Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks described below and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K, as well as any amendments thereto reflected in subsequent filings with the SEC, each of which are incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, and all of the other information in this prospectus supplement, including our financial statements and related notes incorporated by reference herein. If any of these risks is realized, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not yet identified or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and could result in a complete loss of your investment.
Risks Related to this Offering
Even if this offering is successful, we will need substantial additional funding to meet our financial obligations and to pursue our business objectives. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to curtail our planned operations and the pursuit of our growth strategy.
We will require substantial future capital in order to complete planned and future clinical development for our lead product candidates, preclinical development for our other product candidates, and potential commercialization of these product candidates, if any are approved. We expect our spending levels to significantly increase in connection with our planned clinical trials of our lead product candidates. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant expenses related to product sales, medical affairs, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on acceptable terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate certain of our clinical trials, our research and development programs or other operations.
We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may invest or spend the proceeds in ways with which you do not agree and in ways that may not yield a return on your investment.
Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering, including for any of the purposes described in the section titled “Use of Proceeds,” and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding such application. You will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the proceeds are being used effectively. Our management might not apply the net proceeds in ways that ultimately increase the value of your investment. If we do not invest or apply the net proceeds from this offering in ways that enhance stockholder value, we may fail to achieve expected results, which could cause our stock price to decline. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation instruments, including short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments and U.S. government securities. These investments may not yield a favorable return to our stockholders.
If you purchase securities in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value of your shares.
We expect that the public offering price of our common stock in this offering will be higher than the net tangible book value per share of our common stock outstanding at the time of sale. With aggregate gross proceeds of $ million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, investors in this offering would experience immediate dilution of $ per share, representing the difference between our as adjusted net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2024 of $0.48, after giving effect to this offering, and the public offering price.
In addition, we have a significant number of stock options and pre-funded warrants outstanding. The exercise of any of the outstanding options or pre-funded warrants would result in further dilution. As a result of the dilution to investors purchasing shares in this offering, investors may receive significantly less than the purchase price paid in this offering, if anything, in the event of our liquidation. Further, because we expect we will need to raise additional capital to fund our future activities, we may in the future sell substantial amounts of common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for common stock.