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Item 1A. Risk Factors.
There are no material changes from the risk factors previously disclosed in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on March 24, 2025, other than as set forth below.
International trade policies, including tariffs, sanctions and trade barriers may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We operate in a global economy, which includes utilizing third-party suppliers in several countries outside the United States. There is inherent risk, based on the complex relationships among the U.S. and the countries in which we conduct our business, that political, diplomatic, and national security factors can lead to global trade restrictions and changes in trade policies and export regulations that may adversely affect our business and operations. The current international trade and regulatory environment is subject to significant ongoing uncertainty. The U.S. government has recently announced substantial new tariffs affecting a wide range of products and jurisdictions and has indicated an intention to continue developing new trade policies, including with respect to the pharmaceutical industry. In response, certain foreign governments have announced or implemented retaliatory tariffs and other protectionist measures. These developments have created a dynamic and unpredictable trade landscape, which may adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
We do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for clinical testing, as well as for manufacture of any products that we may commercialize, if approved. Currently, several of our suppliers are located outside of the United States, including antibody production in South Korea and China, linker-payload manufacturing in Europe, and ISAC manufacturing in
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Europe. We also rely on specialized laboratory equipment, supplies, materials, and precursor compounds, all or part of which we believe may be ultimately sourced from multiple countries outside the United States, to advance our research and development efforts.
Current or future tariffs may result in increased research and development expenses, including with respect to increased costs associated with APIs, raw materials, laboratory equipment and research materials and components. In addition, such tariffs may increase our supply chain complexity and could also potentially disrupt our existing supply chain. Trade restrictions affecting the import of materials necessary for clinical trials could result in delays to our development timelines. Increased development costs and extended development timelines could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to companies operating in regions with more favorable trade relationships and could reduce investor confidence, negatively impacting our ability to secure additional financing on favorable terms or at all. In addition, as we advance toward commercialization in the future, tariffs and trade restrictions could hinder our ability to establish cost-effective production capabilities, negatively impacting our growth prospects.
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The complexity of announced or future tariffs may also increase the risk that we or our customers or suppliers may be subject to civil or criminal enforcement actions in the United States or foreign jurisdictions related to compliance with trade regulations. Foreign governments may also adopt non-tariff measures, such as procurement preferences or informal disincentives to engage with, purchase from or invest in U.S. entities, which may limit our ability to compete internationally and attract non-U.S. investment, employees, customers and suppliers. Foreign governments may also take other retaliatory actions against U.S. entities, such as decreased intellectual property protection, increased enforcement actions, or delays in regulatory approvals, which may result in heightened international legal and operational risks. In addition, the United States and other governments have imposed and may continue to impose additional sanctions, such as trade restrictions or trade barriers, which could restrict us from doing business directly or indirectly in or with certain countries or parties and may impose additional costs and complexity to our business.
Trade disputes, tariffs, restrictions and other political tensions between the United States and other countries may also exacerbate unfavorable macroeconomic conditions including inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility, financial market instability, and economic recessions or downturns. The ultimate impact of current or future tariffs and trade restrictions remains uncertain and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and prospects. While we actively monitor these risks, any prolonged economic downturn, escalation in trade tensions, or deterioration in international perception of U.S.-based companies could materially and adversely affect our business, ability to access the capital markets or other financing sources, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. In addition, tariffs and other trade developments have and may continue to heighten the risks related to the other risk factors described elsewhere in this report and in our Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Healthcare reform measures could hinder or prevent the commercial success of our solutions.
The United States and some foreign jurisdictions have enacted or are considering a number of health reform measures to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our ability to sell our products profitably. Among policy makers and payors in the United States and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality or expanding access.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") in the United States, for example, has changed healthcare financing and delivery by both governmental and private insurers substantially, and affected medical device manufacturers significantly. There have been executive, judicial and congressional challenges, and a number of amendments that have impacted certain aspects of the ACA. For example, on August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA) was signed into law, which among other things, extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. It is possible that the ACA and the IRA will be subject to additional challenges and health reform measures by the second Trump administration in the future.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. For example, on July 4, 2025, the annual reconciliation bill, referred to as the "H.R.1:One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) was signed into law which, is expected to reduce Medicaid spending and enrollment by implementing work requirements for some beneficiaries, capping state-directed payments, reducing federal funding, and limiting provider taxes used to fund the program. OBBBA also narrows access to the ACA marketplace exchange enrollment and declines to extend the ACA enhanced advanced premium tax credits, set to expire in 2025, which, among other provisions in the law, are anticipated to reduce the number of Americans with health insurance.
We believe that there will continue to be proposals by legislators at both the federal and state levels, regulators and third-party payors to reduce costs while expanding individual healthcare benefits, particularly in light of the change of administration. For example, the current Trump administration is pursuing policies to reduce regulations and expenditures across government including at HHS, the FDA, CMS and related agencies. These actions include, for example, (1) directives to reduce agency workforce and cut programs; (2) eliminating the Biden administrations executive order that directed HHS to establish an AI task force and develop a strategic plan; and (3) directing certain federal agencies to enforce existing law regarding hospital and price plan price transparency by standardizing prices across hospitals and health plans. It is possible that certain of these changes could impose additional limitations on the rates we will be able to charge for our current and future products or the amounts of reimbursement available for our current and future products from governmental agencies or third-party payors. Current and future healthcare reform legislation and policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.