 instrument and we manufacture our NPs and assemble our assay kits internally. Cost of revenue consists primarily of costs of the components of the Proteograph Product Suite, including the SP100 instrument and consumables and distribution-related expenses such as logistics and shipping costs. In addition, cost of revenue includes employee compensation, such as stock-based compensation and employee benefits, allocated overhead, including depreciation, and charges related to inventory reserves.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development (R&D) expenses include costs associated with R&D of our technology and product candidates. R&D expenses consist primarily of employee compensation, including stock-based compensation and employee benefits, laboratory supplies used for in-house research, consulting costs, and allocated costs, including rent, depreciation, information technology and utilities.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee compensation, including stock-based compensation, and benefits for executive management, sales and marketing, customer support, finance, administrative, human resources, legal functions, allocated costs, including depreciation, professional service fees and other general overhead costs to support our operations.
Interest Income
Interest income consists of interest earned on cash, cash equivalents and investments.
24
Results of Operations
Comparisons of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2024 and 2023
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the periods presented:
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% |
|
||||
|
|
(dollars in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Revenue: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Product |
|
$ |
1,668 |
|
|
$ |
2,343 |
|
|
$ |
(675 |
) |
|
|
(29 |
)% |
Service |
|
|
408 |
|
|
|
69 |
|
|
|
339 |
|
|
|
491 |
% |
Related party |
|
|
954 |
|
|
|
1,306 |
|
|
|
(352 |
) |
|
|
(27 |
)% |
Grant and other |
|
|
36 |
|
|
|
335 |
|
|
|
(299 |
) |
|
|
(89 |
)% |
Total revenue |
|
|
3,066 |
|
|
|
4,053 |
|
|
|
(987 |
) |
|
|
(24 |
)% |
Cost of revenue: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Product |
|
|
991 |
|
|
|
1,436 |
|
|
|
(445 |
) |
|
|
(31 |
)% |
Service |
|
|
269 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
262 |
|
|
|
3743 |
% |
Related party |
|
|
312 |
|
|
|
478 |
|
|
|
(166 |
) |
|
|
(35 |
)% |
Grant and other |
|
|
133 |
|
|
|
64 |
|
|
|
69 |
|
|
|
108 |
% |
Total cost of revenue |
|
|
1,705 |
|
|
|
1,985 |
|
|
|
(280 |
) |
|
|
(14 |
)% |
Gross profit |
|
|
1,361 |
|
|
|
2,068 |
|
|
|
(707 |
) |
|
|
(34 |
)% |
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Research and development |
|
|
12,265 |
|
|
|
14,474 |
|
|
|
(2,209 |
) |
|
|
(15 |
)% |
Selling, general and administrative |
|
|
14,288 |
|
|
|
15,039 |
|
|
|
(751 |
) |
|
|
(5 |
)% |
Total operating expenses |
|
|
26,553 |
|
|
|
29,513 |
|
|
|
(2,960 |
) |
|
|
(10 |
)% |
Loss from operations |
|
|
(25,192 |
) |
|
|
(27,445 |
) |
|
|
2,253 |
|
|
|
(8 |
)% |
Other income (expense): |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
Interest income |
|
|
4,586 |
|
|
|
3,717 |
|
|
|
869 |
|
|
|
23 |
% |
Other expense |
|
|
(73 |
) |
|
|
(231 |
) |
|
|
158 |
|
|
|
(68 |
)% |
Total other income |
|
|
4,513 |
|
|
|
3,486 |
|
|
|
1,027 |
|
|
|
29 |
% |
Net loss |
|
$ |
(20,679 |
) |
|
$ |
(23,959 |
) |
|
$ |
3,280 |
|
|
|
(14 |
)% |
Revenue
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% |
|
||||
|
|
(dollars in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Revenue |
|
$ |
3,066 |
|
|
$ |
4,053 |
|
|
$ |
(987 |
) |
|
|
(24 |
)% |
Revenue decreased by $1.0 million, or 24%, from $4.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2023, to $3.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to decreased in product revenue. Revenue recognized primarily consisted of sales of the Proteograph SP100 instrument, consumable kits and service revenue, of which $1.0 million was attributed to related parties. In addition, revenue from our grant-funded activities related to our Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health Grant decreased between the two periods by $0.3 million. The decrease was offset by an increase in service revenue of $0.5 million, of which $0.1 million was attributed to related parties.
25
Cost of Revenue
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% |
|
||||
|
|
(dollars in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Cost of revenue |
|
$ |
1,705 |
|
|
$ |
1,985 |
|
|
$ |
(280 |
) |
|
|
(14 |
)% |
Cost of revenue decreased by $0.3 million, or 14%, from $2.0 million during the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $1.7 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to an increase in service revenue and lower product revenue from fewer instrument sales, which have a higher cost of revenue, offset by increased overhead expenses, installation, training, warranty, and other costs of revenue. Cost of revenue consists of costs of the SP100 instrument, consumable kits, cost of services, and other related costs, including labor and overhead.
Research and Development
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% |
|
||||
|
|
(dollars in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Research and development |
|
$ |
12,265 |
|
|
$ |
14,474 |
|
|
$ |
(2,209 |
) |
|
|
(15 |
)% |
Research and development expenses decreased by $2.2 million, or 15%, from $14.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $12.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024. The decrease was primarily due to lower headcount which resulted in a decrease in employee compensation costs of $0.8 million, a $0.7 million decrease in laboratory expenses, a $0.4 million decrease in stock-based compensation, and a $0.2 million decrease in allocated costs.
Selling, General and Administrative
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% |
|
||||
|
|
(dollars in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Selling, general and administrative |
|
$ |
14,288 |
|
|
$ |
15,039 |
|
|
$ |
(751 |
) |
|
|
(5 |
)% |
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $0.8 million, or 5%, from $15.0 million during the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $14.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to a $0.5 million decrease in employee compensation costs and a $0.8 million decrease in stock-based compensation. The decrease was offset by a $0.5 million increase in professional service expenses.
Total Other Income
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|
Change |
|
||||||||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% |
|
||||
|
|
(dollars in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||
Total other income |
|
$ |
4,513 |
|
|
$ |
3,486 |
|
|
$ |
1,027 |
|
|
|
29 |
% |
Total other income increased by $1.0 million, or 29%, from $3.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2023 to $4.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024. The increase was due to higher rates of interest earned on cash invested in money market funds, U.S. Treasury securities, commercial paper, corporate securities and government agency debt in 2024.
26
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since the date of our incorporation, we have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations. Our operations have been funded primarily through the sale and issuance of equity securities since inception. We anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses and do not expect positive cash flows from operations for the foreseeable future. However, based on our cash, cash equivalents and investments, we believe we will have adequate liquidity over the next twelve months following the date of this Quarterly Report to operate our business and to meet our cash requirements. If our available cash, cash equivalents and investments and anticipated cash flows from operations are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, we may consider raising additional capital to expand our business, pursue strategic investments, take advantage of financing opportunities or for other reasons.
We enter into agreements as part of the normal course of business with various vendors, which are generally cancellable without material penalty upon written notice. Payments associated with these agreements are not included in this discussion of contractual obligations.
Our operating lease obligations reflect our lease obligations for our office and laboratory space in Redwood City, California and office space in San Diego, California. We lease approximately 51,000 square feet of office and laboratory space in Redwood City, California, and the lease is set to end on September 30, 2032 with an option to renew for an additional five-year term at then-current market rates. We maintain a letter of credit issued to the lessor in the amount of $0.5 million as of each of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, which is secured by restricted cash and is presented as noncurrent at each date based on the term of the underlying lease. We lease approximately 6,000 square feet of office space in San Diego, California that runs through September 2024.
We have certain purchase commitments related to our inventory management with certain manufacturing suppliers wherein we are required to purchase the amounts forecasted in a blanket purchase order within a certain time period. The Company also has certain contractual obligations for third-party technology used as part of its normal operations. The contractual obligations represent future cash commitments and liabilities under agreements with third parties and exclude orders for goods and services entered into in the normal course of business that are not enforceable or subject to change. These outstanding commitments amounted to $1.3 million as of March 31, 2024.
We take a long-term view in growing and scaling our business and regularly review opportunities that meet our long-term growth objectives. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our revenue growth rate, investments in continued commercialization efforts, acquisitions of complementary or enhancing technologies or businesses, including intellectual property rights, the timing and extent of additional capital expenditures to invest in existing and new facilities, the expansion of sales and marketing and international activities and the extent and magnitude of our ongoing research and development programs.
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:
|
|
Three months ended March 31, |
|
|||||
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
||
|
|
(in thousands) |
|
|||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
|
$ |
(10,456 |
) |
|
$ |
(19,331 |
) |
Net cash provided by investing activities |
|
|
32,355 |
|
|
|
14,479 |
|
Net cash provided by financing activities |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
30 |
|
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash |
|
$ |
21,899 |
|
|
$ |
(4,822 |
) |
27
Operating Activities
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, cash used in operating activities was $10.5 million, attributable to a net loss of $20.7 million and a net change in our net operating assets and liabilities of $1.3 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $11.5 million. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of stock-based compensation of $7.6 million, $1.5 million of depreciation and amortization, offset by $2.4 million of net amortization of premium on available-for-sale securities. The change in our net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase in inventory levels of $1.0 million and a decrease of accrued liabilities and other liabilities of $1.9 million, which was partially offset by an increase in accounts payable of $1.4 million and an increase in deferred revenue of $0.1 million.
During the three months ended March 31, 2023, cash used in operating activities was $19.3 million, which was attributable to a net loss of $24.0 million and a net change in our net operating assets and liabilities of $3.4 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $8.1 million. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of $8.7 million in stock-based compensation, $1.2 million of depreciation and amortization, $0.2 million of loss on disposal of property and equipment, provision for inventory excess and obsolescence of $0.2 million, and $0.1 million of non-cash operating lease expense, offset by $2.4 million of net amortization of premium on available-for-sales securities. The change in our net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase in prepaid expense and other current asset of $2.3 million primarily due to our annual insurance renewal, a decrease in accrued expense of $1.0 million due to the bonus payout for 2022, and an increase in accounts receivable of $0.4 million.
Investing Activities
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, cash provided by investing activities was $32.4 million, which related to the proceeds from maturities of available-for-sale securities of $134.4 million. This was offset by the purchases of available-for-sale securities of $101.2 million and purchases of property and equipment, primarily for laboratory equipment, of $0.8 million.
During the three months ended March 31, 2023, cash provided by investing activities was $14.5 million, which was attributable to the proceeds from maturities of available-for-sale securities of $146.1 million and proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities of $3.0 million. This was offset by $134.5 million related to purchases of available-for-sale securities.
Financing Activities
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, there were no cash flows from financing activities.
During the three months ended March 31, 2023, cash provided by financing activities was $30,000, which was attributable to net proceeds from the exercise of stock options.
28
Critical Accounting Policies, Significant Judgments and Use of Estimates
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. The preparation of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, as well as revenue and expenses incurred during the reporting periods. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.
While our significant accounting policies are described in the notes to our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, we believe that the following critical accounting policies are most important to understanding and evaluating our reported financial results.
Revenue Recognition
Our revenue is generated primarily from sales of products and services. Product revenue consists of sales of an instrument with embedded software essential to the instrument’s functionality and consumables. Service revenue primarily consists of revenue received from the generation and analysis of proteomic data on behalf of our customers.
We recognize revenue when control of our products and services is transferred to our customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive from our customers in exchange for those products and services. This process involves identifying the contract with a customer, determining the performance obligations in the contract, determining the transaction price, allocating the transaction price to the distinct performance obligations in the contract, and recognizing revenue when the performance obligations have been satisfied. A performance obligation is considered distinct from other obligations in a contract when it provides a benefit to the customer either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer and is separately identified in the contract. We consider a performance obligation satisfied once we have transferred control of a good or service to the customer, meaning the customer has the ability to use and obtain the benefit of the good or service.
Revenue from product sales is recognized when control of the product is transferred, which is generally upon shipment to the customer. In instances where right of payment or transfer of title is contingent upon the customer’s acceptance of the product, revenue is deferred until all acceptance criteria have been met. Revenue from services is recognized once the report is delivered to a customer, which is when the customer obtains benefit of the service.
Revenue is recorded net of discounts and sales taxes collected on behalf of governmental authorities. Customers are invoiced generally upon shipment, or upon delivery of services, and payment is typically due within 30 or 60 days.
29
Cash received from customers in advance of product shipment or providing services is recorded as a contract liability. Our contracts with our customer generally do not include rights of return.
At times, we may enter into arrangements with payment terms which exceed one year from the transfer of control of the product or service. In such cases, we assess whether the arrangement contains a significant financing component. If a significant financing component exists, the transaction price is adjusted for the financing portion of the arrangement, which is recorded as interest income over the payment term using the effective interest method. We do not assess whether a significant financing component exists when, at contract inception, the period between the transfer of control to a customer and final payment is one year or less.
We have elected the practical expedient to account for shipping and handling activities that occur after the customer has obtained control as a fulfillment activity. We expense incremental costs of obtaining a contract as and when incurred if the expected amortization period is one year or less or the amount is immaterial. We exclude from the transaction price all taxes assessed by a governmental authority on revenue-producing transactions that are collected by us from a customer.
We regularly enter into contracts that include various combinations of products and services which are generally distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations. The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation in proportion to its standalone selling price. We determine standalone selling price using average selling prices with consideration of current market conditions. If the product or service has no history of sales or if the sales volume is not sufficient, we rely upon prices set by management, adjusted for applicable discounts.
A portion of our revenue relates to lease arrangements. Standalone lease arrangements are outside the scope of Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue Contracts with Customer and are therefore accounted for in accordance with ASC 842, Leases. The total consideration in a lease arrangement is allocated between lease and non-lease components on their relative stand-alone selling prices. The stand-alone selling price is based on the price we would separately sell that promised good or service to a customer. If a stand-alone price is not available for a component, it is estimated using the best information available.
In determining whether a transaction should be classified as a sales-type or operating lease, the Company considered the following criteria at lease commencement: (1) whether title of the instrument transfers automatically or for a nominal fee by the end of the lease term, (2) whether the present value of the minimum lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the leased instrument, (3) whether the lease term is for the major part of the remaining economic life of the leased instrument, (4) whether the lease grants the lessee an option to purchase the leased instrument that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise, and (5) whether the underlying instrument is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the Company at the end of the lease term. If any of these criteria were met, the lease was classified as a sales-type lease. If none of these criteria are met, the lease was classified as an operating lease.
Shipping revenue is recognized when control of the product is transferred to the customer, and the related shipping and handling costs are included in the cost of revenue.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 2 to our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report for more information about recent accounting pronouncements, the timing of their adoption, and our assessment, to the extent we have made one yet, of their potential impact on our financial condition of results of operations.
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
We have exposure to interest rate risk that relates to our cash and cash equivalents and investments held in money market funds, U.S. Treasury securities, commercial paper, corporate debt securities and government agency debt. The goals of our investment policy are liquidity and capital preservation. We believe that we do not have material exposure to changes in the fair value of these assets as a result of changes in interest rates due to the short-term nature of our cash and cash equivalents and investments.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), we evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the CEO and the CFO, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objective and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on that evaluation, our CEO and CFO have concluded, as of March 31, 2024, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our CEO and CFO, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls
Our management, including our CEO and CFO, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. The design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Further, because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within a company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Controls can also be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Projections of any evaluation of controls effectiveness to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.
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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three months ended March 31, 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
PART II—OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings. From time to time we may be involved in legal proceedings or investigations, which could have an adverse impact on our reputation, business and financial condition and divert the attention of our management from the operation of our business.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our Class A common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this Quarterly Report, including our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Quarterly Report, before deciding whether to invest in our Class A common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In such an event, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations and the market price of our Class A common stock.
Summary Risk Factor
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that you should consider before investing in our company, as more fully described below. The principal factors and uncertainties that make investing in our company risky include, among others:
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Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We are an early-stage life sciences technology company with a history of net losses, which we expect to continue, and we may not be able to generate meaningful revenues or achieve and sustain profitability in the future.
We are an early-stage life sciences technology company, and we have incurred significant losses since we were formed in 2017, and expect to continue to incur losses in the future. We incurred net losses of $20.7 million and $24.0 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of March 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $326.5 million. These losses and accumulated deficit were primarily due to the substantial investments we have made to develop and improve our technology and the Proteograph Product Suite. Over the next several years, we expect to continue to devote substantially all of our resources towards continuing development and commercialization of the Proteograph Product Suite, including sales and marketing, manufacturing and operations costs, and research and development efforts for products and services. These efforts may prove more costly than we currently anticipate. While we have generated product and service revenue, we may never generate revenue sufficient to offset our expenses. In addition, as a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting, administrative, insurance and other expenses. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability in the future or that, if we do become profitable, we will sustain profitability.
We have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and the prospects for our future viability, and to predict our future performance.
We are in the early stages of commercialization of the Proteograph Product Suite. Our operations to date have been primarily focused on developing our technology, products and services. Our prospects must be considered in light of the uncertainties, risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in their early stages of operations. Consequently, predictions about our future success or viability are highly uncertain and may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a company history of successfully developing and commercializing products and services.
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In addition, as a business with a limited operating history, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown obstacles. As we continue to transition from a company with a focus on research and development to a company capable of supporting broad commercial activities as well, we may not be successful in such a transition. We have encountered in the past, and will encounter in the future, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies with limited operating histories in emerging and rapidly changing industries. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan and operate our business, are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly in the future, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below expectations of investors or security analysts or any guidance we may provide, and which may cause the price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate or decline substantially.
Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including, but not limited to:
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The cumulative effects of the factors discussed above could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. Investors should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance.
This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet expectations of industry or financial analysts, or investors, for any period. If we are unable to commercialize products or generate sufficient revenue, or if our operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any guidance we may provide, or if the guidance we provide is below the expectations of analysts or investors, it could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate or decline substantially.
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The size of the markets for the Proteograph Product Suite may be smaller or different from estimated, and new market opportunities may not develop as quickly as we expect, or at all, limiting our ability to successfully sell our products.
The market for proteomics and genomics technologies and products is evolving, making it difficult to predict with any accuracy the size of the markets for our current and future products, including the Proteograph Product Suite. Our estimates of the total addressable market for our current and future products are based on a number of internal and third-party estimates and assumptions. In particular, our estimates are based on our expectations that researchers in the market for certain life sciences research tools and technologies will view our products as competitive alternatives to, or better options than, existing tools and technologies. We also expect researchers will recognize the ability of our products to complement, enhance and enable new applications of their current tools and technologies. We expect them to recognize the value proposition offered by our products, enough to purchase our products in addition to the tools and technologies they already own. Underlying each of these expectations are a number of estimates and assumptions that may be incorrect, including the assumptions that government or other sources of funding will continue to be available to life sciences researchers at times and in amounts necessary to allow them to purchase our products and that researchers have sufficient samples and an unmet need for performing proteomics studies at scale across thousands of samples. In addition, sales of new products and services into new market opportunities may take years to develop and mature and we cannot be certain that these market opportunities will develop as we expect. New life sciences technology may not be adopted until the consistency and accuracy of such technology, method or device has been proven. As a result, the sizes of the annual total addressable market for new markets and new products and services are even more difficult to predict. Our product is an innovative new product, and while we draw comparisons between the evolution and growth of the genomics and proteomics markets, the proteomics market may develop more slowly or differently. In addition, the Proteograph Product Suite may not impact the field of proteomics in the same manner or degree, or within the same time frame, that NGS technologies have impacted the field of genomics, or at all. While we believe our assumptions and the data underlying our estimates of the total addressable market for our products are reasonable, these assumptions and estimates may not be correct and the conditions supporting our assumptions or estimates, or those underlying the third-party data we have used, may change at any time, thereby reducing the accuracy of our estimates. As a result, our estimates of the total addressable market for our products may be incorrect.
The future growth of the market for our current and future products depends on many factors beyond our control, including recognition and acceptance of our products by the scientific community and the growth, prevalence and costs of competing products and solutions. Such recognition and acceptance may not occur in the near term, or at all. If the markets for our current and future products are smaller than estimated or do not develop as we expect, our growth may be limited and our business, financial condition and operational results of operations could be adversely affected.
We are in the early stages of commercialization, and we may not be able to commercialize the Proteograph Product Suite as planned.
We have only recently initiated the broad commercialization of the Proteograph Product Suite, and we may not be able to successfully execute on this phase as planned due to:
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To the extent our broad commercial release phase is unsuccessful, our financial results will be adversely impacted.
Even if we are able to execute on our commercialization plan, our success depends on broad scientific and market acceptance of the Proteograph Product Suite, which we may fail to achieve.
Our ability to achieve and maintain scientific and commercial market acceptance of the Proteograph Product Suite will depend on a number of factors. We expect that the Proteograph will be subject to the market forces and adoption curves common to other new technologies. The market for proteomics and genomics technologies and products is in its early stages of development. If widespread adoption of the Proteograph takes longer than anticipated, or broad scientific and market acceptance does not occur, we will continue to experience operating losses.
The success of life sciences products is due, in large part, to acceptance by the scientific community and their adoption of certain products in the applicable field of research. The life sciences scientific community is often led by a small number of early adopters and key opinion leaders who significantly influence the rest of the community through publications, including peer-reviewed journals. In such journal publications, the researchers will describe not only their discoveries, but also the methods, and typically the products used, to fuel such discoveries. Mentions in publications, including peer-reviewed journal publications, are a driver for the general acceptance of life sciences products, such as the Proteograph Product Suite. We have and continue to collaborate with a small number of key opinion leaders who are highly skilled at evaluating novel technologies and whose feedback helped us solidify our commercialization plans and processes. Ensuring that early adopters and key opinion leaders publish research involving the use of our products is critical to ensuring our products gain widespread scientific acceptance. In addition, continuing collaborative relationships with key opinion leaders is vital to maintaining any market acceptance we achieve. If too few researchers describe the use of our products, too many researchers utilize or shift to a competing product and publish research outlining their use of that product or too many researchers negatively describe the use of our products in publications, it may drive customers away from our products and it may delay market acceptance and adoption of the Proteograph during broad commercialization.
Other factors in achieving commercial market acceptance, include:
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We cannot assure you that we will be successful in addressing each of these criteria or other criteria that might affect the market acceptance of any products we commercialize, particularly the Proteograph Product Suite. If we are unsuccessful in achieving and maintaining market acceptance of the Proteograph, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
If our sales force is less successful than anticipated, we may not be successful in commercializing the Proteograph Product Suite.
We have limited experience as a company in sales and marketing and our ability to successfully commercialize depends on our being able to attract customers for the Proteograph Product Suite. Although members of our management team have considerable industry experience, we need to expand our sales, marketing, distribution and customer service and support capabilities with the appropriate technical expertise during the commercialization of the Proteograph Product Suite. To perform sales, marketing, distribution, and customer service and support successfully, we will face a number of risks, including:
We have enlisted and may seek to enlist additional third parties to assist with sales, distribution and customer service and support globally or in certain regions of the world. There is no guarantee that we have attracted or will be successful in attracting desirable or experienced sales or distribution partners or that we have entered or will be able to enter into such arrangements on favorable terms. In addition, we rely on commercial carriers to transport our products, including consumables that are temperature controlled, to customers in a timely and cost-efficient manner, and if these services are delayed or disrupted, our business may be harmed. If our sales and marketing efforts, and logistics capability, or those of any third-party sales and distribution partners, are not successful, the Proteograph may not gain market acceptance, which could materially impact our business operations.
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Even if the Proteograph Product Suite is successfully commercialized and achieves broad scientific and market acceptance, if we fail to improve it or introduce compelling new products and services, our revenues and our prospects could be harmed.
Even if we are able to broadly commercialize the Proteograph Product Suite and achieve broad scientific and market acceptance, our ability to attract new customers and increase revenue from existing customers will depend in large part on our ability to enhance and improve the Proteograph solution and to introduce compelling new products and services. The success of any enhancement to the Proteograph Product Suite or introduction of new products depends on several factors, including timely completion and delivery, competitive pricing, adequate quality testing, integration with existing technologies, appropriately timed and staged introduction and overall market acceptance. Any new product or enhancement to the Proteograph that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, may contain defects, errors, vulnerabilities or bugs, or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue.
The typical development cycle of new life sciences products can be lengthy and complicated, and may require new scientific discoveries or advancements, considerable resources and complex technology and engineering. Such developments may involve external suppliers and service providers, making the management of development projects complex and subject to risks and uncertainties regarding timing, timely delivery of required components or services and satisfactory technical performance of such components or assembled products. If we do not achieve the required technical specifications or successfully manage new product development processes, or if development work is not performed according to schedule, then such new technologies or products may be adversely impacted. If we are unable to successfully develop new products and services, enhance the Proteograph Product Suite to meet customer requirements, compete with alternative products, or otherwise gain and maintain market acceptance, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
Health epidemics could adversely impact our business and operations.
Our ability to drive the adoption of the Proteograph Product Suite, including our instruments and associated consumables by academic, research and commercial customers depends on our ability to visit customer sites, the ability of our customers to access laboratories, and the ability to install and train on the Proteograph Product Suite and conduct research in light of any health epidemic. These considerations are impacted by factors beyond our control, such as:
The future impact of any health epidemic is highly uncertain and subject to sudden change, including changes in FDA and other regulatory policies that can materially impact our business or that of our customers and partners. This impact could have a material, adverse impact on our liquidity, capital resources, operations and business and those of the third parties on which we rely, such as the manufacturer of our SP100 automation instrument, Hamilton Company, and could worsen over time. Any of these occurrences, and any new epidemics, could significantly harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Unfavorable U.S. or global economic conditions could adversely affect our ability to raise capital and our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Volatility and disruptions in the capital and credit markets could have an adverse effect on our ability to raise additional capital through equity, equity-linked or debt financings, which could negatively impact our short-term and long-term liquidity and our ability to operate in accordance with our operating plan, or at all. Additionally, our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy and financial markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for the Proteograph Product Suite and our ability to raise additional capital when needed on favorable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy, rising inflation, rising interest rates, or bank failures could strain our customers’ budgets or cause delays in their payments to us. Any of the foregoing could harm our business, and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the current economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our ability to raise capital, business, results of operations, financial condition, and cause the stock price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry could impair our ability to access our cash, cash equivalents and investments and to timely meet our financial obligations to our vendors and others.
Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, many of which may be beyond our control, could impair our ability to access our cash, cash equivalents and investments and to timely meet our financial obligations to our vendors and others. If banks and financial institutions with whom we have relationships experience liquidity issues, become insolvent, or enter receivership, we may be unable to access, and we may lose, some of or all our cash, cash equivalents and investments to the extent those funds are not protected by FDIC or SIPC insurance. We regularly maintain cash, cash equivalents and investments that exceed insurance limits or are not insured, and the factors above or other related or similar factors not described above could have a material adverse effect on our financial statements and our vendor and other relationships, and cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.
If we do not sustain or successfully manage our growth or financial resources, our business and prospects will be harmed.
Growing our business will place significant strains on our management, operational and manufacturing systems and processes, sales and marketing team, financial resources, systems and internal controls, and other aspects of our business. Developing and commercializing the Proteograph Product Suite will require us to hire and retain scientific, sales and marketing, software, manufacturing, customer service, distribution, quality assurance and other personnel. In addition, we will need to hire additional accounting, finance and other personnel in connection with our efforts to comply with the requirements of being a public company. As a public company, our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time towards maintaining compliance with these requirements and effectively manage these activities. We may face challenges integrating, developing and motivating our rapidly growing employee base. To effectively manage our growth, we must continue to improve our operational and manufacturing systems and processes, our financial systems and internal controls and other aspects of our business and continue to effectively expand, train and manage our personnel. As our organization continues to grow, we will be required to implement more complex organizational management structures, and may find it increasingly difficult to maintain the benefits of our corporate culture, including our ability to quickly develop and launch new and innovative products. If we do not successfully manage our growth or financial resources, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects will be harmed.
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We depend on our key personnel and other highly qualified personnel, and if we are unable to recruit, train and retain our personnel, we may not achieve our goals.
Our future success depends upon our ability to recruit, train, retain and motivate key personnel. Our senior management team, including Omid Farokhzad, one of our founders and our Chief Executive Officer, and David Horn, our President and Chief Financial Officer, are critical to our vision, strategic direction, product development and commercialization efforts.
The departure of one or more of our executive officers, senior management team members, or other key employees could be disruptive to our business until we are able to hire qualified successors. We do not maintain “key man” life insurance on our senior management team.
Our continued growth and ability to successfully transition from a company primarily focused on development to commercialization depends, in part, on attracting, retaining and motivating qualified personnel, including highly-trained sales personnel with the necessary scientific background and ability to understand our systems at a technical level to effectively identify and sell to potential new customers. New hires typically require significant training and, in many cases, take significant time before they achieve full productivity. Our failure to successfully integrate these key personnel into our business could adversely affect our business. In addition, competition for qualified personnel is intense, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego. We compete for qualified scientific and information technology personnel with other life science and information technology companies as well as academic institutions and research institutions. Some of our scientific personnel are qualified foreign nationals whose ability to live and work in the United States is contingent upon the continued availability of appropriate visas. Due to the competition for qualified personnel in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego, we expect to continue to utilize foreign nationals to fill part of our recruiting needs. As a result, changes to United States immigration policies could restrain the flow of technical and professional talent into the United States and may inhibit our ability to hire qualified personnel.
We have previously announced reductions in force impacting a number of our full-time employees and may announce additional reductions in force from time to time. In addition, we are taking measures to reduce our non-personnel expenses. These measures are part of our broader strategic effort to realign our expense base with our revenue growth as we continue to build the market and drive customer adoption of the Proteograph. The reduction in force and our other restructuring and cost-saving activities may yield unintended consequences and costs and we may not achieve the anticipated benefits of these measures. For example, the reduction in workforce could make it difficult for us to pursue, or prevent us from pursuing, new opportunities and initiatives due to insufficient personnel, or require us to incur additional and unanticipated costs to hire new personnel to pursue such opportunities or initiatives. We also may be required to take additional cost-saving measures in the future, including those involving personnel, and we may incur severance and other related costs. If we are unable to realize the anticipated benefits from the reduction in force and our other cost-saving measures, or if we experience significant adverse consequences from these measures, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We do not maintain fixed term employment contracts with any of our employees. As a result, our employees could leave our company with little or no prior notice and could be free to work for a competitor. Due to the complex and technical nature of our products and technology and the dynamic market in which we compete, any failure to attract, train, retain and motivate qualified personnel could materially harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
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We expect to be dependent upon revenue generated from the sale of the Proteograph Product Suite and related services for the foreseeable future.
We expect that we will generate substantially all of our revenue from the sale of the Proteograph Product Suite and associated consumables and services for the foreseeable future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully broadly commercialize the Proteograph solution, design other products that will meet the expectations of our customers or that any of our future products will become commercially viable. As technologies change in the future for life sciences research tools, generally, and in proteomics and genomics technologies, specifically, we will be expected to upgrade or adapt the Proteograph solution to keep up with the latest technology. To date, we have limited experience simultaneously designing, testing, manufacturing and selling products and there can be no assurance we will be able to do so. Our sales expectations are based in part on the assumption that the Proteograph Product Suite will increase study sizes for our future customers and their associated purchases of our consumables. If sales of our instruments fail to materialize, or our assumptions about study sizes or customer purchases of our consumables, so will the related consumable sales and associated revenue.
In our development and commercialization plans for the Proteograph Product Suite, we may forego other opportunities that may provide greater revenue or be more profitable. If our research and product development efforts do not result in commercially viable products or services within anticipated timelines, or at all, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected. Any delay or failure by us to develop and release the Proteograph Product Suite or new products or product enhancements would have a substantial adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our sales have been concentrated in a small number of customers.
We are in the early stages of our commercialization plan and our revenues have been concentrated in a relatively small number of customers, including a related party, PrognomiQ. For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, PrognomiQ, accounted for 31% and 32% of our revenue, respectively. If one or more customers, including PrognomiQ, terminate all or any portion of their agreements, delay installations or fail to order the anticipated amount of consumables or services, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. See Note 5 - Revenue and Deferred Revenue and Note 10 - Related Party Transactions to our notes to financial statements included in Part I, Item 1, herein for further information regarding our relationship with PrognomiQ.
Our business depends significantly on research and development spending by academic and other research institutions, and other third parties, including commercial organizations, and any reduction in spending could limit demand for our products and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
Substantially all of our sales revenue in the near term will be generated from sales to commercial companies, academic institutions and other research institutions. Certain of these customers’ funding is provided by various state, federal and international government agencies. As a result, the demand for the Proteograph Product Suite and related services depends upon the research and development budgets of these customers, which are impacted by factors beyond our control, such as:
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In addition, various state, federal and international agencies that provide grants and other funding may be subject to stringent budgetary constraints that could result in spending reductions, reduced grant making, reduced allocations or budget cutbacks, which could jeopardize the ability of these customers, or the customers to whom they provide funding, to purchase our products. For example, congressional appropriations to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have generally increased year-over-year, the NIH also experiences occasional year-over-year decreases in appropriations, including as recently as 2013. In addition, funding for life science research has increased more slowly during the past several years compared to previous years and has actually declined in some countries. There is no guarantee that NIH appropriations will not decrease in the future. A decrease in the amount of, or delay in the approval of, appropriations to NIH or other similar United States or international organizations, such as the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom, could result in fewer grants benefiting life sciences research. These reductions or delays could also result in a decrease in the aggregate amount of grants awarded for life sciences research or the redirection of existing funding to other projects or priorities, any of which in turn could cause our customers and potential customers to reduce or delay purchases of our products. Our operating results may fluctuate substantially due to any such reductions and delays. Any decrease in our customers’ budgets or expenditures, or in the size, scope or frequency of their capital or operating expenditures, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
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We rely on single suppliers for some of the components of the Proteograph Product Suite, including a single contract manufacturer to manufacture and supply our instruments. If these suppliers or manufacturers should fail or not perform satisfactorily, our ability to meet demand and supply the Proteograph Product Suite would be adversely affected.
We rely on a single contract manufacturer, Hamilton Company, a manufacturer of precision measurement devices, automated liquid handling workstations, and sample management systems located in Nevada and other locations, to manufacture and supply our instruments. Since our contract with Hamilton does not commit them to carry inventory or make available any particular quantities, Hamilton may give other customers' needs higher priority than ours, we may not be able to obtain adequate supplies in a timely manner or on commercially reasonable terms, and we may incur price increases from Hamilton Company. Further, if Hamilton is unable to obtain critical components used in the Proteograph solution or supply our instruments on the timelines we require, our business and commercialization efforts would be harmed.
In the event it becomes necessary to utilize one or more different contract manufacturers for automated liquid handling workstations, reagents or other product components associated with the Proteograph Product Suite, we would experience additional costs, delays and difficulties in doing so as a result of identifying and entering into new agreements with new suppliers or manufacturers. In addition, we would have to prepare such new suppliers or manufacturers to meet the logistical requirements associated with supplying and manufacturing the Proteograph Product Suite, and our business would suffer.
In addition, certain components used in our products are sourced from limited or sole suppliers. If we were to lose such suppliers, there can be no assurance that we will be able to identify or enter into agreements with alternative suppliers on a timely basis on acceptable terms, if at all. An interruption in our ability to sell and deliver instruments to customers could occur if we encounter delays or difficulties in securing these components, or if the quality of the components supplied does not meet specifications, or if we cannot then obtain an acceptable substitute.
We have limited experience producing and supplying our products, and we may be unable to consistently manufacture or source our SP100 automation instruments and consumables to the necessary specifications or in quantities necessary to meet demand on a timely basis and at acceptable performance and cost levels.
The Proteograph Product Suite is an integrated solution with many different components that work together. As such, a quality defect in a single component can compromise the performance of the entire solution. In order to successfully generate revenue from the Proteograph Product Suite, we need to supply our customers with products that meet their expectations for quality and functionality in accordance with established specifications on a timely basis. Our instruments are manufactured by Hamilton Company at their facility using complex processes, sophisticated equipment and strict adherence to specifications and quality systems procedures. Given the complexity of this automation instrumentation, individual units may occasionally require additional installation and service time prior to becoming available for customer use.
We leverage well-established unit operations to formulate and manufacture our NPs at our facilities in Redwood City, California. We procure certain components of our consumables from third-party manufacturers, which includes the commonly available raw materials needed for manufacturing our proprietary engineered NPs. These manufacturing processes are complex. As we increase the commercial scale formulation and manufacturing of our NP panels, if we are not able to repeatably produce our NPs at commercial scale or source them from third-party suppliers, encounter unexpected difficulties in packaging our consumables, fail to comply with regulations relating to laboratory safety, the handling of human samples, the use and transportation of certain hazardous substances or chemicals, including in commercial products, or the collection, reuse, and recycling of waste from products we manufacture, our business will be adversely impacted.
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As we continue to scale commercially and develop new products, and as our products incorporate increasingly sophisticated technology, it will be increasingly difficult to ensure our products are produced in the necessary quantities without sacrificing quality. There is no assurance that we or our third-party manufacturer will be able to continue to manufacture our SP100 automation instrument so that it consistently achieves the product specifications and produces results with acceptable quality. Our NPs and other consumables have a limited shelf life, after which their performance is not ensured. Shipment of consumables that effectively expire early or shipment of defective instruments or consumables to customers may result in recalls and warranty replacements, which would increase our costs, and depending upon current inventory levels and the availability and lead time for additional inventory, could lead to availability issues. Any future design issues, unforeseen manufacturing problems, such as contamination of or cyber attacks on our or our manufacturers’ facilities, equipment malfunctions, aging components, quality issues with components and materials sourced from third-party suppliers, or failures to strictly follow procedures or meet specifications, may have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, results of operations and financial condition and could result in us or our third-party manufacturers losing International Organization for Standardization (ISO) quality management certifications. If we or our third-party manufacturers fail to obtain or maintain applicable ISO quality management certifications, customers might choose not to purchase products from us.
In addition, as we commercialize the Proteograph Product Suite, we will also need to make corresponding improvements to other operational functions, such as our customer support, service and billing systems, compliance programs and our internal quality assurance programs. We cannot assure you that any increases in scale, related improvements and quality assurance will be successfully implemented or that appropriate personnel will be available. As we develop additional products, we may need to bring new equipment online, implement new systems, technology, controls and procedures and hire personnel with different qualifications.
An inability to manufacture products and components that consistently meet specifications, in necessary quantities, at commercially acceptable costs and without significant delays, may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
Our products could have defects or errors, which may give rise to claims against us, adversely affect market adoption of the Proteograph Product Suite, damage our reputation, and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The Proteograph Product Suite utilizes novel and complex technology, including hardware, consumables and software, and may develop or contain defects, errors or material performance problems. We cannot assure you that material performance problems, defects, or errors will not arise, and as we commercialize the Proteograph, these risks may increase. We provide warranties that our products will meet performance expectations and will be free from material defects. The costs incurred in correcting any defects or errors may be substantial and could adversely affect our operating margins.
In manufacturing the Proteograph Product Suite, we depend upon third parties for the supply of our instruments and various components, many of which require a significant degree of technical expertise to produce. If our suppliers fail to produce our SP100 automation instrument and components to specification or provide defective products to us and our quality control tests and procedures fail to detect such errors or defects, or if we or our suppliers use defective materials or workmanship in the manufacturing process, the reliability and performance of our products will be compromised.
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If the Proteograph Product Suite contains defects, we may experience:
In addition, we expect that the Proteograph Product Suite will be used with our potential customers’ own mass spectrometry (MS) instruments or the MS instrument of a third-party service provider and the performance of these MS instruments is outside of our control. If such third-party products are not produced to specification, are produced in accordance with modified specifications, are defective, or are not used with recommended equipment, they may not be compatible or perform as intended with the Proteograph. In such case, the reliability, results and performance of the Proteograph may be compromised. The occurrence of any one or more of the foregoing may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
We face potential risks related to using, handling, storing, importing, exporting, and transferring biological samples, hazardous materials and substances or chemicals such as reagents in commercial products; the collection, reuse and recycling of waste from products we manufacture and services we provide; and compliance with environmental health and safety regulations.
At our facilities in Redwood City, including our Biohazards Safety Level 2 laboratory, we leverage unit operations to formulate and manufacture our NPs, assemble our consumables, conduct assays and perform mass spectrometer analyses. As we increase the commercial scale, formulation and manufacture of our products using, handling, storing, importing, exporting, and transferring biological samples, hazardous materials and substances or chemicals such as reagents, or if we are unable to repeatably produce our products or perform our services, in compliance with applicable health and safety, and environmental laws, rules and regulations, our operations, including our sales, could be negatively affected. In addition, if we encounter issues in packaging and labelling our consumables, complying with regulations relating to laboratory safety, safety data sheets, handling human samples such as inactive COVID-19 samples, using certain hazardous substances or chemicals such as reagents in commercial products, collecting, reusing and recycling of waste from products we manufacture, or complying with environmental health and safety regulations, our business could be adversely impacted.
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If we do not successfully deploy and implement enhancements of the Instrument Control Software and Proteograph Analysis Suite, our commercialization efforts and, therefore, business and results of operations could suffer.
The success of the Proteograph Product Suite depends, in part, on our ability to design and deploy our Instrument Control Software and Proteograph Analysis Suite in a manner that enables the integration with our potential customers’ systems and accommodates our customers’ needs. Without the Instrument Control Software, the Proteograph may become inoperable. Without the Proteograph Analysis Suite software, quality control of the workflow and data analysis is less accessible and robust, and it may be difficult for our customers to understand and evaluate the quality of their results.
We have and will continue to spend significant amounts of effort continuing to develop our software to meet our customers’ and potential customers’ evolving needs. There is no assurance that the development or deployment of our software will be compelling to our customers or function correctly. In addition, we may experience delays in our release dates of our software, and there can be no assurance that our software will be released according to schedule. If our software development and deployment plan, which may include participation from third party vendors and licensors, does not accurately anticipate customer demands, or if we fail to develop our software in a manner that satisfies customer preferences in a timely and cost-effective manner, the Proteograph Product Suite may fail to gain market acceptance or function correctly. The occurrence of any one or more of the foregoing could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
As we commercialize the Proteograph Product Suite outside of the United States, our international business could expose us to business, regulatory, legal, political, operational, financial, and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.
Engaging in international business inherently involves a number of difficulties and risks, including:
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The collection and transfer of personal data and human samples is subject to increasing regulatory authority around the world. For example, Europe and China have adopted or are in the process of adopting data protections laws, regulations, and practice standards covering personal data, medical samples and data, and their potential transfer across national borders. In some cases, consent from individuals and the opportunity for revocation of consent, handling by local entities, and approvals from regulatory bodies may be required, and enforcement may include suspension of the ability to conduct business in the regulated jurisdiction along with civil fines and criminal penalties. This could increase our compliance costs and subject us to significant risks of doing business in these jurisdictions, and any failure to comply with these laws, rules, and regulations could materially and adversely affect our revenue and business operations.
In particular, there is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and various other countries, most significantly China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs, taxes, and other limitations on cross-border operations. The U.S. government has made and continues to make significant additional changes in U.S. trade policy and may continue to take future actions that could negatively impact U.S. trade. For example, legislation has been introduced in Congress to limit certain U.S. biotechnology companies from using equipment or services produced or provided by select Chinese biotechnology companies, and others in Congress have advocated for the use of existing executive branch authorities to limit those Chinese service providers’ ability to engage in business in the U.S. We cannot predict what actions may ultimately be taken with respect to trade relations between the United States and China or other countries, what products and services may be subject to such actions or what actions may be taken by the other countries in retaliation. If we are unable to obtain or use services from existing service providers or become unable to export or sell our products to any of our customers or service providers, our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.
If one or more of these risks occurs, it could require us to dedicate significant resources to remedy such occurrence, and if we are unsuccessful in finding a solution, our financial results will suffer.
A portion of our international sales is and will be conducted through third-party distributors, and we will not control their efforts to sell our products. If our relationships with these third-party distributors cannot be established or deteriorate, or if these third-party distributors fail to sell our products, or engage in activities that harm our reputation, our results of operation and business may be negatively affected.
Our current commercial model includes direct sales in the United States and elsewhere, and we have built and are building relationships with third party distributors and channel partners in various countries, to enable us to enter additional markets more efficiently. If we are unable to enter or maintain such distribution arrangements on acceptable terms, or at all, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our products in certain countries.
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Furthermore, distributors can choose the level of effort that they apply to selling our products relative to others in their portfolio. Our distributors may not commit the necessary resources to market our products or may favor the products of other companies. The selection, training, and compensation of distributors’ sales personnel are within their control rather than our own and may vary significantly in quality from distributor to distributor. They may experience their own financial difficulties, or distribution relationships may be terminated or allowed to expire, which could increase the cost of or impede commercialization of our products in applicable countries. Disputes may also arise between us and our distributors that result in the delay or termination of commercialization or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management’s attention and resources. Distributors may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our intellectual property, and our confidential or proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property rights, and confidential or proprietary information, and expose us to potential litigation. Distributors could move forward with competing products developed either independently or in collaboration with others, including our competitors.
In addition, although we intend to require contract terms obligating our distributors to comply with all applicable laws regarding the sale of our products, including regulatory labelling, protection of personal data, U.S. export regulations and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), we may not be able to ensure proper compliance. If our distributors fail to effectively market and sell our products in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations, our results of operations and business may suffer.
The life sciences technology market is highly competitive. If we fail to compete effectively, our business and results of operation will suffer.
We face significant competition in the life sciences technology market. We currently compete with life sciences technology and the diagnostic companies that are supplying components, products and services that serve customers engaged in proteomics analysis. These companies include Agilent Technologies, Bruker Corporation, Danaher, DiaSorin, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. We also compete with a number of companies that have developed, or are developing, proteomic products and solutions, such as Nautilus Biotechnology, Olink Proteomics, Quanterix, Quantum-Si and Standard BioTools.
Some of our current competitors are large publicly-traded companies, or are divisions of large publicly-traded companies, and may enjoy a number of competitive advantages over us, including:
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We also face competition from researchers developing their own products. The area in which we compete involves rapid innovation and some of our customers have in the past, and more may in the future, elect to create their own assays rather than rely on a third-party supplier such as ourselves. This is particularly true for the largest research centers and laboratories who are continually testing and trying new technologies, whether from a third-party vendor or developed internally. We will also compete for the resources our customers allocate for purchasing a wide range of products used to analyze the proteome, some of which may be additive to or complementary with our own but not directly competitive.
We cannot assure you that our products will compete favorably or that we will be successful in the face of increasing competition from products and technologies introduced by our existing or future competitors, companies entering our markets or developed by our customers internally. In addition, we cannot assure you that our competitors do not have or will not develop products or technologies that currently or in the future will enable them to produce competitive products with greater capabilities or at lower costs than ours or that are able to run comparable experiments at a lower total experiment cost. Any failure to compete effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may need to raise additional capital to fund commercialization plans for the Proteograph Product Suite, including manufacturing, sales and marketing activities, expand our investments in research, and develop and commercialize new products and applications.
Based on our current plans, we believe that our current cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash flow requirements for at least twelve months from the date of this Quarterly Report. If our available cash resources and anticipated cash flow from operations are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements including because of lower demand for our products or the realization of other risks described in this Quarterly Report, we may be required to raise additional capital prior to such time through issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, entrance into a credit facility or another form of third-party funding or seek other debt financing.
We will consider raising additional capital in the future to expand our business, to pursue strategic investments, to take advantage of financing opportunities or for other reasons, including:
Our present and future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:
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The various ways we could raise additional capital carry potential risks. If we raise funds by issuing equity securities, dilution to our stockholders could result. If we raise funds by issuing debt securities, those debt securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our Class A common stock. The terms of debt securities issued or borrowings pursuant to a credit agreement could impose significant restrictions on our operations. If we borrow funds from or deposit funds in banks or other financial institutions, we might encounter increasingly restrictive requirements and be subject to their solvency risk. If we raise funds through collaborations or licensing arrangements, we might be required to relinquish significant rights to our technologies or products or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, if we require it, our ability to continue to pursue our business objectives and to respond to business opportunities, challenges, or unforeseen circumstances could be significantly limited, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may acquire other companies, or their assets or technologies, enter into joint ventures, or make other strategic investments in companies, which could divert our management’s attention, result in additional dilution to our stockholders and otherwise disrupt our operations and harm our operating results.
We may in the future seek to acquire businesses, applications or technologies that we believe could complement or expand the Proteograph Product Suite or future products or services, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. The pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various costs and expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated. We may not be able to identify desirable acquisition targets or be successful in entering into an agreement with any particular target or obtain the expected benefits of any acquisition or investment.
To date, the growth of our operations has been organic, and we have limited experience in acquiring other businesses or technologies. We may not be able to successfully integrate acquired personnel, operations and technologies, or effectively manage the combined business following an acquisition. Acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities, the use of our available cash, or the incurrence of debt, which could harm our operating results. In addition, if an acquired business fails to meet our expectations, our operating results, business and financial condition may suffer.
We also may make investments in early-stage companies that we believe are advancing or developing new technologies applicable to our businesses. These investments are generally illiquid at the time of investment. We have and expect to continue to recognize gains or losses attributable to adjustments of the investments’ fair value, including impairments up to and including the full value of the investment, which events are generally outside of our control such as the success or failure of the company and market volatility. In some cases, we may also enter into separate commercial arrangements with these companies, whether before, concurrently with, or after making an investment. In certain cases, the commercial arrangement may be a driving factor behind our investment. We cannot assure you that the commercial arrangement will further our business strategy as we expected. We may not realize all the economic benefits expected from the commercial agreement or realize the expected return on our investments.
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We may not realize the benefits of PrognomiQ as a separate healthcare company in the area of disease testing.
In August 2020, we transferred certain assets to PrognomiQ, as a separate healthcare company to help enable the growth of ecosystems around new applications that leverage the Proteograph solution for unbiased, deep and large-scale proteomic information. As of March 31, 2024, we held approximately 15% of the outstanding capital stock of PrognomiQ. We may not realize the potential benefits of forming PrognomiQ for a variety of reasons, including:
Further, PrognomiQ is a separate entity, and as such, may decide over time to pursue a different business model, decide to do business with our competitors in addition to or instead of with us, be acquired by a competitor or take other actions that may not be beneficial to us.
Risks Related to Financial Reporting
We are required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to achieve and maintain effective internal controls, our operating results and financial condition could be harmed and the market price of our Class A common stock may be negatively affected.
As a public company with SEC reporting obligations, we are required to document and test our internal control procedures to satisfy the requirements of Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), which requires annual assessments by management of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Because we re-qualified as a smaller reporting company, as of December 31, 2023, we are a non-accelerated filer and are no longer required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act until we become an accelerated filer or large accelerated filer.
During our assessments, we may identify deficiencies that we are unable to remediate in a timely manner. Testing and maintaining our internal control over financial reporting may also divert management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404(a) of SOX. If we conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, the cost and scope of remediation actions and their effect on our operations may be significant. Moreover, any material weaknesses or other deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting may impede our ability to file timely and accurate reports with the SEC, and there could be a failure to meet exchange listing requirements. Any of the above could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information or our Class A common stock listing on Nasdaq to be suspended or terminated, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
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If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, or otherwise fail to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we may not be able to accurately and timely report our financial results, which may adversely affect our business and investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.
If we are unable to successfully maintain internal control over financial reporting, or identify any material weaknesses, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, adversely impact our stock price, cause us to incur increased costs to remediate any deficiencies, and attract regulatory scrutiny or lawsuits that could be costly to resolve and distract management’s attention, limit our ability to access the capital markets or cause our stock to be delisted from The Nasdaq Global Select Market or any other securities exchange on which it is then listed. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner or prevent fraud, which would harm our business.
Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations in a timely manner, or at all. In addition, any testing by us conducted in connection with Section 404(a) of SOX or any subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with Section 404(b) of SOX, may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be significant deficiencies or material weaknesses or that may require prospective or retroactive changes to our condensed consolidated financial statements or identify other areas for further attention or improvement. We are also required to disclose material changes made in our internal controls over financing reporting and procedures on a quarterly basis and our management is required to assess the effectiveness of these controls annually. Remediation of previous material weaknesses may not be effective or prevent any future deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock.
To achieve compliance with Section 404(a) within the prescribed period, we have engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a plan to assess and document the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are designed and operating effectively and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting.
An independent assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls could detect problems that our management’s assessment might not identify. Undetected material weaknesses in our internal controls could lead to financial statement restatements and require us to incur the expense of remediation.
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Changes in, or evolving interpretations of, financial accounting rules, regulations, standards or practices could result in unfavorable accounting changes, require us to, for example, change our compensation policies or restate our financial statements, or cause adverse, unexpected fluctuations in our operating results, resulting in a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.
The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and estimates and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. However, we have a limited operating history. It is possible that interpretation, industry practice and guidance may evolve as we apply the new standard. If our assumptions underlying our estimates and judgments relating to our critical accounting policies change or if actual circumstances differ from our assumptions, estimates or judgments, or if accounting rules, regulations, standards or practices change, our compensation practices may need to change or our financial statements may need to be restated, and our operating results may be adversely affected and could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.
Risks Related to Regulatory Compliance
If we elect to label and promote any of our products as clinical diagnostics tests or medical devices, we would be required to obtain prior approval or clearance by the FDA, which would take significant time and expense and could fail to result in FDA clearance or approval for the intended uses we believe are commercially attractive.
Our products are labeled, promoted, sold as research use only (RUO) products, primarily to academic and research institutions and research companies, and are not designed or intended to be used for diagnostic procedures, clinical diagnostic tests or as medical devices. If we elect to label and market our products for use as, or in the performance of, clinical diagnostics in the United States, thereby subjecting them to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation as medical devices, we would be required to obtain premarket 510(k) clearance or premarket approval from the FDA, unless an exception applies.
We may in the future register with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and list some of our products with the FDA pursuant to an FDA Class I listing for general purpose laboratory equipment. While this regulatory classification is exempt from certain FDA requirements, such as the need to submit a premarket notification commonly known as a 510(k), and some of the requirements of the FDA’s Quality System Regulations (QSRs), we would be subject to ongoing FDA “general controls,” which include compliance with FDA regulations for labeling, inspections by the FDA, complaint evaluation, corrections and removals reporting, promotional restrictions, reporting adverse events or malfunctions for our products, and general prohibitions against misbranding and adulteration. The FDA issued a final rule in February 2024 replacing the QSR with Quality Management System Regulation (QMSR), which incorporates by reference the quality management system requirements of ISO 13485:2016. The FDA has stated that the standards contained in ISO 13485:2016 are substantially similar to those set forth in the existing QSR. FDA will begin to enforce the QMSR requirements upon the effective date, February 2, 2026.
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In January 2024, FDA announced its plans to reclassify certain high-risk in vitro diagnostics, including companion diagnostics, as Class II devices. In addition, we may in the future submit 510(k) premarket notifications to the FDA to obtain FDA clearance of certain of our products on a selective basis. It is possible, in the event we elect to submit 510(k) applications for certain of our products, that the FDA would take the position that a more burdensome premarket application, such as a premarket approval application (PMA) or a de novo application is required for some of our products. If such applications were required, greater time and investment would be required to obtain FDA approval. Even if the FDA agreed that a 510(k) was appropriate, FDA clearance can be expensive and time consuming. It generally takes a significant amount of time to prepare a 510(k), including conducting appropriate testing on our products, and several months to years for the FDA to review a submission. Notwithstanding the effort and expense, FDA clearance or approval could be denied for some or all of our products for which we choose to market as a medical device or a clinical diagnostic device. Even if we were to seek and obtain regulatory approval or clearance, it may not be for the intended uses we request or that we believe are important or commercially attractive. There can be no assurance that future products for which we may seek premarket clearance or approval will be approved or cleared by FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority on a timely basis, if at all, nor can there be assurance that labeling claims will be consistent with our anticipated claims or adequate to support continued adoption of such products. Compliance with FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority regulations will require substantial costs, and subject us to heightened scrutiny by regulators and substantial penalties for failure to comply with such requirements or the inability to market our products. The lengthy and unpredictable premarket clearance or approval process, as well as the unpredictability of the results of any required clinical studies, may result in our failing to obtain regulatory clearance or approval to market such products, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations, reputation, and prospects.
If we sought and received regulatory clearance or approval for certain of our products, we would be subject to ongoing FDA obligations and continued regulatory oversight and review, including the general controls listed above and the FDA’s QSRs for our development and manufacturing operations. In addition, we would be required to obtain a new 510(k) clearance before we could introduce subsequent modifications or improvements to such products. We could also be subject to additional FDA post-marketing obligations for such products, any or all of which would increase our costs and divert resources away from other projects. If we sought and received regulatory clearance or approval and are not able to maintain regulatory compliance with applicable laws, we could be prohibited from marketing our products for use as, or in the performance of, clinical diagnostics and/or could be subject to enforcement actions, including warning letters and adverse publicity, fines, injunctions, and civil penalties; recall or seizure of products; operating restrictions; and criminal prosecution.
In addition, we could decide to seek regulatory clearance or approval for certain of our products in countries outside of the United States. Sales of such products outside the United States will likely be subject to foreign regulatory requirements, which can vary greatly from country to country. As a result, the time required to obtain clearances or approvals outside the United States may differ from that required to obtain FDA clearance or approval and we may not be able to obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis or at all. In Europe, we would need to comply with the new Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 and In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation 2017/746, which became effective on May 26, 2021 (postponed from 2020) and May 26, 2022 respectively. In 2023, the European Parliament voted to extend the transition timelines for MDR and IVDR. These regulations increase the clinical requirements and will increase the difficulty of regulatory approvals in Europe. In addition, the FDA regulates exports of medical devices. Failure to comply with these regulatory requirements or obtain and maintain required approvals, clearances and certifications could impair our ability to commercialize our products for diagnostic use outside of the United States.
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Our products could become subject to government regulation as medical devices by the FDA and other regulatory agencies even if we do not elect to seek regulatory clearance or approval to market our products for diagnostic purposes, which would adversely impact our ability to market and sell our products and harm our business. If our products become subject to FDA regulation, the regulatory clearance or approval and the maintenance of continued and post-market regulatory compliance for such products will be expensive, time-consuming, and uncertain both in timing and in outcome.
We do not currently expect the Proteograph Product Suite to be subject to the clearance or approval of the FDA, as it is not intended to be used for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease. However, as we expand our product line and the applications and uses of our current or products into new fields, certain of our future products could become subject to regulation by the FDA, or comparable international agencies, including requirements for regulatory clearance or approval of such products before they can be marketed. Also, even as our products are labeled, promoted, and intended as RUO, the FDA or comparable agencies of other countries could disagree with our conclusion that our products are intended for research use only or deem our sales, marketing and promotional efforts as being inconsistent with RUO products. For example, our customers may independently elect to use our RUO labeled products in their own laboratory developed tests (LDTs) for clinical diagnostic use, which could subject our products to government regulation, and the regulatory clearance or approval and maintenance process for such products may be uncertain, expensive, and time-consuming. Regulatory requirements related to marketing, selling, and distribution of RUO products could change or be uncertain, even if clinical uses of our RUO products by our customers were done without our consent. If the FDA or other regulatory authorities assert that any of our RUO products are subject to regulatory clearance or approval, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be adversely affected.
Legislative and administrative proposals to amend the FDA's oversight of LDTs have been introduced in recent years, including the Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT Development Act of 2021 (VALID Act). In September 2022, Congress passed the FDA user fee reauthorization legislation without substantive FDA policy riders, including the VALID Act, but Congress may revisit the policy riders and enact other FDA programmatic reforms in the future. In April 2024, the FDA released its final rule to regulate LDTs, which may impact the sales of our products and how customers use our products, and may require us to change our business model in order to maintain compliance with these laws. We cannot predict how Congress or the FDA will regulate LDTs in the future, or how that regulatory system will impact our business. Changes to the current regulatory framework, including the imposition of additional or new regulations, including regulation of our products, could arise at any time during the development or marketing of our products, which may negatively affect our ability to obtain or maintain FDA or comparable regulatory approval of our products, if required. Further, sales of devices for diagnostic purposes may subject us to additional healthcare regulation and enforcement by the applicable government agencies. Such laws include, without limitation, state and federal anti-kickback or anti-referral laws, healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, privacy and security laws, Physician Payments Sunshine Act and related transparency and manufacturer reporting laws, and other laws and regulations applicable to medical device manufacturers.
Additionally, on November 25, 2013, the FDA issued Final Guidance “Distribution of In Vitro Diagnostic Products Labeled for Research Use Only.” The guidance emphasizes that the FDA will review the totality of the circumstances when it comes to evaluating whether equipment and testing components are properly labeled as RUO. The final guidance states that merely including a labeling statement that the product is for research purposes only will not necessarily render the device exempt from the FDA’s clearance, approval, and other regulatory requirements if the circumstances surrounding the distribution, marketing and promotional practices indicate that the manufacturer knows its products are, or intends for its products to be, used for clinical diagnostic purposes. These circumstances may include written or verbal sales and marketing claims or links to articles regarding a product’s performance in clinical applications and a manufacturer’s provision of technical support for clinical applications.
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It is unclear how future legislation by federal and state governments and FDA regulation will impact the industry, including our business and that of our customers. In the future, to the extent we or our partners develop any medical devices subject to FDA regulation, failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in enforcement action by the government, which may include warning letters, untitled letters, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, recall or seizure of products, among others.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to obtain, maintain and enforce sufficient intellectual property protection for our products, services and technology, or if the scope of the intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our products may be impaired.
We rely on patent protection as well as trademark, copyright, trade secret and other intellectual property rights protection and contractual restrictions to protect our proprietary products, services and technologies, all of which provide limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. If we fail to obtain, maintain, enforce and protect our intellectual property, third parties may be able to compete more effectively against us. In addition, we may incur substantial litigation costs in our attempts to recover or restrict use of our intellectual property.
To the extent our intellectual property offers inadequate protection, or is found to be invalid or unenforceable, we would be exposed to a greater risk of direct competition. If our intellectual property does not provide adequate coverage of our competitors’ products or services, our competitive position could be adversely affected, as could our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Both the patent application process and the process of managing patent and other intellectual property disputes can be time-consuming, expensive and unpredictable.
Our success depends in large part on our and our licensor’s ability to obtain and maintain protection of the intellectual property we may own solely and jointly with, or license from, third parties, particularly patents, in the United States and other countries with respect to our products and technologies. We apply for patents covering our products and technologies and uses thereof, as we deem appropriate. However, obtaining and enforcing patents is costly, time-consuming and complex, and we may fail to apply for patents on important products, services and technologies in a timely fashion or at all, or we may fail to apply for patents in potentially relevant jurisdictions. We may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications, or maintain, enforce and license any patents that may issue from such patent applications, at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner or in all jurisdictions. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, we may not develop additional proprietary products, services and technologies that are patentable. We may not have the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the rights to patents licensed from or to third parties. Therefore, these patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced by such third parties in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business.
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In addition, the patent position of life sciences technology companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions, and has been the subject of much litigation in recent years. Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the United States or other countries or regions may diminish the value of our intellectual property. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability, and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. It is possible that none of our pending patent applications will result in issued patents in a timely fashion or at all, and even if patents are granted, they may not provide a basis for intellectual property protection of commercially viable products or services, may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be challenged, narrowed and invalidated by third parties. We cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third-party patents. It is possible that third parties will design around our current or future patents such that we cannot prevent such third parties from using similar technologies and commercializing similar products or services to compete with us. Some of our owned or licensed patents or patent applications may be challenged at a future point in time and we may not be successful in defending any such challenges made against our patents or patent applications. Any successful third-party challenge to our patents could result in the narrowing, unenforceability or invalidity of such patents and increased competition to our business. The outcome of patent litigation or other proceeding can be uncertain, and any attempt by us to enforce our patent rights against others or to challenge the patent rights of others may not be successful, or, regardless of success, may take substantial time and result in substantial cost, and may divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business. Any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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The U.S. law relating to the patentability of certain inventions in the life sciences technology industry is uncertain and rapidly changing, which may adversely impact our existing patents or our ability to obtain patents in the future.
Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States or in other jurisdictions could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. For instance, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the America Invents Act, enacted in September 2011, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application is entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third party was the first to invent the claimed invention. These changes include allowing third-party submission of prior art to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during patent prosecution and additional procedures to challenge the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review and derivation proceedings. The America Invents Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and future patent applications, and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have rendered decisions that impact the scope of patentability of certain inventions or discoveries relating to the life sciences technology. Specifically, these decisions stand for the proposition that patent claims that recite laws of nature or abstract ideas are not themselves patentable unless those patent claims have sufficient additional features that provide practical assurance that the processes are genuine inventive applications of those laws rather than patent drafting efforts designed to monopolize the law of nature itself. What constitutes a “sufficient” additional feature is uncertain. Furthermore, in view of these decisions, since December 2014, the USPTO has published and continues to publish revised guidelines for patent examiners to apply when examining process claims for patent eligibility.
In addition, U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that may have a material adverse effect on our ability to obtain new patents and to defend and enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.
We cannot assure you that our patent portfolio will not be negatively impacted by the current uncertain state of the law, new court rulings or changes in guidance or procedures issued by the USPTO or other similar patent offices around the world. From time to time, the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may change the standards of patentability, scope and validity of patents within the life sciences technology and any such changes, or any similar adverse changes in the patent laws of other jurisdictions, could have a material and negative impact on our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations.
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We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on our technology, services and products, including the Proteograph Product Suite, in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States.
The laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and we and our licensor may encounter difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. Obtaining granted patents in foreign jurisdictions is time-consuming and expensive, the outcome is unpredictable, and some countries are unable to prosecute and grant patents in a timely manner. Consequently, we and our licensor(s) may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in some or all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our or our licensor’s inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. It is unknown whether we will be successful in obtaining patents with sufficient claim scope in certain jurisdictions to block third parties, in a cost effective or in a timely manner, and if we are unable to do so it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation and prospects in various geographies.
Moreover, European applications now have the option, upon grant of a patent, of becoming a Unitary Patent which will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court (UPC). This is a significant change in European patent practice. As the UPC is a new court system, there is no precedent for the court, increasing the uncertainty of any patent litigation in Europe.
Competitors and other third parties may also use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products, services and technologies and may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products. Our and our licensor’s patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing. In addition, certain countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to other parties. Furthermore, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against other parties, including government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of any patents.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of many other countries do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the misappropriation or other violations of our intellectual property rights including infringement of our patents in such countries. The legal systems in certain countries may also favor state-sponsored or companies headquartered in particular jurisdictions over our first-in-time patents and other intellectual property protection. Geopolitical actions worldwide could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution or maintenance of our patent applications or those of any current or future licensors and the maintenance, enforcement or defense of our issued patents or those of any current or future licensors. The absence of harmonized intellectual property protection laws and effective enforcement makes it difficult to ensure consistent respect for patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property rights on a worldwide basis. As a result, it is possible that we will not be able to enforce our rights against third parties that misappropriate our proprietary technology in those countries.
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Proceedings to enforce our or our licensor’s patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our and our licensor’s patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our and our licensor’s patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We and our licensors may not prevail in any lawsuits that we or our licensor initiate, or that are initiated against us or our licensor, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. In addition, changes in the law and legal decisions by courts in the United States and foreign countries may affect our ability to obtain adequate protection for our products, services and other technologies and the enforcement of intellectual property. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license. Any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Issued patents covering our products or services could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged.
Our owned and licensed patents and patent applications may be subject to validity, enforceability and priority disputes. The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability. Some of our patents or patent applications (including licensed patents and patent applications) have been, and may be challenged at a future point in time in third-party observations, opposition, revocation, nullification, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference or other similar proceedings. Any successful third-party challenge to our patents in this or any other proceeding could result in the unenforceability or invalidity of such patents, which may lead to increased competition to our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, if we or our licensor initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering our products or services, the defendant could counterclaim that such patent covering our products or services, as applicable, is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. There are numerous grounds upon which a third party can assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, lack of written description or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the relevant patent office, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include ex parte re-examination, inter partes review, post-grant review, derivation and equivalent proceedings in non-U.S. jurisdictions, such as opposition proceedings. Such proceedings could result in revocation of or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover and protect our products, or exclude our competitor’s products. With respect to the validity of our patents, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art of which we, our licensor, our or its patent counsel and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability during patent litigation is unpredictable. If a defendant or other third party were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on certain aspects of our products, services and technologies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license intellectual property, or develop or commercialize current or future products.
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We may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our products or services. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until approximately 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not until such patent applications issue as patents. We might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and we might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions. To determine the priority of these inventions, we may have to participate in interference proceedings, derivation proceedings or other post-grant proceedings declared by the USPTO, or other similar proceedings in non-U.S. jurisdictions, that could result in substantial cost to us and the loss of valuable patent protection. The outcome of such proceedings is uncertain. No assurance can be given that other patent applications will not have priority over our patent applications. In addition, changes to the patent laws of the United States allow for various post-grant opposition proceedings that have not been extensively tested, and their outcome is therefore uncertain. Furthermore, if third parties bring these proceedings against our patents, regardless of the merit of such proceedings and regardless of whether we are successful, we could experience significant costs and our management may be distracted. Any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, the value of our technology could be materially adversely affected and our business could be harmed.
We may rely heavily on trade secrets and confidentiality agreements to protect our unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary and confidential information, including parts of the Proteograph Product Suite and related services, and to maintain our competitive position. However, trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect. In particular, we anticipate that with respect to our technologies, these trade secrets and know how will over time be disseminated within the industry through independent development, the publication of journal articles describing the methodology, and the movement of personnel between academia and industry.
In addition to pursuing patents on our technology, we take steps to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology by entering into agreements, including confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements, with our employees, consultants, academic institutions, corporate partners and, when needed, our advisers. However, we cannot be certain that such agreements have been entered into with all relevant parties, and we cannot be certain that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors or other third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. For example, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Such agreements may not be enforceable or may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure or other breaches of the agreements, and we may not be able to prevent such unauthorized disclosure, which could have a material and adverse impact on our ability to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in the market and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Monitoring unauthorized disclosure is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to prevent such disclosure are, or will be, adequate. If we were to enforce a claim that a third party had wrongfully obtained and was using our trade secrets, it would be expensive and time-consuming, it could distract our personnel, and the outcome would be unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States may be less willing to protect trade secrets.
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We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our confidential proprietary information by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems, but it is possible that these security measures could be breached. If any of our confidential proprietary information were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor or other third party, absent patent protection, we would have no right to prevent such competitor from using that technology or information to compete with us, which could harm our competitive position. Competitors or third parties could obtain our products and attempt to replicate some or all of the competitive advantages we derive from our development efforts, design around our protected technology, develop their own competitive technologies that fall outside the scope of our intellectual property rights or independently develop our technologies without reference to our trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently discovered by a competitor or other third party, it could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our patents and other intellectual property.
We or our licensor have been, and may be, subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. For example, on December 28, 2023, Giulio Caracciolo (Caracciolo) and Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare Sapienza Universita di Roma filed a lawsuit against us, The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc. (BWH), and other inventors in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Case No. 4:23-cv-06643). The complaint alleges, among other things, that Caracciolo was wrongfully excluded as an inventor on certain patents that we have exclusively licensed from BWH. The outcome of any claims or litigation, regardless of the merits, is inherently uncertain. Moreover, we or our licensor may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants or others who are involved in developing our products. In addition, counterparties to our consulting, sponsored research, software development and other agreements may assert that they have an ownership interest in intellectual property developed under such arrangements. In particular, certain software development agreements pursuant to which certain third parties have developed parts of our proprietary software may not include provisions that expressly assign to us ownership of all intellectual property developed for us by such third parties. Furthermore, certain of our sponsored research agreements pursuant to which we provide certain research services for third parties do not assign to us all intellectual property developed under such agreements. As such, we may not have the right to use all such developed intellectual property under such agreements, we may be required to obtain licenses from third parties and such licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may be non-exclusive. If we are unable to obtain such licenses and such licenses are necessary for the development, manufacture and commercialization of our products and technologies, we may need to cease the development, manufacture and commercialization of our products and technologies.
Litigation has been, and may be, necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship of our or our licensor’s ownership of our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property. If we or our licensor fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, intellectual property that is important to our technologies and products, including the Proteograph Product Suite, including our software, workflows, consumables, reagent kits, and related services. In such an event, we may be required to obtain licenses from third parties and such licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may be non-exclusive. If we are unable to obtain and maintain such licenses, we may need to cease the development, manufacture and commercialization of our products, services and technologies. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees, and certain customers or partners may defer engaging with us until the particular dispute is resolved. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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We may not be able to protect and enforce our trademarks and trade names, or build name recognition in our markets of interest thereby harming our competitive position.
The registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names that we own may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic, lapsed or determined to be infringing on or dilutive of other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights in these trademarks and trade names, which we need in order to build name recognition. In addition, third parties have filed, and may in the future file, for registration of trademarks similar or identical to our trademarks, thereby impacting our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims, or other challenges to our trademarks, brought by owners of trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Further, from time to time, we enter into agreements with owners of such third party trade names or trademarks to avoid potential trademark litigation which may impact our ability to use our trade names or trademarks in certain fields of business. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may suffer a competitive disadvantage, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. Any of the foregoing events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our products, services and technologies, including the Proteograph Product Suite for an adequate amount of time.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. While extensions may be available, the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. In the United States, a patent’s term may, in certain cases, be lengthened by patent term adjustment, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays by the USPTO in examining and granting a patent, or may be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over a commonly owned patent or a patent naming a common inventor and having an earlier expiration date. Even if patents covering our products or services are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition from competitive products. If one of our products requires extended development, testing and/or regulatory review, patents protecting such products might expire before or shortly after such products are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We may become involved in lawsuits to defend against third-party claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property or to protect or enforce our intellectual property, any of which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful, and may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.
Our commercial success depends in part on our ability and the ability of future collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product and use our products and technologies without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patents and other intellectual property rights in the life sciences technology sector, as well as administrative proceedings for challenging patents, including interference, derivation, inter partes review, post grant review, and reexamination proceedings before the USPTO, or oppositions and other comparable proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. We may be exposed to, or threatened with, future litigation by third parties having patent or other intellectual property rights alleging that our products, services, manufacturing methods, software and/or technologies infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their intellectual property rights. Numerous issued patents and pending patent applications that are owned by third parties exist in the fields in which we are developing our products and technologies. It is not always clear to industry participants, including us, the claim scope that may issue from pending patent applications owned by third parties or which patents cover various types of products, services, technologies or their methods of use or manufacture. Thus, because of the large number of patents issued and patent applications filed in our fields, there may be a risk that third parties, including our competitors, may allege they have patent rights encompassing our products, technologies or methods and that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization.
If third parties, including our competitors, believe that our products or technologies infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their intellectual property, such third parties may seek to enforce their intellectual property, including patents, by filing an intellectual property-related lawsuit, including patent infringement lawsuit, against us. Even if we believe the third-party intellectual property claims are without merit, there is no assurance that a court would find in our favor on questions of infringement, validity, enforceability, or priority. For example, we are aware of a U.S. issued patent owned by a third party that is directed to a method for diagnosing a biological condition by analyzing certain types of proteins, including through the use of nanoparticles. Such patent is expected to expire in 2026, without taking into account any possible patent term adjustments or extensions. We are also aware of an issued patent and pending patent application in Europe owned by a third party directed to a method of identifying biomarkers in biofluids using nanoparticles, which is projected to expire in 2037 without taking into account any possible patent term extensions. Such patents and patent application could be construed or claim scope obtained to cover certain aspects of our current or future products, services or technologies, including the Proteograph Product Suite. If any of these third parties, or any other third parties, were to assert these or any other patents against us and we are unable to successfully defend against any such assertion, we may be required, including by court order, to cease the development and commercialization of the infringing products, services or technologies and we may be required to redesign such products, services or technologies so they do not infringe such patents, which may not be possible or may require substantial monetary expenditures and time. We could also be required to pay damages, which could be significant, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed such patents. We could also be required to obtain a license to such patents in order to continue the development and commercialization of the infringing product or technology, however such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, including because certain of these patents are held by or may be licensed to our competitors. Even if such license were available, it may require substantial payments or cross-licenses under our intellectual property rights, and it may only be available on a nonexclusive basis, in which case third parties, including our competitors, could use the same licensed intellectual property to compete with us. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation or prospects.
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We may choose to challenge, including in connection with any allegation of patent infringement by a third party, the patentability, validity or enforceability of any third-party patent that we believe may have applicability in our field, and any other third-party patent that may be asserted against us. Such challenges may be brought either in court or by requesting that the USPTO, European Patent Office (EPO), or other foreign patent offices review the patent claims, such as in an ex-parte reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review proceeding, opposition or other comparable proceeding. However, there can be no assurance that any such challenge by us or any third party will be successful. Even if such proceedings are successful, these proceedings are expensive and may consume our time or other resources, distract our management and technical personnel, and the costs of these proceedings could be substantial. There can be no assurance that our defenses of non-infringement, invalidity or unenforceability in a court of law will succeed.
Third parties, including our competitors, could be infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our owned and in-licensed intellectual property rights. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. From time to time, we seek to analyze our competitors’ products and services, and may in the future seek to enforce our rights against potential infringement, misappropriation or violation of our intellectual property. However, the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property rights may not be adequate to enforce our rights as against such infringement, misappropriation or violation of our intellectual property. Any inability to meaningfully enforce our intellectual property rights could harm our ability to compete and reduce demand for our products and technologies.
Litigation proceedings may be necessary for us to enforce our patent and other intellectual property rights. In any such proceedings, a court may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our owned and in-licensed patents do not cover the technology in question. Further, in such proceedings, the defendant could counterclaim that our intellectual property is invalid or unenforceable and the court may agree, in which case we could lose valuable intellectual property rights, which could allow third parties to commercialize technology, services or products similar to ours and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or could require us to obtain license rights from the prevailing party in order to be able to manufacture or commercialize our products without infringing such party’s intellectual property rights, and if we unable to obtain such a license, we may be required to cease commercialization of our products, services and technologies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The outcome in any such proceedings are unpredictable.
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Regardless of whether we are defending against or asserting any intellectual property-related proceeding, any such intellectual property-related proceeding that may be necessary in the future, regardless of outcome, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our Class A common stock. Some of our competitors and other third parties may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources and more mature and developed intellectual property portfolios. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct these types of litigation or proceedings. Any of the foregoing, or any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various required procedures, document submissions, fee payments and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various governmental patent agencies outside of the United States at several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications. The USPTO and various non-U.S. governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. In certain circumstances, we rely on our licensor to pay these fees due to the U.S. and non-U.S. patent agencies and to take the necessary action to comply with these requirements with respect to our licensed intellectual property. In many cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, our competitors may be able to enter the market without infringing our patents and this circumstance would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Our employees, consultants, advisors or independent contractors may have wrongfully used or disclosed, or may in the future wrongfully use or disclose, confidential information or alleged trade secrets of ours, third parties or former employers.
We have employed and expect to employ individuals, and engaged consultants and expect to engage consultants, who were previously employed, or consulted, at academic institutions and other companies and entities, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants, advisors and independent contractors do not use confidential or proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that our employees, advisors, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information of their former employers or other third parties, or to claims that we have improperly used or obtained such trade secrets. Domestic or international litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights and face increased competition to our business. Any such litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with advisors, contractors and consultants. A loss of key research personnel work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize potential products, which could harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management. This type of litigation or proceeding could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of this type of litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their substantially greater financial resources.
In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. The assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing, or the assignment agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Furthermore, individuals executing agreements with us may have pre-existing or competing obligations to a third party, such as an academic institution, and thus an agreement with us may be ineffective in perfecting ownership of inventions developed by that individual, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Furthermore, we or our licensor have been, or may be, subject to claims by former employees, consultants or other third parties asserting an ownership right in our owned or licensed patents or patent applications. For example, as discussed above, a lawsuit was filed relating to inventorship for certain patents that we have exclusively licensed from BWH. An adverse determination in any such proceeding may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar technology, without payment to us, or could limit the duration of the patent protection covering our technology and products. Such challenges may also result in our inability to develop, manufacture or commercialize our products or services without infringing third-party patent rights. Any of the foregoing could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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We currently rely on a license from a third party, and in the future may rely on additional licenses from other third parties, in relation to our technologies, services and products, including the Proteograph Product Suite and related services, and if we lose any of these licenses, then we may be subjected to future litigation.
We are, and may in the future become, a party to license agreements that grant us rights to use certain intellectual property, including patents and patent applications, typically in certain specified fields of use. Currently, we rely on an in-license from BWH, for patents, for example, relating to methods of using nanoparticles to measure the proteome, including the methods used in the Proteograph Product Suite and may in the future rely on licenses from other third parties with respect to our products, including the Proteograph Product Suite, or other technology. Our rights to use licensed technology in our business are subject to the continuation of and compliance with the terms of the BWH license and any licenses we may enter into in the future. Some of these licensed rights provide us with freedom to operate for aspects of our products and technologies. As a result, any termination of this license could result in the loss of significant rights and could harm our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize our products, including the Proteograph Product Suite. We may need to obtain additional licenses from others to advance our research, development and commercialization activities. For instance, under our license agreement with BWH, we currently in-license a patent family which includes methods used in the Proteograph Product Suite and related services, and to the extent any additional intellectual property developed by BWH that are not included in such licensed patent families are necessary or useful for the Proteograph Product Suite or any other product, services or technology, we would need to negotiate for additional licenses to such additional intellectual property. Such licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may be non-exclusive, in which case third parties, including our competitors, could use the same licensed intellectual property to compete with us. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation or prospects.
Our success may depend in part on the ability of our licensor and any future licensors to obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for our licensed intellectual property. Under our license agreement with BWH and under any licenses we may enter into in the future, BWH controls, and future licensors may control, the prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of patents and patent applications that are licensed to us. BWH or any future licensors may not successfully prosecute the patent applications we license or prosecute such patent applications in our best interest. Even if patents issue in respect of these patent applications, BWH and any future licensors may fail to maintain these patents, may determine not to pursue litigation against other companies that are infringing these patents or may pursue such litigation less aggressively than we would. Without protection for the intellectual property we license, other companies might be able to offer substantially identical products and technologies for sale, which could materially adversely affect our competitive business position and harm our business prospects, financial condition or results of operations.
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If we fail to comply with our obligations under any license, collaboration or other agreements, we may be required to pay damages and could lose intellectual property rights necessary for developing and protecting our technologies, services and products, including the Proteograph Product Suite and related services, or we could lose certain rights to grant sublicenses.
Future agreements may impose, and our current license agreement imposes, various diligence, commercialization, funding, milestone payment, royalty, sublicensing, insurance, patent prosecution and enforcement and other obligations on us and require us to meet development timelines, or to exercise commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize licensed products, in order to maintain the licenses. If we fail to comply with any of these obligations, a licensor(s) may have the right to terminate our license and/or we may be required to pay damages, in which event we would not be able to develop or market products or technology covered by the licensed intellectual property. In addition, while we cannot currently determine the amount of any future royalty obligations we would be required to pay on future sales of a licensed product, the amount may be significant. The amount of our future royalty obligations will depend on the technology and intellectual property we use in products we commercialize, if at all. Therefore, even if we successfully develop and commercialize existing or future products, we may be unable to achieve or maintain profitability. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.
Moreover, disputes may also arise between us and our licensor regarding intellectual property subject to a license agreement, including:
If we do not prevail in such disputes, we may lose any or all of our rights under such license agreements, experience significant delays in the development and commercialization of our products and technologies, or incur liability for damages, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. In addition, we may seek to obtain additional licenses from our licensor(s) and, in connection with obtaining such licenses, we may agree to amend our existing licenses in a manner that may be more favorable to the licensor(s), including by agreeing to terms that could enable third parties, including our competitors, to receive licenses to a portion of the intellectual property that is subject to our existing licenses and to compete with our products.
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In addition, the agreements under which we currently and in the future license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize any affected products or services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Absent the license agreements, we may infringe patents subject to those agreements, and if the license agreements are terminated, we may be subject to litigation by the licensor. Litigation could result in substantial costs to us and distract our management. If we do not prevail, we may be required to pay damages, including treble damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses and royalties or be enjoined from selling our products or services, including the Proteograph Product Suite and related services, which could adversely affect our ability to offer products or services, our ability to continue operations and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.
If we cannot license rights to use technologies on reasonable terms, we may not be able to commercialize new products or services in the future.
We may identify third-party technology that we may need to license or acquire in order to develop or commercialize our products, services or technologies, including the Proteograph Product Suite and related services. However, we may be unable to secure such licenses or acquisitions. The licensing or acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us.
We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment or at all. In return for the use of a third party’s technology, we may agree to pay the licensor royalties based on sales of our products or services. Royalties are a component of cost of products or technologies and affect the margins on our products. We may also need to negotiate licenses to patents or patent applications before or after introducing a commercial product. We may not be able to obtain necessary licenses to patents or patent applications, and our business may suffer if we are unable to enter into the necessary licenses on acceptable terms or at all, if any necessary licenses are subsequently terminated, if the licensor fails to abide by the terms of the license or fails to prevent infringement by third parties, or if the licensed intellectual property rights are found to be invalid or unenforceable. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.
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Certain of our in-licensed patents are, and our future owned and in-licensed patents may be, subject to a reservation of rights by one or more third parties, including government march-in rights, that may limit our ability to exclude third parties from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
In addition, our owned and in-licensed patents have been, or may be, subject to a reservation of rights by one or more third parties. For example, the U.S. government has certain rights, including march-in rights, to patent rights and technology funded by the U.S. government and licensed to us from BWH. When new technologies are developed with government funding, in order to secure ownership of such patent rights, the recipient of such funding is required to comply with certain government regulations, including timely disclosing the inventions claimed in such patent rights to the U.S. government and timely electing title to such inventions, including as set forth in the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. Any failure to timely elect title to such inventions may provide the U.S. government to, at any time, take title in such inventions. Additionally, the U.S. government generally obtains certain rights in any resulting patents, including a non-exclusive license authorizing the government to use the invention or to have others use the invention on its behalf. If the government decides to exercise these rights, it is not required to engage us as its contractor in connection with doing so. These rights may permit the U.S. government to disclose our confidential and proprietary information to third parties and to exercise march-in rights to use or allow third parties to use our licensed technology. The U.S. government can exercise its march-in rights if it determines that action is necessary because we fail to achieve practical application of the government-funded technology, because action is necessary to alleviate health or safety needs, to meet requirements of federal regulations, or to give preference to U.S. industry. In addition, our rights in such inventions may be subject to certain requirements to manufacture products embodying such inventions in the United States. Any exercise by the government of any of the foregoing rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our products contain, and our services use, third-party open source software components and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open source software licenses could restrict our ability to sell our products and service our customers, or require disclosure of our proprietary software.
Our products contain software licensed by third parties under open source software licenses. Use and distribution of open source software may entail different or greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source software licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. Some open source software licenses contain requirements that the licensee make its source code publicly available if the licensee creates combined works, modifications or derivative works using the open source software, depending on the type of open source software the licensee uses and how the licensee uses it. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source software licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public for free. This would allow our competitors and other third parties to create similar products with less development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of our product sales and revenue, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, some companies that use third-party open source software have faced claims challenging their use of such open source software and their compliance with the terms of the applicable open source license. We may be subject to suits by third parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software, or claiming non-compliance with the applicable open source licensing terms. Use of open source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to compromise or attempt to compromise our technology platform and systems.
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Although we review our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our proprietary software to conditions we do not intend, the terms of many open source software licenses have not been interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products, services and proprietary software. Moreover, we cannot assure investors that our processes for monitoring and controlling our use of open source software in our products will be effective. If we are held to have breached the terms of an open source software license, we could be subject to damages, required to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our products on terms that are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our products, to discontinue the sale of our products or services if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, or to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example:
Should any of these events occur, they could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
An active trading market for our Class A common stock may not be sustained.
Although our Class A common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SEER,” an active trading market for our Class A common stock may not be sustained. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of your ability to sell your shares of Class A common stock when desired or the prices that you may obtain for your shares. If an active market for our Class A common stock with meaningful trading volume is not sustained, the market price of our Class A common stock may decline materially and you may not be able to sell your shares.
If we fail to maintain compliance with the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Global Select Market, we may be delisted and the price of our Class A common stock and our ability to access the capital markets could be negatively impacted.
To maintain the listing of our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, we are required to meet certain listing requirements, including, among others, either: (i) a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share, a market value of publicly held shares (excluding shares held by our executive officers, directors and 10% or more stockholders) of at least $5 million and stockholders’ equity of at least $10.0 million; or (ii) a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share, a market value of publicly held shares (excluding shares held by our executive officers, directors, affiliates and 10% or more stockholders) of at least $15.0 million and a total market value of listed securities of at least $50.0 million.
We may fail to satisfy one or more the Nasdaq Global Select Market requirements for continued listing of our Class A common stock in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in maintaining the listing of our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or, if transferred, on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The delisting of our Class A common stock from a national exchange could impair the liquidity and market price of our Class A common stock. It could also materially, adversely affect our access to the capital markets, and any limitation on market liquidity or reduction in the price of our Class A common stock as a result of that delisting could adversely affect our ability to raise capital on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
The market price of our Class A common stock has been and may continue to be volatile.
Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate include, but are not limited to:
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Stock markets in general, and the market for life sciences technology companies in particular, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to changes in the operating performance of the companies whose stock is experiencing those price and volume fluctuations. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of our Class A common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. Following periods of such volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Because of the potential volatility of our stock price, we may become the target of securities litigation in the future. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources from our business.
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The multi-class structure of our common stock will have the effect of concentrating voting control with certain stockholders and it may depress the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Our Class A common stock, which is our publicly-traded class of stock, has one vote per share, and our Class B common stock has ten votes per share, except as otherwise required by law. Our Class B common stock is held by our founders and early investors. As of May 6, 2024, the holders of our Class B common stock hold in the aggregate 39.9 % of the voting power of our capital stock, which may increase from time to time, including as a result of our Share Repurchase Program.
As a result, the holders of our Class B common stock collectively will continue to control a significant amount of the combined voting power of our common stock and therefore may be able to control matters submitted to our stockholders for approval. This control will limit to the stockholders’ influence over corporate matters for approximately five years following our initial public offering, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents and any sale of the company or other major corporate transaction requiring stockholder approval. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited proposals to acquire the company. Future transfers by holders of Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting to Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for estate planning purposes where sole dispositive power and exclusive voting control with respect to the shares of Class B common stock is retained by the transferring holder. The Class B common stock will also automatically convert into Class A common stock on December 8, 2025. The conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those individual holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares over the long term.
In July 2017, S&P Dow Jones announced that it would no longer admit companies with multiple-class share structures to certain of its indices. Affected indices include the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400, and S&P SmallCap 600, which together make up the S&P Composite 1500. Our multi-class capital structure may make us ineligible for inclusion in certain indices, and as a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track these indices may not be investing in our stock. It is unclear what effect, if any, exclusion from any indices has had on the valuations of the affected publicly traded companies. It is possible that such policies could depress the valuations of public companies excluded from such indices compared to those of other companies that are included.
If industry analysts, including securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they publish negative evaluations of our Class A common stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock relies in part on the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If no or few analysts commence or continue coverage of us, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decrease. If one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our Class A common stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our Class A common stock, we could lose visibility in the market for our Class A common stock, which in turn could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.
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Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock by our existing stockholders could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market could occur at any time and the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares of Class A common stock intend to sell shares could reduce the market price of our Class A common stock. Shares issued upon the exercise of stock options outstanding under our equity incentive plans or pursuant to future awards granted under those plans will become available for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of applicable vesting schedules, any applicable market standoff and lock-up agreements, and Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.
There can be no assurance that we will repurchase shares of our Class A common stock or that we will repurchase shares at favorable prices.
In May 2024, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program (the Share Repurchase Program) pursuant to which we are authorized to repurchase up to $25.0 million of our Class A common stock from time to time through open market transactions. The amount and timing of our share repurchases, if any, are subject to the availability of capital and our determination that the share repurchases are in the best interest of the Company and our stockholders. Our Share Repurchase Program does not obligate us to repurchase any specific number of shares and may be suspended at any time at our discretion.
Our ability to make share repurchases, if any, will depend upon market conditions, cash balances and future capital requirements, results of operations, financial condition, compliance with applicable legal requirements and other factors that we may deem relevant and which may be beyond our control. In addition, we can provide no assurance that we will repurchase stock at favorable prices, if at all. As a result, there can be no guarantee around the timing of our share repurchases. Any failure to repurchase stock after we have announced our intention to do so, a reduction in the frequency of repurchases, or the completion of our Share Repurchase Program could have a negative effect on our reputation, investor confidence in us and our stock price.
The existence of our Share Repurchase Program could cause our stock price to be higher than it otherwise would be and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock. Although our Share Repurchase Program is intended to enhance long-term stockholder value, there is no assurance that it will do so because the market price of our Class A common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchase shares, and short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the effectiveness of the program.
Repurchasing our Class A common stock reduces the amount of cash we have available, and we may fail to realize the anticipated long-term stockholder value of any share repurchase program.
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We have not paid dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends in the future, and, as a result, any return on investment may be limited to the value of our stock.
You should not rely on an investment in our Class A common stock to provide dividend income. We do not anticipate that we will pay any dividends to holders of our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. Instead, we plan to retain any earnings to maintain and expand our existing operations, fund our research and development programs and continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure. In addition, any future credit facility or financing we obtain may contain terms prohibiting or limiting the amount of dividends that may be declared or paid on our Class A common stock. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any return on their investment. As a result, investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our Class A common stock.
Our amended and restated bylaws designate a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, and also provide that the federal district courts will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, each of which could limit our stockholders’ ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, stockholders, or employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation specifies that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, stockholders, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders, (c) any action or proceeding asserting a claim arising pursuant to, or seeking to enforce any right, obligation or remedy under, any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws, (d) any action or proceeding as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (e) any action or proceeding asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, another state court in Delaware or, if no state court in Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) and any appellate court therefrom, in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over the claims at issue and the indispensable parties; provided that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act.
Section 22 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated bylaws also provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.
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Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding or owning (or continuing to hold or own) any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing bylaw provisions. Although we believe these exclusive forum provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law and federal securities laws in the types of lawsuits to which each applies, the exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, stockholders, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims against us and our current and former directors, officers, stockholders, or other employees. Our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder as a result of our exclusive forum provisions. Further, in the event a court finds either exclusive forum provision contained in our amended and restated bylaws to be unenforceable or inapplicable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our results of operations.
Delaware law and provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws might discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Our status as a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested stockholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our company more difficult, including the following:
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These anti-takeover defenses could discourage, delay, or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for stockholders to elect directors of their choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions they desire, any of which, under certain circumstances, could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our capital stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
Our ability to use net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations, and changes to U.S. tax laws may cause us to make adjustments to our financial statements.
As of December 31, 2023, we had U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs) of $148.1 million and $151.8 million, respectively, which if not utilized will expire in 2035 for state purposes. We may use these NOLs to offset against taxable income for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes. However, Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, may limit the NOLs we may use in any year for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the event of certain changes in ownership of our company. A Section 382 “ownership change” generally occurs if one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders who own at least 5% of a company’s stock increase their ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We have previously undergone multiple “ownership changes.” In addition, future issuances or sales of our stock, including certain transactions involving our stock that are outside of our control, could result in future “ownership changes.” “Ownership changes” that have occurred in the past or that may occur in the future could result in the imposition of an annual limit on the amount of pre-ownership change NOLs and other tax attributes we can use to reduce our taxable income, potentially increasing and accelerating our liability for income taxes, and also potentially causing those tax attributes to expire unused. States may impose other limitations on the use of our NOLs. Any changes in U.S. tax laws or limitations on using NOLs could, depending on the extent of such limitation and the NOLs previously used, result in our retaining less cash after payment of U.S. federal and state income taxes during any year in which we have taxable income, rather than losses, than we would be entitled to retain if such NOLs were available as an offset against such income for U.S. federal and state income tax reporting purposes, which could adversely impact our operating results.
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We continue to incur significant increased costs and management resources as a result of operating as a public company.
As a public company, we continue to incur significant legal, accounting, compliance, insurance and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time and incur significant expense in connection with compliance initiatives. As a public company, we continue to bear all of the internal and external costs of preparing and distributing periodic public reports in compliance with our obligations under the securities laws.
In addition, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including SOX, and the related rules and regulations implemented by the SEC and the Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (Nasdaq) have increased legal and financial compliance costs and make some compliance activities more time-consuming. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment will result in increased general and administrative expenses and may divert management’s time and attention from our other business activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us, and our business may be harmed. In the future, it may be more expensive or more difficult for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.
General Risks
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters are subject to increasing scrutiny and evolving expectations from customers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders and may expose us to reputational, cost and other risks.
Companies across all industries are subject to increasing scrutiny and evolving expectations regarding ESG matters. In particular, customers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders are increasingly focusing on environmental issues, including climate change, energy use, industrial waste, and other sustainability concerns. Failure to implement sufficient standards and practices for responsible corporate citizenship, support for local communities, employee diversity and human capital management, health and safety practices, supply chain management, and corporate governance can increase our costs of production, decrease our revenue, and negatively affect our reputation, employee retention, and the general willingness of customers and suppliers to do business with us and investors to invest in us. If we do not adapt to or comply with evolving ESG standards and regulations, the resulting consequences could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition.
If our facilities or our third-party manufacturers’ facilities become unavailable or inoperable, our research and development program and commercialization plan could be adversely impacted and manufacturing of our instruments and consumables could be interrupted.
Our Redwood City, California, facilities house our operations, including research and development, NP manufacturing and quality assurance teams. Our instruments are manufactured at our third-party manufacturer’s facilities in Nevada, and our consumables are manufactured at various locations in the United States and internationally.
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Our facilities in Redwood City and those of our third-party manufacturers are vulnerable to natural disasters, public health crises, including the impact of health epidemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and catastrophic events. For example, our Redwood City facilities are located near earthquake fault zones and are vulnerable to damage from earthquakes as well as other types of disasters, including fires, wildfires, floods, power loss, communications failures and similar events. If any disaster, public health crisis or catastrophic event were to occur, our ability to operate our business would be seriously, or potentially completely, impaired. If our facilities or our third-party manufacturer’s facilities become unavailable for any reason, we cannot provide assurances that we will be able to secure alternative manufacturing facilities with the necessary capabilities and equipment on acceptable terms, if at all. We may encounter particular difficulties in replacing our Redwood City facilities given the specialized equipment housed within it. The inability to manufacture our instruments or consumables, combined with our limited inventory of manufactured instruments and consumables, may result in the loss of future customers or harm our reputation, and we may be unable to re-establish relationships with those customers in the future. Because some of our NPs are perishable and must be kept in temperature controlled storage, the loss of power to our facilities, mechanical or other issues with our storage facilities or other events that impact our temperature controlled storage could result in the loss of some or all of such NPs, and we may not be able to replace them without disruption to our customers or at all.
If our research and development program or commercialization program were disrupted by a disaster or catastrophe, the launch of new products, including the Proteograph Product Suite, and the timing of improvements to our products could be significantly delayed and could adversely impact our ability to compete with other available products and solutions. If our or our third-party manufacturer’s capabilities are impaired, we may not be able to manufacture and ship our products in a timely manner, which would adversely impact our business. Although we possess insurance for damage to our property and the disruption of our business, and self-insure for earthquake risk, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our potential losses and may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.
If we, or our vendors, partners or customers, experience a significant disruption in our information technology systems or breaches of data security, our business could be adversely affected.
We rely, or will rely, on information technology systems to keep financial records, facilitate our research and development initiatives, manage our manufacturing operations, provide services, maintain quality control, fulfill customer orders, maintain corporate records, communicate with staff and external parties and operate other critical functions. Our information technology systems and those of our vendors, partners and customers are potentially vulnerable to disruption due to breakdown, malicious intrusion and computer viruses or other disruptive events, including, but not limited to, natural disasters and catastrophes. Cyberattacks (including denial of service, ransomware, and other attacks) and other malicious internet-based activity continue to increase and cloud-based platform providers of services have been and are expected to continue to be targeted. Methods of attacks on information technology systems and data security breaches change frequently, are increasingly complex and sophisticated, including social engineering and phishing scams, and can originate from a wide variety of sources. In addition to traditional computer “hackers,” malicious code, such as viruses and worms, employee theft or misuse, denial-of-service attacks and sophisticated nation-state and nation-state supported actors now engage in attacks, including advanced persistent threat intrusions. Despite our efforts to create security barriers to such threats, it is virtually impossible for us to entirely mitigate these risks. In addition, we have not finalized our information technology and data security procedures and therefore, our information technology systems may be more susceptible to cybersecurity attacks than if such security procedures were finalized. Despite any of our current or future efforts to protect against cybersecurity attacks and data security breaches, there is no guarantee that our efforts are adequate to safeguard against all such attacks and breaches. Moreover, it is possible that we may not be able to anticipate, detect, appropriately react and respond to, or implement effective preventative measures against, all cybersecurity incidents.
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In addition, our information technology strategy encompasses multi-vendor, multi-cloud infrastructure, systems and applications. We have a shared responsibility model with our information technology vendors and rely on their security measures and controls. We have not conducted a comprehensive evaluation of all vendors to understand their security postures.
If our security measures, or those of our vendors, partners and customers, are compromised due to any cybersecurity attacks or data security breaches, including as a result of third-party action, employee or customer error, malfeasance, stolen or fraudulently obtained log-in credentials or otherwise, our reputation could be damaged, our business and reputation may be harmed, we could become subject to litigation and we could incur significant liability. If we were to lose data or experience a prolonged system disruption in our information technology systems or those of certain of our vendors and partners, it could negatively impact our ability to serve our customers, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If operations at our facilities were disrupted, it may cause a material disruption in our business if we are not capable of restoring functionality on an acceptable timeframe.
In addition, our information technology systems, and those of our vendors, partners and customers, are potentially vulnerable to data security breaches, whether by internal bad actors, such as employees or other third parties with legitimate access to our or our third-party providers’ systems, or external bad actors, which could lead to the loss or exposure of personal data, sensitive data and confidential information to unauthorized persons. Any such data security breaches could lead to the loss of trade secrets or other intellectual property, the exposure of personal information, including sensitive personal information, of our employees, customers and others, or could prevent us from accessing critical information, any of which could expose us to liability and have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, due to the inherent features and technical limitations of information technology systems and infrastructure, our products and services may be impacted by cyberattacks or other disruptions, including efforts to penetrate our customers’ network security, sabotage or otherwise disable our instruments and services, including instruments at our customers’ sites, misappropriate our customers’ proprietary information, or cause interruptions of our or our customers’ internal operations, systems and services. Any such breach could compromise our customers’ networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen.
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In addition, any such access, disclosure or other loss or unauthorized use of information or data could result in legal claims or proceedings, regulatory investigations or actions, and other types of liability under laws that protect the privacy and security of personal information, including federal, state and foreign data protection and privacy regulations, violations of which could result in significant penalties and fines. Additionally, a new privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CPRA modifies the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) significantly, potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. The CPRA restricts use of certain categories of sensitive personal information that we may handle, establish restrictions on the retention of personal information, expand the types of data breaches subject to the private right of action, and establish the California Privacy Protection Agency to implement and enforce the new law and impose administrative fines. Additional compliance investment and potential business process changes will likely be required. Similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent data privacy and security legislation in the United States. For example, on March 2, 2021, Virginia enacted the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, or CDPA, which took effect on January 1, 2023, on June 8, 2021, Colorado enacted the Colorado Privacy Act, or CPA, which took effect on July 1, 2023, and on March 24, 2022, Utah enacted the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, or UCPA, which took effect on December 31, 2023; and on May 10, 2022, Connecticut enacted the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, or CTDPA, which took effect on July 1, 2023. The CPA, CDPA, UCPA, and CTDPA share similarities with and differences from the CPRA and legislation proposed in other states. Aspects of these state privacy statutes remain unclear, resulting in further uncertainty and potentially requiring us to modify our data practices and policies and to incur substantial additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. In addition, U.S. and international laws and regulations that have been applied to protect user privacy (including laws regarding unfair and deceptive practices in the U.S. and GDPR in the EU) may be subject to evolving interpretations or applications. Furthermore, defending a suit, regardless of its merit, could be costly, divert management’s attention and harm our reputation. In addition, although we seek to detect and investigate all data security incidents, security breaches and other incidents of unauthorized access to our information technology systems and data can be difficult to detect and any delay in identifying such breaches or incidents may lead to increased harm and legal exposure of the type described above. Moreover, there could be public announcements regarding any cybersecurity incidents and any steps we take to respond to or remediate such incidents, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these announcements to be negative, it could, among other things, have a material adverse effect on the price of our Class A common stock.
The cost of protecting against, investigating, mitigating and responding to potential breaches of our information technology systems and data security breaches and complying with applicable breach notification obligations to individuals, regulators, partners and others can be significant. As cybersecurity incidents continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities. The inability to implement, maintain and upgrade adequate safeguards could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Our insurance policies may not be adequate to compensate us for the potential costs and other losses arising from such disruptions, failures or security breaches. In addition, such insurance may not be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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We are currently subject to, and may in the future become subject to additional international and U.S. federal and state laws and regulations imposing obligations on how we collect, store and process personal information. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business. Ensuring compliance with such laws could also impair our efforts to maintain and expand our future customer base, and thereby decrease our revenue.
In the ordinary course of our business, we currently, and in the future will, collect, store, transfer, use or process sensitive data, including personally identifiable information of employees, and intellectual property and proprietary business information owned or controlled by ourselves and other parties. The secure processing, storage, maintenance, and transmission of this critical information are vital to our operations and business strategy. We are, and may increasingly become, subject to various international and domestic laws and regulation relating to data privacy and security in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We also may be subject to contractual obligations and may be, or may be asserted to be, subject to industry standards relating to privacy and data security. The regulatory environment related to data privacy and security is increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to our business, and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. These laws and regulations may be interpreted and applied differently over time and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and it is possible that they will be interpreted and applied in ways that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In the United States, various federal and state regulators, including governmental agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, have adopted, or are considering adopting, laws and regulations concerning personal information and data security. Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, all of which may complicate compliance efforts. For example, the CCPA, which increases privacy rights for California residents and imposes obligations on companies that process their personal information, came into effect on January 1, 2020, and the CPRA, which increases such rights and responsibilities, came into effect on January 1, 2023. Among other things, the CCPA requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers and provide such consumers new data protection and privacy rights, including the ability to opt-out of certain sales of personal information. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. In addition, laws in all 50 U.S. states require businesses to provide notice to consumers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in the U.S. Congress of a new comprehensive federal data privacy law to which we would become subject if it is enacted.
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Furthermore, regulations promulgated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), establish privacy and security standards that limit the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information (known as “protected health information”) and require the implementation of administrative, physical and technological safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information and ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic protected health information. Determining whether protected health information has been handled in compliance with applicable privacy standards and our contractual obligations can require complex factual and statistical analyses and may be subject to changing interpretation. Although we take measures to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, use or disclosure, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or viruses or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other malicious or inadvertent disruptions. Any such breach or interruption could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed by unauthorized parties, manipulated, publicly disclosed, lost or stolen. Any such access, breach or other loss of information could result in legal claims or proceedings, and liability under federal or state laws that protect the privacy of personal information, such as the HIPAA, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), and regulatory penalties. Notice of breaches must be made to affected individuals, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and for extensive breaches, notice may need to be made to the media or State Attorneys General. Such a notice could harm our reputation and our ability to compete.
We have adopted and train our employees and applicable consultants on our policies related to the collection, processing, and storage of information, including personal data of employees and scientific data of customers. From time to time, we have and may conduct internal and external audits to assess our ability, and comment on our vendors’ ability, to comply with evolving compliance and operational requirements, which could impose significant costs, such as costs related to organizational changes, implementing additional protection technologies, training employees and engaging consultants, which are likely to increase over time. In addition, such requirements may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, distract management or divert resources from other initiatives and projects, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Any failure or perceived failure by us or our third-party vendors, collaborators, contractors and consultants to comply with any applicable federal, state or similar foreign laws and regulations relating to data privacy and security, including GDPR, could result in damage to our reputation, as well as proceedings or litigation by governmental agencies or other third parties, including class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, which would subject us to significant fines, sanctions, awards, penalties or judgments, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
None.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
Not applicable.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information
None.
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Item 6. Exhibits
Exhibit Number |
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Description |
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File No. |
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Exhibit |
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Filing Date |
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10.1+ |
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Outside Director Compensation Policy (as amended on February 28, 2024). |
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* |
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31.1 |
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* |
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31.2 |
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* |
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32.1† |
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* |
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32.2† |
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* |
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101.INS |
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Inline XBRL Instance Document |
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101.SCH |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document With Embedded Linkbase Documents |
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104 |
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Cover Page Interactive Data File - the Cover Page Interactive Data File does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document. |
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+ Indicates management contract or compensatory plan.
† The certifications attached as Exhibit 32.1 and 32.2 that accompany this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, are deemed furnished and not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Registrant under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
* Filed herewith
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
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SEER, INC. |
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Date: May 8, 2024 |
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By: |
/s/ Omid Farokhzad, M.D. |
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Omid Farokhzad, M.D. |
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Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors |
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(Principal Executive Officer) |
Date: May 8, 2024 |
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By: |
/s/ David R. Horn |
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David R. Horn |
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President and Chief Financial Officer |
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(Principal Financial Officer and Accounting Officer) |
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