EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1433607
Filing Year: 2024
Filename: 1433607_10-K_2024_0001493152-24-008850.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a medical device company focusing on the development and commercialization of our proprietary MicroNet™ stent platform for the treatment of carotid artery disease and other vascular disease. A stent is an expandable “scaffold-like” device, usually constructed of a metallic material, that is inserted into the lumen of the artery to create patency and revascularization of blood flow. MicroNet, a micron mesh sleeve, is attached over a stent to provide embolic protection both during and after stenting procedures.
Our CGuard™ carotid embolic prevention system (“CGuard EPS”) combines MicroNet and a unique self-expandable nitinol stent in a single device for use in carotid artery revascularization. Our CGuard EPS originally received CE mark approval under Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC (“MDD”) in the European Union (“EU”) in March 2013 and was fully launched in Europe in September 2015. Subsequently, we launched CGuard EPS in over 30 countries and on February 3, 2021, we executed a distribution agreement with Chinese partners for the purpose of expanding our presence in the Asian markets. In January 2024, we received CE mark recertification under the EU’s Medical Device Regulation regulatory framework. Currently, we are seeking strategic partners for a potential launch of CGuard EPS in Japan and other Asian countries.
On September 8, 2020, we received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) of our Investigation Device Exemption (“IDE”), thereby allowing us to proceed with a pivotal study of our CGuard™ Carotid Stent System, C-GUARDIANS, for prevention of stroke in patients in the United States. C-GUARDIANS is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm, pivotal study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the CGuard™ Carotid Stent System when used to treat symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting (“CAS”). The study, which completed enrollment in June 2023, enrolled 316 patients across 24 trial sites in the U.S. and Europe and from April 2023 included deployment of the CGuard stent using CGuard Prime, our next generation CAS stent platform.
The primary endpoint is a composite of: (1) incidence of major adverse events including Death (all-cause mortality), any Stroke, and Myocardial Infarction (DSMI) through 30-days post index procedure, or (2) ipsilateral stroke from day 31 to day 365 post-procedure. All events are adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee. The composite index will be compared to a performance goal based on the observed rate of the two components of the primary endpoint from previous pivotal stent trials which are considered industry standard. The performance goal will be considered met if the upper bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval calculated from the observed primary endpoint rate is < 11.6% and the p-value is less than 0.025.
In November 2023, we announced positive 30-day follow up results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in which stenting with the CGuard Carotid Stent System in patients with carotid artery stenosis and at high risk for carotid endarterectomy had a DSMI rate of 0.95%, measured from the date of the procedure through 30 days follow-up post-procedure. We anticipate reporting primary endpoint results from the C-GUARDIANS trial mid 2024 that may support the submission of a premarket approval, or PMA, application in the third quarter of 2024 with a view to potential FDA approval of the CGuard Prime stent system in the first half of 2025.
We continue to invest in current and future potential new indications, products and manufacturing enhancements for CGuard that are expected to reduce cost of goods and/or provide the best-in-class performing delivery systems, such as CGuard Prime. In furtherance of our strategy that focuses on establishing the CGuard Carotid Stent System as a viable alternative to vascular surgery, we are developing a new transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) system, SwitchGuard™ neuroprotection system (“SwitchGuard NPS”), for transcarotid access and neuro protection. In addition, we intend to explore new indications for CGuard to leverage the advantages of stent design and mesh protection, well suited in labels such as acute stroke with tandem lesions.
We consider our current addressable market for our CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS to be both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with diagnosed high-grade carotid artery stenosis for whom intervention is preferable to medical (drug) therapy. This group includes not only carotid artery stenting patients but also individuals undergoing carotid endarterectomy, as the two approaches compete for the same patient population. Assuming full penetration of the intervention caseload by CGuard, we estimate that the addressable market for CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS is approximately $1.3 billion (source: Health Research International Personal Medical Systems, Inc. September 13, 2021 Results of Update Report on Global Carotid Stenting Procedures and Markets by Major Geography and Addressable Markets and internal estimates). According to this same report and internal estimates, assuming full penetration of treatment for all individuals diagnosed with high-grade carotid artery stenosis, we estimate the total available market for CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS to be approximately $9.3 billion, which may grow over time if expanded treatment options such as CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS lead to increased patient screening for carotid artery disease.
In October 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (“CMS”) issued its final National Coverage Determination (“NCD”), expanding coverage of CAS to include both asymptomatic and standard risk patients, significantly expanding the U.S. CAS addressable market.
Our mission is to offer a comprehensive set of delivery solutions (TCAR and Transfemoral) in order to deliver best in class results through patient outcomes by way of stent performance with CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS.
We were organized in the State of Delaware on February 29, 2008.
Private Placement
On May 12, 2023, we entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) pursuant to which we agreed to sell and issue in a private placement (the “Private Placement Offering”) an aggregate of 10,266,270 shares (the “Private Placement Shares”) of our common stock, pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”) to purchase up to 15,561,894 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 51,656,328 shares of common stock, consisting of Series H warrants to purchase up to 12,914,086 shares of common stock (the “Series H Warrants”), Series I warrants to purchase up to 12,914,078 shares of common stock (the “Series I Warrants”), Series J warrants to purchase up to 12,914,086 shares of Common Stock (the “Series J Warrants”) and Series K warrants to purchase up to 12,914,086 shares of common stock (the “Series K Warrants” and together with the Series H Warrants, Series I Warrants and Series J Warrants, the “Warrants”), at an offering price of $1.6327 per Private Placement Share and associated Warrants and an offering price of $1.6326 per Pre-Funded Warrant and associated Warrants.
The Pre-Funded Warrants will be immediately exercisable at an exercise price of $0.0001 per share and will not expire until exercised in full. The Warrants will be immediately exercisable upon issuance at an exercise price of $1.3827 per share, subject to adjustment as set forth therein. The Warrants have a term of the earlier of (i) five years from the date of issuance and (ii) (A) in the case of the Series H Warrants, 20 trading days following the Company’s public release of primary and secondary end points related to one year follow up study results from the Company’s C-GUARDIANS pivotal trial, (B) in the case of the Series I Warrants, 20 trading days following the Company’s announcement of receipt of Premarket Approval from the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for the CGuard Prime Carotid Stent System (135 cm), (C) in the case of the Series J Warrants, 20 trading days following the Company’s announcement of receipt of FDA approval for the SwitchGuard and CGuard Prime 80 and (D) in the case on the Series K Warrants, 20 trading days following the end of the fourth fiscal quarter after the fiscal quarter in which the first commercial sales of the CGuard Carotid Stent System in the United States begins.
The Warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis if there is no effective registration statement registering the shares underlying the Warrants. Under the terms of the Pre-Funded Warrants and Warrants, certain of the selling stockholders may not exercise the Pre-Funded Warrants or Warrants to the extent such exercise would cause such selling stockholder, together with its affiliates and attribution parties, to beneficially own a number of shares of common stock which would exceed 4.99% or 9.99% of our then outstanding common stock following such exercise, excluding for purposes of such determination common stock issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants or Warrants which have not been exercised. The Warrants may be exercised into pre-funded warrants if the selling stockholder is unable to exercise the Warrant due to the foregoing beneficial ownership limitation or at the selling shareholder’s election.
In connection with the Purchase Agreement, we entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”). Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, we were required to file a resale registration statement (the “Registration Statement”) with the SEC to register for resale the Private Placement Shares and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants and Warrants, within 20 days of the signing date of the Purchase Agreement (the “Signing Date”), and to have such Registration Statement declared effective within 45 days after the Signing Date in the event the Registration Statement is not reviewed by the SEC, or 90 days of the Signing Date in the event the Registration Statement is reviewed by the SEC. We were obligated to pay certain liquidated damages if we fail to file the Registration Statement when required, fails to cause the Registration Statement to be declared effective by the SEC when required, of if we fail to maintain the effectiveness of the Registration Statement. The Registration Statement was subsequently filed on May 23, 2023 and declared effective on June 1, 2023. We paid LifeSci Capital LLC, a placement fee equal to 5.6% of the aggregate gross proceeds from the closing of the Private Placement Offering, or approximately $2.4 million, and legal expenses of $41,600. In addition, we paid Piper Sandler & Co. a financial advisory fee of $1.5 million, AGP/Alliance Global Partners a financial advisory fee of $250,000 and lead investor counsel expenses of $125,000.
Our Industry
Carotid
Carotid arteries are located on each side of the neck and provide the primary blood supply to the brain. Carotid artery disease, also called carotid artery stenosis, is a type of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) that is one of the major risk factors for ischemic stroke. In carotid artery disease, plaque accumulates in the artery walls, narrowing the artery and disrupting the blood supply to the brain. This disruption in blood supply, together with plaque debris breaking off the artery walls and traveling to the brain, are the primary causes of stroke. According to the World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/resources/atlas/en/) every year, 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke, and nearly six million die and another five million are left permanently disabled. According to the same source, stroke is the second leading cause of disability, after dementia.
In 2022, 3.0 million people between the age of 50 and 89 years old were estimated to be diagnosed with high grade carotid artery disease, of which, approximately 394,000 of those diagnosed required intervention for carotid artery disease (according to the Health Research International Personal Medical Systems, Inc. September 13, 2021 Results of Update Report on Global Carotid Stenting Procedures and Markets by Major Geography and Addressable Markets). There are three current intervention treatments used for carotid artery disease. The first is a carotid endarterectomy where a surgeon accesses the blocked carotid artery though an incision in the neck, and then surgically removes the plaque. The second is transcarotid artery revascularization where a surgeon accesses the blocked carotid artery though an incision in the neck, and then places a stent to open the artery and prevent embolization while combining high-rate blood flow reversal to protect the brain. The third is carotid artery stenting, which is a minimally invasive endovascular treatment for carotid artery disease and an alternative to carotid endarterectomy. Endovascular techniques using stents and carotid embolic prevention system protect against plaque and debris traveling downstream, blocking off the vessel and disrupting blood flow. We believe that the use of a stent with an embolic protection system should increase the number of patients being treated since it would avoid the need for complex surgery.
Our Products
MicroNet Mesh Platform Technology
MicroNet is our proprietary circular knitted mesh which wraps around a stent to protect patients from plaque debris flowing downstream upon deployment. MicroNet is made of a single fiber from a biocompatible polymer widely used in medical implantations. The size, or aperture, of the current MicroNet ‘pore’ is only 150-180 microns in order to maximize protection against the potentially dangerous plaque and thrombus. The MicroNet mesh is the core technology around which we have developed products for specific applications.
CGuard - Carotid Artery Applications
Our CGuard EPS combines our MicroNet mesh and a self-expandable nitinol stent (a stent that expands without balloon dilation pressure or need of an inflation balloon) in a single device for use in carotid artery applications. MicroNet is placed over and attached to an open cell nitinol metal stent platform which is designed to trap debris and emboli that can dislodge from the diseased carotid artery and potentially travel to the brain and cause a stroke. This danger is one of the greatest limitations of carotid artery stenting with conventional carotid stents and stenting methods. The CGuard EPS technology is a highly flexible stent system that conforms to the carotid anatomy.
We believe that our CGuard EPS design provides advantages over existing therapies in treating carotid artery stenosis, such as conventional carotid stenting and surgical endarterectomy, given the superior embolic protection characteristics provided by the MicroNet. We believe the MicroNet will provide acute embolic protection at the time of the procedure, but more importantly, we believe that CGuard EPS will provide post-procedure protection against embolic dislodgement, which can occur up to 48 hours post-procedure. It is in this post-procedure time frame that embolization is the source of post-procedural strokes in the brain. Schofer, et al. (“Late cerebral embolization after emboli-protected carotid artery stenting assessed by sequential diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging,” Journal of American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Interventions, Volume 1, 2008) have shown that the majority of the incidents of embolic showers associated with carotid stenting occur post-procedure.
Our CGuard EPS originally received CE mark approval in the EU in March 2013 and was fully launched in Europe in September 2015. Subsequently, we launched CGuard EPS in 30 plus countries and on February 3, 2021, we executed a distribution agreement with Chinese partners for the purpose of expanding our presence in China.
On September 8, 2020, we received approval from the FDA of our IDE, thereby allowing us to proceed with a pivotal study of our CGuard™ Carotid Stent System, C-GUARDIANS, for prevention of stroke in patients in the United States. C-GUARDIANS is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm, pivotal study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the CGuard™ Carotid Stent System when used to treat symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting. The study, which completed enrollment in June 2023, enrolled 316 patients across 24 trial sites in the U.S. and Europe and from April 2023 included deployment of the CGuard stent using CGuard Prime, our next generation CAS stent platform.
The primary endpoint is a composite of: (1) incidence of major adverse events including Death (all-cause mortality), any Stroke, and Myocardial Infarction (DSMI) through 30-days post index procedure, or (2) ipsilateral stroke from day 31 to day 365 post-procedure. All events are adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee.The composite index will be compared to a performance goal based on the observed rate of the two components of the primary endpoint from previous pivotal stent trials which are considered industry standard. The performance goal will be considered met if the upper bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval calculated from the observed primary endpoint rate is < 11.6% and the p-value is less than 0.025.
In November 2023, we announced positive 30-day follow up results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in which stenting with the CGuard Carotid Stent System in patients with carotid artery stenosis and at high risk for carotid endarterectomy had a DSMI rate of 0.95%, measured from the date of the procedure through 30 days follow-up post-procedure. We anticipate reporting primary endpoint results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in mid 2024 that may support the submission of a PMA application in the third quarter of 2024 with a view to potential FDA approval of the CGuard Prime stent system in the first half of 2025.
CGuard Prime Stent System
The CGuard Prime stent system is a mesh-covered self-expanding carotid stent that is loaded into a transfemoral rapid exchange (Rx) delivery system that we are developing and that is subject to regulatory approval.
The CGuard Prime Carotid Stent is a self-expanding nitinol stent covered with a MicroNet bio-stable sleeve woven from a single strand of 23 μm Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). The MicroNet sleeve is designed to trap and seal thrombus and plaque against the vessel wall, providing continuous embolic prevention. The CGuard Prime Carotid Stent is available in diameters ranging from 6.0mm to 10mm and in lengths of 20, 30, 40 and 60mm. The CGuard Prime delivery system is a rapid exchange (Rx), delivery system with a 6Fr profile that can accommodate all stent sizes from 6mm to 10mm. The CGuard Prime is available in two lengths: 80 cm and 135 cm.
CGuard Prime advances the first generation CGuard transfemoral delivery system with new handle design for deployment accuracy, new catheter design for more flexible navigation of tortuous anatomy especially in acute revascularize settings as well as two lengths, 135cm and 80cm for booth transfemoral and transcarotid access. From April 2023, the C-GUARDIANS trial included deployment of the CGuard stent using CGuard Prime.
Switchguard NPS
SwitchGuard NPS is a Class IIa, non-invasive transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) device that we are developing and that is subject to regulatory approval that is composed of medical grade tubing with male Luer lock connectors at each end and an in-line 200-micron blood filter. The device is intended as an external arterial-venous (A-V) shunt, allowing arterial blood to flow into the venous system, while filtering particulate before returning blood to the patient on the venous side.
The SwitchGuard arterio-venous extension line with filter is intended for flow circuit and particle removal when connecting arterial and/or venous introducers during interventional procedures.
SwitchGuard is being developed to answer a need of flow reversal for cerebral protection in coronary artery stenting (“CAS”) since symptomatic distal embolization, caused by the release of material (thrombotic, necrotic, or atherosclerotic) from the site of the lesion during the intervention, is the most frequent and important complication of CAS. Reversing blood flow has been shown to reduce stroke risk during carotid artery procedures.
Physicians frequently use extension lines constructed from blood filter transfusion sets during interventional procedures for the purpose of A-V shunting.
We expect to submit an IDE to the FDA for the C-GUARDIANS II clinical trial during the second half of 2024, which, if approved, would allow us to initiate a clinical trial to support the clearance of the SwitchGuard NPS coupled with CGuard Prime. In February 2024, we appointed the principal investigators for the C-GUARDIANS II clinical trial of SwitchGuard NPS.
Acute Stroke with Tandem Lesions
It is estimated that 20-30% of acute ischemic strokes are caused by large vessel occlusion involve tandem lesions- high grade stenosis/occlusion of the internal carotid artery plus thrombotic occlusion of an intracranial vessel. Currently there is no indicated use of CAS for these lesions during stroke treatment when the placement of an embolic protection device is not possible. We believe CGuard Prime is optimally suited for intervention in this acute setting by way for design (flexible / low metal structure) as well as MicroNet mesh offering embolic protection both during and post procedural implantation. Our goal is to develop CGuard Prime to mitigate strokes in this acute setting.
In November 2023, we announced a strategic agreement with Jacobs Institute to execute an early feasibility study of CGuard Prime for the treatment of acute stroke patients with tandem lesions. The study is expected to enroll 15 acute stroke patients across three U.S. sites to explore the safety and feasibility. of using CGuard Prime to treat acute ischemic stroke patients with tandem lesions.
MGuard Prime
We historically developed and sold the MGuard Prime embolic protection system (“MGuard Prime EPS”) which was marketed for use in patients with acute coronary syndromes, notably acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) and saphenous vein graft coronary interventions. Over the past years there has been a shift in industry preferences towards drug eluting stents. As a result of declining sales and utilization of the MGuard Prime EPS, which was largely driven by the predominant industry preferences favoring drug-eluting stents, during the second quarter of 2022 we ceased sales of MGuard Prime EPS following a phase out period.
Completed Clinical Trials for CGuard EPS
CARENET
The CARENET trial was the first multi-center study of CGuard EPS following the receipt of CE mark of this device in March 2013. The CARENET trial was designed to evaluate feasibility and safety of CGuard EPS in treatment of carotid lesions in consecutive patients suitable for CASin a multi-operator, real-life setting. The acute, 30-day, magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”), ultrasound and six-month clinical event results were presented at the LINC conference in Leipzig, Germany in February, 2015. In the third quarter of 2015, the results of the CGuard CARENET trial were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In November 2015, positive twelve-month follow-up data from the CGuard CARENET trial was presented at the 42nd Annual Symposium on Vascular and Endovascular Issues, documenting the benefits of the CGuard MicroNet technology as well as the patency benefits (maintaining the artery open) of the internal and external carotid arteries at twelve months. In September 2022, the results of the CGuard CARENET trial five year follow up were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions Vol. 15, No 18, 2022 September 26, 2022:1883-1891. There was no ipsilateral stroke or ipsilateral stroke-related death which occurred throughout the five years. In addition, no stent restenosis or external carotid artery occlusion occurred in CARENET by 5 years, indicating normal healing and uncompromised side-branch patency.
MACCE (myocardial infarction (“MI”), stroke or death) rate was 0.0% at 30 days. At six months, there was one death, which was not device or procedure-related but did result in a MACCE rate of 3.6% at six months. At twelve months there were two additional deaths, which were not device or procedure-related resulting in a MACCE rate of 10.7% at one year.
days
(n=30)
months
(n=28)
months
(n=28)
MACCE (MI, stroke, death) (0) 0.0 % (1) 3.6 % (3) 10.7 %
MI (0) 0.0 % (0) 0.0 % (0) 0.0 %
stroke (0) 0.0 % (0) 0.0 % (0) 0.0 %
death (0) 0.0 % (1) 3.6 % (3) 10.7 %
CAS carries the risk of cerebral embolization during and following the procedure, leading to life-threatening complications, mainly cerebral ischemic events. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) is a sensitive tool used to identify cerebral emboli during CAS by measuring “lesions” within the brain which are areas that are ischemic and do not receive oxygenated blood due to cerebral emboli. In the CARENET trial, 37.0% of patients treated with CGuard EPS had new ischemic lesions at 48 hours after the procedure, with an average volume of 0.039 cm3. Of these lesions, there was only one that remained at 30 days following the procedure and all others had resolved. Complete details appear in the following table. Where there is a second number shown below after a ± symbol, it indicates the potential error in the measurement.
hours
n=27
days
n=26
Subjects with new Acute Ischemic Lesions (“AIL”)
Incidence of new lesions 37.0 % 4.0 %
Total number new AIL
Avg. number new AIL per patient 3.19 ± 10.33 0.04 ± 0.20
Average lesion volume (cm3) 0.039 ± 0.08 0.08 ± 0.00
Maximum lesion volume (cm3) 0.445 0.116
Permanent AIL at 30 days -
The healing process of the tissue and in-stent restenosis can be measured by a non-invasive form of ultrasound called duplex ultrasound. This type of ultrasound measures the velocity of the blood that flows within the carotid arteries, which increases exponentially as the lumen of the internal carotid artery narrows and the percent stenosis increases. One of the measurements is called PSV (peak systolic volume) and is known to be highly correlated to the degree of in-stent restenosis; PSV values higher than 300 cm/sec are indicative of >70% stenosis, while PSV values lower than 104 cm/sec are indicative of <30% restenosis and healthy healing. In the CARENET trial, duplex ultrasound measurements done at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months following the stenting procedure all attest to healthy normal healing without restenosis concerns, as the PSV values were 60.96 cm/sec ± 22.31, 85.24 cm/sec ± 39.56, and 90.22 cm/sec ± 37.72 respectively. The internal carotid artery was patent in all patients (100%).
The conclusions of the CARENET trial were:
● The CARENET trial demonstrated safety of the CGuard EPS stent, with a 30 day MACCE rate of 0%.
● Incidence of new ipsilateral lesions (percent of patients with new lesions on the ipsilateral side (same side where the stent was employed)) at 48 hours was reduced by almost half compared to published data, and volume was reduced almost tenfold.
● All but one lesion had resolved completely by 30 days.
● Twelve-month data showed no stroke or stroke-related deaths, and no cardiac adverse events.
● Five-year data showed no ipsilateral stroke or ipsilateral stroke-related deaths, and no stent restenosis or external carotid artery occlusion occurred in CARENET by 5 years, indicating normal healing and uncompromised side-branch patency.
● CGuard EPS offers enhanced benefits for patients undergoing CAS with unprecedented safety.
Physician-Sponsored Clinical Trials for CGuard-PARADIGM-101 and PARADIGM -500 Studies
PARADIGM-101 (Prospective evaluation of All-comer peRcutaneous cArotiD revascularization In symptomatic and increased-risk asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, using CGuard™ Mesh-covered embolic prevention stent system-101) was an investigator-led, single center study with the objective of evaluating feasibility and outcome of routine use of CGuard EPS in 101 consecutive unselected all-comer patients referred for carotid revascularization, initiated in 2015. In May 2016, the 30-day results were presented at the EuroPCR 2016 Late-Breaking Clinical Trial Session in Paris, and in the Journal of EuroIntervention. In Dec 2020, the 12 month results were presented in the Official Journal of the EuroPCR and the European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions, EuroIntervention 2020;16:e950-e952. DOI: 10.4244/EIJ-D-19-01014) Key findings from the PARADIGM-101 study and the follow-up data are as follows.
● CGuard EPS delivery success was 99.1%. The clinical evaluation also found no device foreshortening or elongation;
● Angiographic diameter stenosis or vessel narrowing was reduced from 83±9% to only 6.7±5% (p<0.001);
● Periprocedural death/major stroke/ myocardial infarction (“MI”) rates were 0%;
● Between 30 days and 12 months, there were no strokes or stroke-related deaths. There were four non -device related deaths (heart failure exacerbation, urosepsis, pulmonary embolism and microcellular pulmonary cancer).
The results of the PARADIGM-101 study demonstrated that CGuard EPS can safely be used in a high risk, all-comer population of patients with carotid artery stenosis and indicated that routine use of CGuard EPS may prevent cerebral events, such as strokes, by holding plaque against the vessel wall, preventing emboli from being released into the blood stream. The PARADIGM-101 study found that CGuard EPS is applicable in up to 90% of all-comer patients with carotid stenosis.
PARADIGM-101 was subsequently increased to include 500 consecutive patients with symptomatic or increased stroke risk asymptomatic atherosclerotic carotid stenosis patients. The new study is known as PARADIGM -500. In June 2022, the 1-year results were presented at the EuroPCR in Leipzig, Germany.
Key findings from the PARADIGM-500 study are as follows.
● Day Death/Stroke rate of 0.75%; 30-day death/stroke/myocardial infarction rate of 0.94%;
● 12-month freedom from ipsilateral stroke, in stent restenosis and target lesion revascularization rate of 99.6%.
Clinical Results and Mechanical Properties of the Carotid CGUARD Double-Layered Embolic Prevention Stent Study
“Clinical Results and Mechanical Properties of the Carotid CGUARD Double-Layered Embolic Prevention Stent Study” was an investigator-led, prospective single-center study which evaluated CGuard EPS in 30 consecutive patients with internal carotid artery stenosis disease with the objective of reporting early clinical outcomes with a novel MicroNet covered stent for the internal carotid artery and the in vitro investigation of the device’s mechanical properties. In October 2016, the 30-day positive results were published online-ahead-of-print in the Journal of Endovascular Therapy.
Key findings from the study are as follows:
● 100% success in implanting CGuard EPS without residual stenosis;
● No peri- or post-procedural complications;
● No deaths, major adverse events, minor or major strokes, or new neurologic symptoms during the six months following the procedure;
● Modified Rankin Scale improved for the symptomatic patients from 1.56 prior to the procedure to 0 afterwards;
● All vessels treated with CGuard EPS remained patent (open) at six months; and
● DW-MRI performed in 19 of 30 patients found no new ipsilateral lesions after 30 days and after six months compared with the baseline DW-MRI studies.
Additionally, based on engineering evaluations, the study concluded that CGuard EPS provides a high radial force and strong support in stenotic lesions. The stent is easy to use and safe to implant because it does not foreshorten and its structure adapts well to changes in diameter and direction of tortuous vascular anatomies. The MicroNet mesh of CGuard did not cause any changes to specific mechanical parameters of the underlying stent.
Safety and Efficacy of the New Micromesh-Covered Stent CGuard in Patients Undergoing Carotid Artery Stenting: Early Experience From a Single Center
“Safety and Efficacy of the New Micromesh-Covered Stent CGuard in Patients Undergoing Carotid Artery Stenting: Early Experience From a Single Center” was an investigator-led, single-center study which evaluated CGuard EPS in 82 consecutive patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety (technical success) and efficacy (clinical success) of the CGuard stent system - a new nitinol stent covered by a closed-cell polyethylene and terephthalate mesh designed to prevent embolic events. In 2017, the 30-day positive results were published online-ahead-of-print in the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejvs.2017.09.015.
Key findings from the study are as follows:
● 100% success in implanting CGuard EPS;
● One case of acute stent thrombosis occurred within 4 hours of the procedure:
● One minor stroke was recorded within the peri-operative period following the acute stent thrombosis, mentioned above;
● No new adverse neurological events were recorded at the post-operative period.
● DW-MRI was performed to assess the occurrence of new ischaemic brain lesions from the target vessel following placement of the CGuard stent peri- (48-72 hours) and post-operatively (30 days) in 21 and 11 patients, respectively. Five of 21 patients (23.8%) had new ischaemic brain lesions peri-operatively (48-72 hours) on the ipsilateral side, for a total number of 30 lesions, with an average lesion volume of 0.039 +/- 0.025 cm3. Four patients (19.1%) had new ischaemic brain lesions on the contralateral side, for a total number of nine lesions, with an average lesion volume of 0.019 +/- 0.011 cm3 (range 0.016-0.034 cm3). At the postoperative period, spontaneous resolution was noted in all the lesions recorded in the peri-operative period in the 11 patients participating. Only one symptomatic patient had two new ischaemic brain lesions (1 ipsilateral and 1 contralateral).
CGUARD Mesh-Covered Stent in Real World: The IRON-Guard Registry
“CGUARD Mesh-Covered Stent in Real World: The IRON-Guard Registry using CGuard EPS” was a physician initiated prospective multi-center registry that included 200 patients from 12 medical centers in Italy. The objective of the study was to report 30-day outcomes (including MACCE) in a prospective series of patients who were treated with CGuard EPS between April 2015 and June 2016. In January 2017, 30-day results were presented at the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC) 2017 and published in the Journal of EuroIntervention in May 2017. The 12-month follow-up was published in the Journal of EuroIntevention in October 2018.
Key 30-day results presented were:
● 100% success in implanting CGuard EPS;
● No MI, major stroke or death at 30 days;
● There were two transient ischemic attacks and five periprocedural minor strokes, including one thrombosis solved by surgery.
● Total elimination of post-procedural neurologic complications by 30 days;
● DW-MRI performed pre-procedure and between 24- and 72-hours post-procedure in 61 patients, indicated that 12 patients had new micro emboli (19%).
● At 12-month, there were no new major neurological adverse events, thrombosis or external carotid occlusion recorded;
● One myocardial infarction occurred at 12 months.
Initial Clinical Study of the New CGuard EPS MicroNet Covered Carotid Stent: “One Size Fits All”
“Initial Clinical Study of the New CGuard EPS MicroNet Covered Carotid Stent: ‘One Size Fits All’” was an investigator-led, single-center study, which evaluated CGuard EPS in 30 consecutive patients with symptomatic stenosis of the internal carotid artery with the objective of evaluating the CGuard EPS MicroNet covered stent for its ability to adjust to different vessel diameters. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Endovascular Therapy in May 2019. The conclusion of the study as reported was that CGuard EPS has high conformability combined with an almost equivalent outward radial force at expansion diameters ranging from 5.5 to 9.0 mm. The first clinical results demonstrate the “One Size Fits All” stent can be implanted in internal carotid arteries with reference diameters within this range.
Key findings from the study were as follows:
● 100% technical success in implanting CGuard EPS;
● No neurological events within 30 days;
● The chronic outward force normalized by stent length demonstrated a near-equivalent radial force outcome; and
● The stent displayed only a minor difference between the minimal radial force at 9.0 mm (0.195 N/mm) and the maximal radial force at 5.5 mm (0.330 N/mm).
Preliminary Results from a Prospective Real-World Multicenter Clinical Practice of Carotid Artery Stenting Using the CGuard Embolic Prevention System: The IRONGUARD 2 Study
“Preliminary Results From a Prospective Real-World Multicenter Clinical Practice of Carotid Artery Stenting Using the CGuard Embolic Prevention System: The IRONGUARD 2 Study” is a physician initiated prospective multi-center registry enrolling 733 patients from 20 medical centers in Italy, from January 2017 to June 2019. The objective of the study is to evaluate periprocedural (24 hours), post-procedural (up to 30 days), and 12-month outcomes in a largest, prospective, multicenter series of patients submitted for protected carotid artery stenting with the CGuard Embolic Prevention System. The 24-hour, 30-day and 12-month preliminary results (data available on 726 patients out of the 733 treated) were presented at the Leipzig Interventional Course (LINC) in January 2021. The study’s preliminary results from the IRONGUAURD 2 study suggested in a real-world evaluation of carotid artery stenting, CGuard EPS can be safely used for treatment of extracranial carotid artery stenosis, allowing a low rate of post procedural adverse events by 12 months.
Key findings from the study are as follows:
● 100% procedural success in implanting CGuard EPS;
● death from hemorrhagic stroke (patient was admitted for immediate treatment of CAS due to stroke), 2 minor strokes, 6 TIAs and one nonfatal AMI at 24 hours;
● minor stroke, 2 TIAs, three AMIs, no deaths and no stent thrombosis/occlusions between 24 hours and 30 days; and
● minor stroke, 4 TIAs, 2 AMIs and 8 deaths (the 2 mentioned AMIs, 4 malignancies, 1 suicide and 1 undefined complication in Guillain-Barré Syndrome) between 30 days and 1 year.
Thirty-Day Results of the Novel CGuard-Covered Stent in Patients Undergoing Carotid Artery Stenting
“Thirty-Day Results of the Novel CGuard-Covered Stent in Patients Undergoing Carotid Artery Stenting” was an investigator-led, prospective single-center study which evaluated CGuard EPS in 103 patients that underwent carotid artery stenting procedures. The aim of the study was to provide early-term evaluation, safety, and efficacy of the novel CGuard micromesh self-expanding stent with embolic protection system (EPS). In April 2021, the 30-day positive results were published in the Journal of Endovascular Therapy, DOI: 10.1177/15266028211007466.
Key findings from the study are as follows:
● 100% technical success was achieved in all patients:
● No major adverse events (death, stroke, or myocardial infarction) at 30 days.
The SIBERIA Trial for Carotid Artery Stenosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Conventional Versus Micronet™-Covered Stent Use in Percutaneous Neuroprotected Carotid Artery Revascularization: Peri-procedural and 30-day Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Outcomes (RCT trial)
“The SIBERIA Trial for Carotid Artery Stenosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Conventional Versus Micronet™-Covered Stent Use in Percutaneous Neuroprotected Carotid Artery Revascularization: Peri-procedural and 30-day Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinical Outcomes” was an investigator-initiated randomized clinical trial, single-center study, which evaluated one hundred patients who qualified for carotid revascularization with high risk for surgery and were randomized 1:1 to either CGuard EPS or AcculinkTM. The primary endpoints were incidence and volume of new cerebral embolic post-procedural lesions (24-48 hours) as determined by diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI). The principal secondary endpoints included incidence of periprocedural or postprocedural stroke, myocardial infarction and death at 30 days. The 30-day results of the study were presented in a late-breaking session at the EuroPCR in June 2020 and published (Randomized Controlled Trial of Conventional Versus MicroNet-Covered Stent in Carotid Artery Revascularization, JACC Cardiovascular Interventions, Vol. 14, November 21, 2021). The conclusion of the study was that the CGuard™ Micronet™-covered stent use in consecutive unselected patients subjected to neuroprotected carotid artery stenting was associated with a greater than three-fold reduction in the procedure-generated mean cerebral lesion volume, and with zero post-procedural cerebral embolisms observed. The MicroNet covered stent significantly reduced periprocedural and abolished post procedural cerebral embolism in relation to a conventional carotid stent. This is consistent with the MicroNet covered stent’s sustained embolism prevention, translating into cerebral protection not only during but after carotid artery stenting. The incidence of restenosis and vessel occlusion according to the ICA (internal carotid artery) ultrasound and the incidence of strokes, myocardial infarctions or deaths between the study arms at 365 days were presented at the LINC conference in Leipzig, Germany in June, 2022. The 12-month outcomes demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of the combined endpoint of death, stroke or myocardial infarctions and in-stent restenosis and vessel occlusion rate in the first generation (single layer) carotid stent, AcculinkTM, versus the MicroNet-Covered Stent, CGuard™.
Key findings from the study are as follows:
● Peri Procedure, the CGuard™ arm was observed to have a 57% reduction in new cerebral lesion average volume per patient (171 mm3 vs. 73 mm3), a statistically significant improvement (p=0.017) and 222 mm3 vs. 84 mm3 (p=0.038);
● Post Procedure (24-48 hours), the CGuard™ arm was observed to have a 78% reduction in the average volume of new cerebral lesions (157 mm3 vs. 700 mm3), a statistically significant improvement (p=0.007);
● At 30 days, DW-MRI showed zero new cerebral lessons in the CGuard™ arm versus six in the Acculink™ arm (p=0.03);
● At 30 days, there were zero strokes, myocardial infarctions or deaths in the CGuard arm and two events the Acculink™ arm (two strokes);
● At 365 there were zero cases of restenosis and vessel occlusion in the CGuard™ arm versus 3 cases of restenosis and 1 case of vessel occlusion in the Acculink™ arm;
● At 365 days, there were one event in the CGuard arm (one death) and five events the Acculink™ arm (two strokes, two deaths and one myocardial infarction).
On-going and Planned Clinical Trials
C-GUARDIANS
C-GUARDIANS is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm, pivotal study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the CGuard Carotid Stent System when used to treat symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting.
The study completed enrollment in June 2023. The primary endpoint is a composite of: (1) incidence of major adverse events including Death (all-cause mortality), any Stroke, and Myocardial Infarction (DSMI) through 30-days post index procedure, or (2) ipsilateral stroke from day 31 to day 365 post-procedure. All events are adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee. The composite index will be compared to a performance goal based on the observed rate of the two components of the primary endpoint from previous pivotal stent trials which are considered industry standard. The performance goal will be considered met if the upper bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval calculated from the observed primary endpoint rate is < 11.6% and the p-value is less than 0.025.
From July 2021 to June 2023, 316 patients were prospectively enrolled at 24 sites in the US and the EU and from April 2023 included deployment of the CGuard stent using CGuard Prime, our next generation CAS stent platform. All CAS procedures were performed utilizing the CGuard MicroNetTM mesh covered stent and cleared intra-procedural cerebral protection distal embolic filters or proximal embolic protection with flow cessation, or both. At 30 days, the hierarchical DSMI rate was 0.95% in the intent to treat (ITT) analysis and 0.63% in the per- protocol (PP) analysis. Three patients experienced major adverse cardiovascular events by 30-days: one patient who did not take dual antiplatelet therapy (protocol violation) had a major stroke and died and two other patients had a stroke. There was no myocardial infarction (MI). These results support a potential “neuroprotective” effect of the CGuard stent from the procedure to 30 days follow-up.
We expect the primary endpoint at 1-year will be analyzed during the third quarter of 2024 when the last patient enrolled reaches 1-year of follow-up. We anticipate reporting primary endpoint results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in mid 2024 that may support the submission of a PMA application in the third quarter of 2024 with a view to potential FDA approval of the CGuard Prime stent system in the first half of 2025.
Early Feasibility Study of CGuard EPS for Acute Stroke Patients with Tandem Lesions
In November 2023, we announced the entry into a strategic agreement with the Jacobs Institute at the State University of New York at Buffalo to execute an early feasibility study of CGuard EPS for the treatment of acute stroke patients with tandem lesions. The study, a prospective, single center, single-arm, open label, non-blinded study is expected to enroll 15 acute stroke patients across three U.S. sites to assess the safety and feasibility .of using CGuard EPS to treat acute ischemic stroke patients with tandem lesions. of Dr. Adnan Siddiqui, Vice-Chairman and Professor of Neurosurgery at the State University of New York at Buffalo, CEO of the Jacobs Institute, is the Principal Investigator for the study. First patient enrollment is expected in the second quarter of 2024.
C-GUARDIANS II for SwitchGuard NPS
The SwitchGuard™ NPS is designed to allow the treating physician to reverse cerebral blood flow during a TCAR procedure. SwitchGuard™ is intended to prevent embolic debris generated during the procedure from traveling to the brain, passing the blood through the filter housed within the SwitchGuard™ before returning it to the patient to minimize blood loss.
We plan to submit an IDE to the FDA in the second half of 2024 for C-GUARDIANS II, a multicenter, single-arm, pivotal study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the SwitchGuard NPS for providing cerebral embolic protection during carotid artery stenting via the Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) approach. We appointed Patrick Geraghty, M.D., professor of surgery and radiology, section of vascular surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and Patrick Muck, M.D., program director and chief of vascular surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, OH, to act as lead principal investigators for the trial.
Additionally, William Gray, M.D., system chief of the cardiovascular division at Main Line Health in Wynnewood, PA and professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, will act as a strategic advisor to the Company.
Future Clinical Trials
Pre and post-marketing clinical trials (outside the United States) could be conducted to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of CGuard EPS in specific indications.
Growth Strategy
Our primary business objective is to utilize our proprietary MicroNet technology and products to become the industry standard for the treatment of carotid disease and prevention of stroke and to provide a superior solution to the common acute problems caused by current stenting procedures, such as restenosis, embolic showers and late thrombosis. We are pursuing the following business strategies to achieve this objective.
● Widen the adoption of CGuard. We are seeking to expand the population of CGuard patients in those countries in which CGuard is commercially available. In particular, our focus is on establishing CGuard as a viable alternative (in appropriate cases) to carotid endarterectomy and the use of conventional carotid stents within the applicable medical communities. We intend to accomplish this goal by continuing to publish and present our clinical data, supporting investigator-initiated clinical registries and exploring the addition of additional devices to our portfolio, including the SwithchGuard NPS for use in TCAR cases. We have partnered and will continue to seek out partnerships with organizations focused on the treatment of stroke. We will also continue to engage advisory boards and to develop a network of key opinion leaders to assist us in our efforts to widen the adoption of CGuard. We aim to be the only company focusing on both the surgeons and interventionalists who perform both CAS and TCAR procedures.
● Portfolio expansion and pipeline development We plan to continue to invest in advancing our portfolio with new delivery system alternatives to facilitate the use of CGuard and SwitchGuard by all physicians. We believe our delivery systems, if approved, will enable all endovascular access points including accessory devices for trans carotid artery revascularization.
● Grow our presence in existing and new markets for CGuard EPS. We have launched CGuard EPS in most European and Latin American countries through a comprehensive distributor sales organizations network. We are continuing to focus on larger growing markets through this network by supporting our distributors with robust marketing and clinical education programs. We plan to continue to evaluate the transition to a direct selling model in certain currently served distributor markets, increasing our control on the market and gross profit margins. We are pursuing additional product registrations and distribution contracts with local distributors in other countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In February 2021, we executed a distribution agreement with Chinese partners for the purpose of expanding our presence in China. Currently, we are seeking strategic partners for a potential launch of CGuard EPS in Japan and other Asian countries. In addition, we plan to commercialize in the United States through a direct sales organization upon potential PMA approval of CGuard Prime.
● CMS approval of National Coverage Determination (NCD) - On October 11 2023, CMS issued an NCD covering the use of carotid stents (both CAS and TCAR) for the treatment of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients either at high- or standard-surgical risk. This decision significantly increases the available market to endovascular procedures. Previously, only symptomatic patients at high-risk to surgery were covered through the CMS coverage, NCA - Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) of the Carotid Artery Concurrent with Stenting (CAG-00085R8) - Tracking Sheet (cms.gov)
● Continue to leverage our MicroNet technology to develop additional applications for interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons. In addition to the applications described above, we believe that we will eventually be able to utilize our proprietary MicroNet technology to address imminent market needs for new product innovations to significantly improve patient care. We continue to broadly develop and protect intellectual property using our mesh technology. Examples of some areas include peripheral vascular disease and neurovascular disease.
● Establish relationships with collaborative and development partners to fully develop and market our existing and future products. We are seeking strategic partners for collaborative research, development, marketing, distribution, or other agreements, which could assist with our development and commercialization efforts for CGuard and other potential products that are based on our MicroNet technology.
Competition
The markets in which we compete are highly competitive, subject to change and impacted by new product introductions and other activities of industry participants.
Carotid
With respect to competition for our carotid embolic prevention system, CGuard EPS, the manufacturers of products used in connection with CAS procedures in the United States, including a number of large companies, including Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic and Cordis Corporation. In Europe, in addition to the above-mentioned manufacturers, Terumo Medical Corporation also participates in the market for products used in connection with CAS procedures. As we develop and seek regulatory approval in the United States and Europe for our new TCAR neuroprotection system SwitchGuard, and continue to seek greater market share for CGuard, we expect to compete with Silk Road Medical in the total carotid artery revascularization market that comprises CAS, TCAR and carotid endarterectomy (“CEA”).
Many of these companies are larger companies or divisions of publicly-traded companies that have certain competitive advantages, including greater capital resources, larger customer bases, broader product lines, larger sales forces, greater marketing and management resources, larger research and development staffs and larger facilities than ours and have established reputations, relationships with our target customers and worldwide distribution methods that are more effective than ours. However, while there are currently many market participants in the U.S. carotid stent market, we believe that the European market is somewhat more fragmented for CAS products, and, in our opinion, smaller competitors may be able to gain market share with greater flexibility and more efficiently than in the United States.
We believe the principal competitive factors in our market include the following:
● Strength of clinical evidence- patient outcomes and adverse event rates;
● Scale and effectiveness of commercialization efforts/organizations
● Acceptance by treating physicians and referral sources;
● Physician learning curve;
● Ease-of-use and reliability;
● Economic benefits and cost savings;
●
●
Availability of reimbursement; and
Patient experience
Sales and Marketing
Sales and Marketing
Based on the positive CGuard EPS clinical data, we initiated the commercial launch of CGuard EPS in CE marked countries in early 2015. In September 2015, we announced full market launch of CGuard EPS in Europe. Since 2017 we have focused on sales of our products through local distribution partners and our own internal sales initiatives to gain greater reach into all the relevant clinical specialties and to expand our geographic coverage. Our current strategy seeks to broaden our sales efforts to increase CGuard EPS penetration within the community of interventionalists. In parallel, we aim at transitioning vascular surgeons from carotid endarterectomy procedures to carotid stenting with CGuard and accessory devices, which we believe can greatly expand our customer base. We have focused and we plan to continue to focus our marketing efforts primarily on key growth markets and to evaluate opportunities in new territories as they become available. In addition, we are using international trade shows and industry conferences to gain market exposure and brand recognition. We continue to work with leading physicians to enhance our marketing efforts and are developing relationships with new key opinion leaders to champion our technology and work with us in clinical studies.
Product Positioning
We believe that CGuard has potential to become the standard of care in treading carotid artery disease. It is a second-generation stent with positive patient outcomes demonstrating significant reduction in post-procedural neurological events.
Additionally, we intend to continue to evaluate potential product and manufacturing enhancements for CGuard expected to reduce cost of goods or provide the best-in-class performing delivery system and accessory solutions. We believe these improvements may allow us to reduce cost of goods and increase penetration in our existing geographies and better position us for entry into new markets.
Insurance Reimbursement
While most countries have established reimbursement codes for stenting procedures, certain countries may require additional clinical data before recognizing coverage and/or to obtain a certain level of reimbursement for one or more of our products. In these situations, we intend to complete the required clinical studies to obtain reimbursement approval in countries where it makes economic sense to do so.
In October 2023, CMS issued its final National Coverage Determination (“NCD”), expanding coverage of CAS to include both asymptomatic and standard risk patients, significantly expanding the U.S. CAS addressable market.
Intellectual Property
Patents
We have 59 issued patents, including 19 patents issued in the U.S., and 26 pending patent applications, 7 of which are pending in the United States. Many of these patents and applications cover aspects of our CGuard and MGuard technology. Patents outside the U.S. have been filed in Canada, China, Europe, Israel, India, Japan, Australia, and South Africa. The patents and applications fall into a number of patent families, as listed below:
Base Title of Patent Family
Pending patent
applications
(Countries)
Issued patents
(Country and Patent No.)
Issue Date
Bifurcated Stent Assemblies
US 8,961,586
China ZL200780046676.2
02/24/2015
9/26/2012
Deformable Tip for Stent Delivery and Methods of Use
US 10,258,491
Israel 260,945
4/16/2019
07/01/2020
Handle for Two-Stage Deployment of a Stent
US (cont)
EP
CN
JP
IN
US 11,844,893
12/12/2023
Shunts with Blood-Flow Indicators
US (cont)
EP
CN
JP (allowed)
JP (divisional)
US 11,844,893
12/19/2023
IN
HK
Device for Shunting Blood Between the Arterial and Venous Systems
US
EP
CN
JP
IN
HK
Devices for shunting blood
US
PCT
In Vivo Filter Assembly
US 9,132,261
09/15/2015
Knitted Stent Jackets
Canada 2,666,728
Canada 2,887,189
China ZL200780046697.4
China ZL201210320950.3
EP
Germany, France, & UK
US 10,137,015
India
6/23/2015
5/1/2018
10/10/2012
12/2/2015
3/29/2017
11/27/2018
10/28/2019
Optimized Stent Jacket
US (cont)
Canada 2,670,724
Canada 3,013,758
China ZL201210454357.8
China ZL200780043259.2
India 297,257
Israel 230,922
US 9,132,003
US 9,526,644
US 9,782,281
US 10,070,976
US 10,406,006
US 10,406,008
US 11,051,959
EP
(BE, CH, DE, FR, UK, IT, IE, LX, NL)
EP3292837
(UK, DE, FR, IE)
12/11/2018
09/14/2021
12/09/2015
01/02/2013
05/30/2018
10/01/2020
09/15/2015
10/10/2017
12/27/2016
09/11/2018
09/10/2019
09/10/2019
07/06/2021
10/11/2017
11/09/2022
Stent Apparatuses for Treatment Via Body Lumens and Methods of Use
EPO
South Africa 2007/10751
Canada 2,609,687
Canada 2,843,097
EP
(CH, DE, FR, GB, IE, IT)
US 10,932,926
US 10,058,440
US 10,070,977
10/27/2010
4/22/2014
10/27/2015
2/13/2019
03/02/2021
8/28/2018
9/11/2018
Stent Thermoforming Apparatus and Methods
JP
US 9,527,234
US 10,376,393
7/12/2019
12/27/2016
8/13/2019
Methods or using a self-adjusting stent assembly and kits including the same
US (cont)
EP
IN
CN (div)
US 11,684,498
China ZL 2019800679437
06/27/2023
05/03/2022
Intravascular sheath
US (provisional)
The patents and patent applications listed above cover various aspects of our products, specifically focusing on the mesh sleeve covering our stents, as well as methods for production and delivery mechanisms of the stents. We believe that our patents, in particular those covering the use of a knitted micron-level mesh sleeve over a stent for various indications, as well as our pending patent applications (if issued as patents with claims substantially in their present form), create a significant barrier against other companies seeking to use similar technology. We believe these patents and patent applications collectively cover all our existing products and may be useful in protecting our future technological developments. We intend to aggressively continue patenting new technologies and to actively pursue any infringement of our key patents.
Trade Secrets
We also rely on trade secret protection to protect our interests in proprietary know-how and/or for processes for which patents are difficult to obtain or enforce. As part of our trade secret policy, we rely on non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants and other parties to protect trade secrets and other proprietary technology.
Trademarks
We have registered or applied to register the following trademarks, which we use in connection with our products:
● InspireMD® (US, European Union, and UK)
● MGuard® (European Union, and UK)
● CGuard® (US, European Union, and UK)
● MGuard Prime® (European Union, and UK)
● NGuard® (European Union and UK)
● PVGuard® (European Union, and UK)
● Micronet® (US)
● (MNP Micronet Protection logo) (European Union and UK)
● Carenet®)European Union and UK)
● SmartFit™ (US, UK, EP and CN)
● SmartFit Logo (EP, UK, CN)
● CGuard Prime (EP, UK, US, CN, JP)
● SwitchGuard (EP, UK, US, JP)
● True North Medical (EP, UK)
● MicroMesh logo (EP, UK)
● Micronet logo (updated version) (US, EP, UK, JP)
The trademarks are renewable indefinitely, so long as we continue using the marks and make the appropriate filings when required. We also use and may have common-law rights to various trademarks, trade names, and service marks.
Government Regulation
The manufacture and sale of our products are subject to regulation by numerous governmental authorities, principally the European Union CE mark and other corresponding foreign agencies.
Sales of medical devices outside the United States are subject to foreign regulatory requirements that vary widely from country to country. These laws and regulations range from simple product registration requirements in some countries to complex approval process, clinical trials and production controls in others. As a result, the processes and time periods required to obtain foreign marketing approval may be longer or shorter than those necessary to obtain FDA market authorization. These differences may affect the timeliness of international market introduction of our products. For the European Union nations, medical devices must obtain a CE mark before they may be placed on the market. In order to obtain and maintain the CE mark, we must comply with EU law on medical devices, which, until May 26, 2021 was governed by the MDD, by presenting comprehensive technical files for our products demonstrating safety and efficacy of the product to be placed on the market and passing initial and annual quality management system audit as per ISO 13485 standard by a European Notified Body. We have obtained ISO 13485 quality system certification and CGuard EPS that we currently distribute into the European Union, displays the required CE mark. In order to maintain certification, we are required to pass an annual surveillance audit conducted by Notified Body auditors. The European Union replaced the MDD with the new MDR regulation. The MDR entered into force after a transitional period of three years and a one year extension of that transition period due to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 26, 2021 and which changes several aspects of the regulatory framework in the European Union. Manufacturers had the duration of the transition period to update their technical documentation and processes to meet the new requirements in order to obtain a CE Mark. In January 2024, we received CE mark recertification of CGuard EPS under the MDR.
We have or had regulatory approval and made sales of CGuard EPS either through distributors pursuant to distribution agreements or directly, in the countries listed in the table below. While each of the European Union member countries accepts the CE mark as its sole requirement for marketing approval, some of these countries still require us to take additional steps in order to gain reimbursement rights for our products. Furthermore, while we believe that certain of the below-listed countries that are not members of the European Union and accept the CE mark as a primary requirement for marketing approval, each such country requires additional regulatory requirements for final marketing approval of our products. Furthermore, we are currently targeting additional countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America; however, even if all governmental regulatory requirements are satisfied in each such country, we anticipate that obtaining marketing approval in each country could take as few as three months or as many as twelve months or more, due to the nature of the approval process in each individual country, including typical wait times for application processing and review, as discussed in greater detail below.
Please refer to the table below setting forth the approvals and sales made for CGuard EPS on a country-by-country basis
Approvals and Sales of CGuard EPS on a Country-by-Country Basis*
Countries CGuard EPS
Approval
CGuard EPS
Sales
Argentina Y Y
Australia Y Y
Austria Y Y
Belarus Y Y
Belgium Y Y
Brazil Y Y
Bulgaria N N
Chile Y Y
Colombia Y Y
Croatia Y N
Cyprus Y Y
Czech Republic Y Y
Denmark Y N
Dominican Republic N N
Ecuador Y N
Estonia Y Y
Finland Y Y
France Y Y
Germany Y Y
Greece Y Y
Netherlands Y Y
Hong Kong N N
Hungary Y N
Iceland Y N
India Y Y
Ireland Y N
Israel Y Y
Italy Y Y
Kazakhstan Y Y
Latvia Y Y
Lithuania Y Y
Liechtenstein Y N
Luxembourg Y N
Malaysia N N
Malta Y N
Mexico Y Y
Moldova Y Y
Montenegro N N
New Zealand Y N
Norway Y N
Peru
Y
Y
Poland
Y
Y
Portugal
Y
Y
Romania
Y
Y
Russia
Y
Y
Saudi Arabia
N
N
Serbia
Y
Y
Slovakia
N
N
Slovenia
Y
Y
South Africa
Y
Y
Spain
Y
Y
Sweden
Y
Y
Switzerland
Y
Y
Turkey
N
N
Taiwan
Y
Y
Venezuela
N
N
Vietnam
Y
Y
Ukraine
Y
Y
United Kingdom
Y
Y
United States
N
Y (1)
(1) Refers to CGuard units used in our ongoing FDA trial.
FDA Government Regulation of Medical Devices for Human Subjects
Many of our activities are subject to regulatory oversight by the FDA under provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and regulations thereunder, including regulations governing the development, marketing, labeling, promotion, manufacturing, and export of medical devices.
FDA Approval/Clearance Requirements
In the United States, most Class II or III medical devices must be cleared or approved by the FDA prior to commercialization. Unless an exemption applies, each medical device that is marketed in the United States must receive either 510(k) clearance or PMA. Medical devices that are class II devices receive 510(k) clearance are “cleared” by the FDA to market, distribute, and sell in the United States. Medical devices that are class III devices obtain a premarket approval by the FDA are “approved” to market, distribute, and sell in the United States, after FDA performs an on-site audit at the company premises.
Class I devices are those for which safety and effectiveness can be assured by adherence to the FDA’s general regulatory controls for medical devices, or the General Controls, which include compliance with the applicable portions of the FDA’s quality system regulations, facility registration and product listing, reporting of adverse medical events, and appropriate, truthful and non-misleading labeling, advertising, and promotional materials. Some Class I devices also require premarket clearance by the FDA through the 510(k) process described below.
Class II devices are required to file a Premarket review of 510(k) application that may also require General Controls, and any other special controls as deemed necessary by the FDA to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device. Pursuant to the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002 (MDUFMA), as of October 2002, unless a specific exemption applies, 510(k) submissions are subject to user fees. Certain Class II devices are exempt from this premarket review process.
Class III includes devices with the greatest risk. Devices in this class must demonstrate safety and efficacy requirements. In addition, Class III devices cannot generally be marketed until they receive a premarket approval. The safety and effectiveness of Class III devices cannot be assured solely by the General Controls and the other requirements described above. These devices require formal clinical studies to demonstrate safety and effectiveness. Under MDUFMA, PMAs (and supplemental PMAs) are subject to significantly higher user fees than 510(k) applications, and they also require considerably more time and resources.
The FDA decides whether a device line must undergo either the 510(k) clearance or premarket approval based on statutory criteria that utilize a risk-based classification system. Premarket approval is the FDA process of scientific and regulatory review to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Class III medical devices and, in many cases, Class II medical devices. Class III devices are those that support or sustain human life, are of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health, or which present a potential, unreasonable risk of illness or injury. The FDA uses these criteria to decide whether a premarket approval or a 510(k) is appropriate, including the level of risk that the agency perceives is associated with the device and a determination by the agency of whether the product is a type of device that is similar to devices that are already legally marketed. Devices deemed to pose relatively less risk are placed in either Class I or II. In many cases, the FDA requires the manufacturer to submit a 510(k) requesting clearance (also referred to as a premarket notification), unless an exemption applies. The 510(k) must demonstrate that the manufacturer’s proposed device is “substantially equivalent” in intended use and in safety and effectiveness to a legally marketed predicate device. A “predicate device” is a pre-existing medical device to which equivalence can be drawn, generally by a Class II device that was in commercial distribution before May 28, 1976, for which the FDA has not yet called for submission of a PMA. A product that lacks a predicate device will default to a Class III device, although a company may seek to submit a De Novo classification request, rather than a PMA. The De Novo request allows a regulatory pathway to classify novel medical devices and FDA will determine which category is appropriate for that device and for which general controls alone, or general and special controls, provide reasonable occurrence of safety and effectiveness for the intended use, but for which there is no legally marketed predicate device.
Premarket Approval Pathway
Our CGuard Carotid Stent System is classified as a Class III medical device (considered a PMA) by the FDA. Class III medical devices are generally the highest risk devices and are therefore subject to more rigorous regulatory requirements by the FDA, since the FDA process of premarket approval involves scientific and regulatory review to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Class III medical devices for the purpose(s) intended. The FDA will either approve or deny a premarket approval application and we cannot market a device until the FDA approves a premarket approval application.
A PMA must be supported by extensive data including, but not limited to, analytical, preclinical, clinical trials, manufacturing, statutory preapproval inspections, and labeling to demonstrate to the FDA’s satisfaction the safety and effectiveness of the device is safe and effective for its intended use. Before a premarket approval application is submitted, a manufacturer must generally apply for an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) to conduct clinical trials. If the device presents a “significant risk,” as defined by the FDA, to human health, the FDA requires the device sponsor to file an IDE application with the FDA and obtain IDE approval prior to initiation of broader human clinical trials.
The IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as analytical, animal and laboratory testing results, manufacturing information, and an Investigational Review Board (IRB) approved protocol showing that it is safe to test the device in humans and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound, as well as ensuring patient informed consent is obtained.
A clinical trial may be suspended by either the FDA or the IRB at any time for various reasons, including a belief that the risks to the study participants outweigh the benefits of participation in the study. Even if a study is completed, clinical testing results may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the device, or they may be equivocal or otherwise insufficient to obtain approval of the product being tested. After the clinical trials have been completed, if at all, and the clinical trial data and results are collected and organized, a manufacturer may complete a premarket approval application.
Following the IDE, a PMA application must be prepared and after a PMA is sufficiently complete, then the FDA will accept the application and begin an in-depth review of the submitted information. By statute, the FDA has 180 days to review the “accepted application,” although, generally, review of the application can take between one and three years, but it may take significantly longer. During this review period, the FDA may request additional information or clarification of information already provided. Also, during the review period, an advisory panel of experts from outside the FDA may be convened to review and evaluate the application and provide recommendations to the FDA as to the approvability of the device. The preapproval inspections conducted by the FDA include an evaluation of the manufacturing facility to ensure compliance with the Quality Systems Regulations, as well as inspections of the clinical trial sites by the Bioresearch Monitoring group to evaluate compliance with good clinical practice and human subject protections. New premarket approval applications or premarket approval supplements are required for modifications that affect the safety or effectiveness of the device, including, for example, certain types of modifications to the device’s indication for use, manufacturing process, labeling and design. Significant changes to an approved premarket approval require a 180-day supplement, whereas less substantive changes may utilize a 30-day notice, or a 135-day supplement. Premarket approval supplements often require submission of the same type of information as a premarket approval application, except that the supplement is limited to information needed to support any changes from the device covered by the original premarket approval application, and it may not require as extensive clinical data or the convening of an advisory panel.
510(k) Clearance Pathway
We do not currently market, distribute, or sell any products that have market clearance by the FDA under its 510(k) process. If, in the future, we develop products where 510(k) clearance is required, we would be required to submit a 510(k) demonstrating that such proposed devices are substantially equivalent to a respective previously cleared 510(k) device or a device that was in commercial distribution before May 28, 1976, for which the FDA has not yet called for the submission of 510(k). The FDA’s 510(k) clearance pathway usually takes from three to twelve months but could take longer. In some cases, the FDA may require additional information, including clinical data, to make a determination regarding substantial equivalence.
If a device receives 510(k) clearance, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a new or major change in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or, depending on the modification, a premarket approval. The FDA requires each device manufacturer to determine whether the proposed change requires submission of a new 510(k) or a premarket approval, but the FDA can review any such decision and can disagree with a manufacturer’s determination. If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s determination, the FDA can require the manufacturer to cease marketing and/or recall the modified device until 510(k) clearance or premarket approval of the modified device is obtained.
Pervasive and Continuing FDA Regulation
A host of regulatory requirements apply to our approved devices, including the quality system regulation (which requires manufacturers to follow elaborate design, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures), the Medical Device Reporting regulations (which require that manufacturers report to the FDA specified types of adverse events involving their products), labeling regulations, and the FDA’s general prohibition against promoting products for unapproved or “off-label” uses. Class II devices also can have special controls such as performance standards, post-market surveillance, patient registries, and certain FDA guidelines do apply to Class I devices.
A noncomprehensive list of the regulatory requirements that apply to our approved products classified as medical devices include:
● product listing and establishment registration, which helps facilitate FDA inspections and other regulatory action;
● Quality Systems Regulations, which requires manufacturers, including third-party manufacturers, to follow stringent design, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures during all aspects of the development and manufacturing process;
● labeling regulations and FDA prohibitions against the promotion of products for uncleared, unapproved or off-label use or indication;
● clearance of product modifications that could significantly affect safety or efficacy or that would constitute a major change in intended use of one of our cleared devices (if obtained);
● approval of product modifications that affect the safety or effectiveness of one of our cleared devices (if obtained);
● medical device reporting regulations, which require that manufacturers comply with FDA requirements to report if their device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury, or has malfunctioned in a way that would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if the malfunction of the device or a similar device were to recur;
● post-approval restrictions or conditions, including post-approval study commitments;
● post-market surveillance regulations, which apply when necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and effectiveness data for the device;
● the FDA’s recall authority, whereby it can ask, or under certain conditions order, device manufacturers to recall from the market a product that is in violation of governing laws and regulations;
● regulations pertaining to voluntary recalls; and,
● notices of corrections or removals.
At this time, we have not registered as an establishment with the FDA. If we are approved or cleared to manufacture, prepare, or process a device in the United States, we and any third-party manufacturers that we may use will be required to register our establishments with the FDA. In addition, we and our manufacturing facilities will be subject to FDA inspections for compliance with the FDA’s Quality System Regulation. Additionally, some of our subcontractors may also be subject to FDA announced and unannounced inspections for compliance with the FDA’s Quality System Regulation and assurances that the Company is marketing appropriately the indications for use of the product. These regulations will require that we manufacture our products and maintain our documents in a prescribed manner with respect to design, manufacturing, testing and quality control activities and ensure that marketing materials and promotion are in compliance. As a medical device manufacturer, we will further be required to comply with FDA requirements regarding the reporting of adverse events associated with the use of our medical devices, as well as product malfunctions that would likely cause or contribute to death or serious injury if the malfunction were to recur. FDA regulations also govern product labeling and prohibit a manufacturer from marketing a medical device for unapproved applications.
U.S. Healthcare Laws and Regulations
In addition to the FDA regulations, there are a variety of other healthcare laws and regulations to which we may be subject if any of our products are marketed, sold, distributed, and/or utilized in the United States. In the United States, we may be subject to the oversight of FDA, Office of the Inspector General within the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), in addition to others. We supply products that may be reimbursed by federally funded programs such as Medicare. As a result, our activities may be subject to regulation by CMS and potential enforcement by CMS, OIG and DOJ. Of specific note are federal and state fraud and abuse laws, which prohibit the payment or receipt of kickbacks, bribes or other remuneration, including the offer or solicitation of such payment, intended to induce or reward the purchase, recommendation or generation of business involving healthcare products any item or service payable by a health-care program. Other provisions of federal and state laws prohibit presenting, or causing to be presented, to third party payors (including, government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid) for reimbursement, claims that are false or fraudulent, or which are for items or services that were not provided as claimed. In addition, other healthcare laws and regulations may apply, such as transparency and reporting requirements and privacy and security requirements. Violations of these laws can lead to civil and criminal penalties, including exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. These laws are potentially applicable to manufacturers of products regulated by the FDA as medical devices, such as us, and hospitals, physicians and other institutional or individual providers that may refer or purchase such products. The healthcare laws that may be applicable to our business or operations include, but are not limited to:
● The federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits a person from knowingly and willfully offering, soliciting or receiving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in return for or to induce referring or recommending an individual to another person to receive items or services or to purchase, lease, order, or arrange for any good, facility, item or service payable in whole or in part under a Federal health care program;
● Federal false claims laws and civil monetary penalty laws, including the False Claims Act, prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid or other government healthcare programs that are false or fraudulent, or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government. The False Claims Act imposes liability on any person or entity that, among other things, knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment by a federal health care program, knowingly makes, uses or causes to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim, or knowingly makes a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the U.S. federal government. The federal Civil Monetary Penalties Law prohibits, among other things, the offering or transferring of remuneration to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary that the person knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular supplier of Medicare or Medicaid payable items or services;
● The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which includes provisions that prohibit knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, and for knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statements in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services;
● HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, and its implementing regulations, including privacy protection that impose obligations and requirements on healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their respective business associates that perform certain services for them that involve the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information, with respect to safeguarding the privacy and security of certain individually identifiable health information;
● The federal transparency requirements under the Affordable Care Act, including the provision commonly referred to as the Open Payments Act or Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies that are reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, and ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members; and
● Analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may be broader in scope and apply to referrals and items or services reimbursed by both governmental and non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by federal law, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Customers
Our customer base is varied. We currently have distribution agreements for our CE mark-approved CGuard EPS with medical product distributors based in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America. We are currently in discussions with additional distribution companies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Our distribution agreements stipulate that, while we shall assist in training by providing training materials, marketing guidance, marketing materials, and technical guidance, each distributor will be responsible for carrying out local registration, sales and marketing activities. In addition, in most cases, all sales costs, including sales representatives, incentive programs, and other marketing activities, will be borne by the distributor. Under current agreements, distributors purchase stents from us at a fixed price. Our current agreements with distributors are generally for a term of two to three years.
On February 3, 2021, we entered into a Distribution Agreement with three China-based partners, pursuant to which the Chinese partners will be responsible for conducting the necessary registration trials for commercial approval of our products in China, followed by an exclusive distribution right to sell our products in China. Under the Distribution Agreement, the China-based partners will be subject to minimum purchase obligations.
Manufacturing and Suppliers
The polymer fiber for MicroNet is supplied by Biogeneral, Inc., a San Diego, California-based specialty polymer manufacturer for medical and engineering applications.
Our catheter supplier for CGuard EPS supplies us with catheters that help create the base for our CGuard EPS stents. Our agreement with the supplier may be terminated by us upon eight months’ notice. On September 17, 2019, we amended the agreement with the supplier so that we are responsible for purchasing and handling inventory of components used in the manufacturing of CGuard EPS catheters, and they are responsible for the manufacturing process.
Our catheter supplier for CGuard Prime supplies us with catheters that help create the base for our CGuard Prime stent system. Our agreement with the supplier which may be terminated by us upon 9 months’ notice, calls for non-binding minimum orders.
We manufacture our CGuard EPS and our CGuard Prime at our own facility. The self-expanding bare-metal stents for our CGuard EPS and our CGuard Prime are being manufactured and supplied by a third-party. Our agreement with the supplier for the production of electro polished L605 bare-metal stents for CGuard EPS and CGuard Prime is priced on a per-stent basis, subject to the quantity of stents ordered. The complete assembly process for CGuard EPS and CGuard Prime, including knitting and securing the sleeved to the stent and the crimping of the sleeved stent in to a delivery catheter, is done at our Israel manufacturing site. Once CGuard EPS and CGuard Prime have been assembled, they are sent for sterilization in a third-party facility in Israel, and then back to our facility for final packaging and distribution.
A CGuard EPS and CGuard Prime consists of a CGuard stent and the delivery system. Each CGuard stent is manufactured from two main components, a self-expending nickel-titanium stent and the mesh polymer. This material is readily available and we acquire it in the open market. The mesh is made from polyethylene terephthalate (polyester). We have patent rights that cover the proposed CGuard stent with mesh. During 2022 our mesh supplier informed us that it will not be able to supply the polymer fiber in the future due to issues with raw materials, therefore we purchased inventory which should be sufficient to support our production needs until the end of 2026. We are currently testing a different source of PET showing equivalent mechanical properties of the original raw material. BioGeneral will produce the fiber from the new PET: samples were already produced for preliminary R&D testing. Complete validation process will take up to 18 months. The delivery system for CGuard is made out of polymer tubes we acquire from an original equipment manufacturer. In the event that our supplier can no longer supply this material, we would need to qualify another supplier, which could take up to a year. In addition, in order to retain the approval of the CE mark, we are required to perform periodic audits of the quality control systems of our key suppliers in order to ensure that their products meet our predetermined specifications.
Human Capital Management
As of December 31, 2023, we had 66 employees, 65 full-time and 1 part-time, consisting of 5 in executive management, 6 in research and development, 10 in quality assurance and compliance, 5 in finance and accounting, 26 in operations/production, 11 in sales, marketing and clinical, and 3 in all other miscellaneous roles, Human resources, and administration. Except for 5 of our employees in Europe, our employees are not party to any collective bargaining agreements. We do not expect the collective bargaining agreements to which our employees are party to have a material effect on our business or results of operations. We also employ 2 independent contractors in Poland and 1 in Brazil.
We believe that our future success will depend, in part, on our continued ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel. In particular, we depend on the skills, experience and performance of our senior management and research personnel. We compete for qualified personnel with other medical device, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, as well as universities and non-profit research institutions.
We provide competitive compensation and benefits programs to help meet the needs of our employees. In addition to salaries, these programs (which vary by country/region and employment classification) include incentive compensation plan, pension, healthcare and insurance benefits, paid time off, family leave, and on-site services, among others. We also use targeted equity-based grants with vesting conditions to facilitate retention of personnel, particularly for our key employees.
We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
There are numerous and varied risks, known and unknown, that may prevent us from achieving our goals. You should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the consolidated financial statements and related notes. If any of the following risks, or any other risks not described below, actually occur, it is likely that our business, financial condition, and/or operating results could be materially adversely affected. The risks and uncertainties described below include forward-looking statements and our actual results may differ from those discussed in these forward-looking statements.
Summary Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary. These risks include, among others, the following:
● we have a history of net losses and may experience future losses;
● our history of recurring losses and negative cash flows from operating activities, significant future commitments and the uncertainty regarding the adequacy of our liquidity to pursue our complete business objectives,
● we will need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future, and such capital raising may be costly or difficult to obtain and could dilute our stockholders’ ownership interests;
● we may become subject to claims by much larger and better capitalized competitors enforcing their intellectual property rights against us or seeking to invalidate our intellectual property or our rights thereto;
● completing clinical trials for CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS in the United States require meeting a number of regulatory requirements and must be conducted in compliance with the FDA’s IDE regulations. Failure to maintain compliance with IDE regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business;
● clinical trials necessary to support a pre-market approval application will be lengthy and expensive and will require the enrollment of a large number of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit. Any such delay or failure of clinical trials could prevent us from commercializing our stent products, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and the value of our business;
● the results of our clinical trials may be insufficient to obtain regulatory approval for our products;
● our products may in the future be subject to product notifications, recalls, or voluntary market withdrawals that could harm our reputation, business and financial results;
● we may be subject, directly or indirectly, to applicable U.S. federal and state anti-kickback, false claims laws, physician payment transparency laws, fraud and abuse laws or similar healthcare and security laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings;
● we may be exposed to product liability claims and insurance may not be sufficient to cover these claims;
● even if one or more of our products are approved by the FDA, we may fail to obtain an adequate level of reimbursement for our products by third party payors, such that there may be no commercially viable markets for our products or the markets may be much smaller than expected;
● in the United States and European Union, our business could be significantly and adversely affected by healthcare reform initiatives and/or other legislation or judicial interpretations of existing or future healthcare laws and/or regulations;
● if we are unable to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products, others may be able to make, use or sell our products, which would adversely affect our revenue;
● we are an international business, and we are exposed to various global and local risks that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations venue;
● our business, operating results and growth rates may be adversely affected by current or future unfavorable economic and market conditions and adverse developments with respect to financial institutions and associated liquidity risk;
● there are inherent limitations in all control systems, and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected;
● we anticipate being subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates because we expect a substantial portion of our revenues will be generated in Euros and U.S. dollars, while a significant portion of our expenses will be incurred in New Israeli Shekels;
● if there are significant shifts in the political, economic and military conditions in Israel and its neighbours, it could have a material adverse effect on our business relationships and profitability;
● it may be difficult for investors in the United States to enforce any judgments obtained against us or some of our directors or officers;
● the market prices of our common stock and our publicly traded warrants are subject to fluctuation and have been and may continue to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses for investors; and
● our common stock could be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market if we fail to meet its continued listing requirements, including requirements with respect to the market value of publicly-held-shares, market value of listed shares, minimum bid price per share, and minimum stockholder’s equity, among others, and requirements relating to board and committee independence.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition
We have a history of net losses and may experience future losses.
We have yet to establish any history of profitable operations. We reported a net loss of $19.9 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and had a net loss of approximately $18.5 million during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $222 million. We expect to incur additional operating losses for the foreseeable future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve sufficient revenues throughout the year or be profitable in the future.
We will need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future, and such capital raising may be costly or difficult to obtain and could dilute our stockholders’ ownership interests.
In order for us to pursue our business objectives without materially curtailing our operations, we will need to raise additional capital, which additional capital may not be available on reasonable terms or at all. For instance, we will need to raise additional funds to accomplish the following:
● furthering our efforts to ultimately seek the FDA approval for commercial sales of CGuard EPS and Switchguard NPS in the United States;
● development of our current and future products, including CGuard EPS and SwitchGuard NPS enhancements;
● pursuing growth opportunities, including more rapid expansion and funding regional distribution systems;
● making capital improvements to improve our infrastructure;
● hiring and retaining qualified management and key employees;
● responding to competitive pressures;
● complying with regulatory requirements such as licensing and registration; and
● maintaining compliance with applicable laws.
In May 2023, we issued four series of Warrants that expire upon the earlier of five years and 20 trading days following the occurrence of certain milestones specific to each series. If the Warrants are exercised in cash in full, this would result in $71.4 million of gross proceeds. There can be no assurance that we will achieve any of the milestones set forth in the Warrants or that the Warrants will be exercised in cash in full.
Any additional capital raised through the sale of equity or equity-backed securities may dilute our stockholders’ ownership percentages and could also result in a decrease in the market value of our equity securities.
The terms of any securities issued by us in future capital transactions may be more favorable to new investors, and may include preferences, superior voting rights and the issuance of warrants or other derivative securities, which may have a further dilutive effect on the holders of any of our securities then outstanding.
In addition, we may incur substantial costs in pursuing future capital financing, including investment banking fees, legal fees, accounting fees, securities law compliance fees, printing and distribution expenses and other costs. We may also be required to recognize non-cash expenses in connection with certain securities we issue, such as convertible notes and warrants, which may adversely impact our financial condition.
Risk Related to Commercialization of Our Products
While we derive most of our revenue from the sale of CGuard EPS in CE marked countries, our ability to generate significant revenues and achieve profitability depends, among other things, on our ability to receive FDA approval of CGuard Prime and SwitchGuard and other products we may develop. If we fail to obtain FDA approval for CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other products we may develop, our results of operations and the value of our business would be materially and adversely affected.
We derive most of our revenue from sales of our CGuard EPS in CE marked countries and certain other select jurisdictions. We have not received approvals in the United States and certain other jurisdictions for CGuard Prime and have not received any approvals for SwitchGuard and there can be no assurance that we will be able to receive regulatory approvals to commence marketing and sales for our products in any jusrisdiction where we are seeking approvals. Our ability to generate significant revenues and achieve profitability depends on our ability to successfully obtain required regulatory approvals in the U.S. as well as to demonstrate sufficient clinical evidence and manufacture commercial quantities of our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard and any other products we may develop at an acceptable cost. In addition, there may be insufficient demand for CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard and any other products we develop. If we fail to generate sufficient revenues from these products, our results of operations and the value of our business and securities would be materially and adversely affected.
The future success of our business cannot be determined at this time, and we do not anticipate generating significant revenues from product sales for the foreseeable future. In addition, we have no experience in commercializing our CGuard Prime or any other product we develop on a mass scale and face a number of challenges with respect to our commercialization efforts, including, among others, that:
● we may not have adequate financial or other resources to demonstrate adequate clinical results, attain required regulatory approvals and licensures, and begin the commercialization efforts for our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop in our target markets;
● we may fail to obtain or maintain required regulatory approvals and licensures for our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop in our target markets or may face adverse regulatory or legal actions relating to our products even if regulatory approval is obtained;
● we may not demonstrate adequate clinical safety and clinical effectiveness results from our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop to support regulatory body approval or market acceptance and adoption;
● We may not be able to scale up the manufacture of our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop to commercial quantities at an adequate quality or at an acceptable cost;
● we may not be able to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution channels;
● healthcare professionals and patients may not accept our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop;
● other technological challenges may reduce the demand for our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop;
● new alliances between existing market participants and the entrance of new market participants may interfere with our market penetration efforts;
● government and private third-party payors may not agree to provide coding, coverage and payment adequate to reimburse healthcare providers and patients for any or all of the purchase price of CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop which may adversely affect healthcare providers’ and patients’ willingness to purchase our C-Scan system;
● uncertainty as to market demand may result in inefficient pricing of our CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop;
● we may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property or may face third-party claims of intellectual property infringement; and
● we are dependent upon the results of ongoing clinical studies relating to our CGuard Prime and the products of our competitors.
If we are unable to meet any one or more of these challenges successfully, our ability to effectively commercialize CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop could be limited, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Although we completed the enrollment in our C-GUARDIANS trial of the CGuard Carotid Stent System, the outcome of the study is inherently uncertain.
In June 2023, we completed enrollment in the C-GUARDIANS trial. We anticipate reporting primary endpoint results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in mid 2024 that may support the submission of a PMA application in the third quarter of 2024 with a view to potential FDA approval of the CGuard Prime stent system in the first half of 2025. Although we reported positive 30-day follow-up data in November 2023, there can be no assurance that the primary endpoint results will be sufficient to support a PMA application or FDA approval, Clinical failure can occur at any stage of clinical development. Our clinical trials have been conducted under differing protocols, while using specific inclusion criteria and we cannot assure you that its actual clinical performances will be satisfactory to support proposed indications and regulatory approvals and clinical acceptance and adoption, or that its use will not result in unanticipated complications. Furthermore, the results of our clinical trials are subject to human analyses and interpretation of the data accumulated, which could be affected by various errors due to, among others, lack of sufficient clinical experience with CGuard EPS, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop, assumptions used in the statistical analysis of results, and interpretation errors in the analysis of the clinical trials results. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. If CGuard EPS, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop does not function as expected over time, we may not achieve regulatory clearances, and may not be widely adopted by healthcare providers and patients.
We plan on self-commercializing CGuard Prime in the U.S. if we receive FDA approval and historically have no experience selling, marketing or distributing products in the U.S.
We plan on self-commercializing CGuard Prime in the U.S., subject to receipt of FDA approval. As part of our plan, we intend to build out manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution capabilities. Historically we have not had experience in manufacturing, selling, marketing or distributing products in the U.S. To be able to commercialize CGuard Prime upon approval, if at all, we must either develop internal manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, which is expensive and time-consuming, or enter into arrangements with third parties to perform these services.
There are risks involved with establishing our own manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution capabilities. We must commit significant financial and managerial resources to develop a manufacturing facility and marketing and sales force with technical expertise and with supporting distribution capabilities. Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our products directly and without strategic partners include:
● our inability to recruit and retain adequate numbers of effective manufacturing, sales and marketing personnel;
● the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to or persuade physicians to use our stents;
● the inability to price our products at a sufficient price point to ensure an adequate and attractive level of profitability;
● the difficulty of obtaining reimbursement from governmental and commercial payers;
● the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and
● unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating and sustaining an independent manufacturing, sales and marketing organization.
We may not be successful in recruiting the manufacturing, sales and marketing personnel necessary to sell CGuard Prime upon approval, if at all, and, even if we do build a sales force, we may not be successful in marketing CGuard Prime, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to establish our own manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into successful arrangements with third parties to perform these services, any future product revenues and our profitability, may be materially adversely affected.
Physicians may not widely adopt our products unless they determine, based on experience, long-term clinical data and published peer reviewed journal articles, among other standard-of-care considerations, that the use of our stents provides a safe and effective alternative to other existing treatments for coronary artery disease and carotid artery disease.
We believe that physicians will not widely adopt our products unless they determine, based on experience, long-term clinical data, published peer reviewed journal articles and payor coverage policies, among other factors, that the use of our products provide a safe and effective alternative to other existing treatments for the conditions we are seeking to address.
If we fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy that is at least comparable to existing and future therapies available on the market, our ability to successfully market our products will be significantly limited. Even if the data collected from clinical studies or clinical experience indicate positive results, each physician’s actual experience with our products will vary. Clinical trials conducted with our products may involve procedures performed by physicians who are technically proficient and are high-volume stent users of such products. Consequently, both short-term and long-term results reported in these clinical trials may be significantly more favorable than typical results of practicing physicians, which could negatively affect rates of adoptions of our products. We also believe that published peer-reviewed journal articles and recommendations and support by influential physicians regarding our products will be important for market acceptance and adoption, and we cannot assure you that we will receive these recommendations and support, or that supportive articles will be published.
If our manufacturing facilities are unable to provide an adequate supply of products, our growth could be limited and our business could be harmed.
We currently manufacture CGuard at our facility in Tel Aviv, Israel. If there were a disruption to our existing manufacturing facility, we would have no other means of manufacturing CGuard until we were able to restore the manufacturing capability at our facility or develop alternative manufacturing facilities. If we were unable to produce sufficient quantities of CGuard, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop to meet market demand or for use in our current and planned clinical trials, or if our manufacturing process yields substandard stents, our development and commercialization efforts would be delayed.
To manufacture CGuard, SwitchGuard and any other product we develop in quantities to meet anticipated market demand if we were to receive FDA approval, we will need to increase manufacturing capacity, which will involve significant challenges. In addition, the development of U.S. commercial-scale, regulation-compliant manufacturing capabilities will require us to invest substantial additional funds and hire and retain the technical personnel who have the necessary manufacturing experience. We may not successfully complete any required increase to existing manufacturing processes in a timely manner, or at all.
Additionally, any damage to or destruction of our Tel Aviv facility or its equipment, prolonged power outage or contamination at our facility would significantly impair our ability to produce CGuard.
Finally, the production of our stents must occur in a highly controlled, clean environment to minimize particles and other yield and quality-limiting contaminants. In spite of stringent quality controls, weaknesses in process control or minute impurities in materials may cause a substantial percentage of defective products in a lot. If we are unable to maintain stringent quality controls, or if contamination problems arise, our clinical development and commercialization efforts could be delayed, which would harm our business and results of operations.
CGuard is a complex medical deice that requires training for qualified personal.
CGuard and SwitchGuard are complex medical devices that requires training for qualified personal, including physicians. Although our distributors will be required to ensure that CGuard and SwitchGuard is prescribed only by trained clinicians, the potential for misuse of CGuard and SwitchGuard still exists due to its complexity. Such misuse could result in adverse medical consequences for patients that could damage our reputation, subject us to costly product liability litigation and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We operate in an intensely competitive and rapidly changing business environment, and there is a substantial risk our products could become obsolete or uncompetitive.
The medical device market is highly competitive. We compete with many medical device companies globally in connection with our current products and products under development. We face intense competition from numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the therapeutics area, as well as competition from academic institutions, government agencies and research institutions. Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic, Cordis Corporation and Terumo Medical Corporation produce a polytetrafluoroethylene mesh-covered stent and a double layer metal stent, respectively As we develop and seek regulatory approval in the United States and Europe for our new TCAR neuroprotection system SwitchGuard and continue to seek greater market share for CGuard, we expect to compete with Silk Road Medical in the total carotid artery revascularization market that comprises CAS, TCAR and CEA. Most of our current and potential competitors, including but not limited to those listed above, have, and will continue to have, substantially greater financial, technological, research and development, regulatory and clinical, manufacturing, marketing and sales, distribution and personnel resources than we do. There can be no assurance that we will have sufficient resources to successfully commercialize our products, if and when they are approved for sale. The worldwide market for stent products is characterized by intensive development efforts and rapidly advancing technology. For example, during the second quarter of 2022 we ceased sales of our MGuard Prime EPS following a phase out period due to a shift in industry preferences. Our future success will depend largely upon our ability to anticipate and keep pace with those developments and advances. Current or future competitors could develop alternative technologies, products or materials that are more effective, easier to use or more economical than what we or any potential licensee develop. If our technologies or products become obsolete or uncompetitive, our related product sales and licensing revenue would decrease. This would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may become subject to claims by much larger and better capitalized competitors enforcing their intellectual property rights against us or seeking to invalidate our intellectual property or our rights thereto.
Based on the prolific litigation that has occurred in the stent industry and the fact that we may pose a competitive threat to some large and well-capitalized companies that own or control patents relating to stents and their use, manufacture and delivery, we believe that it is possible that one or more third parties will assert a patent infringement claim against the manufacture, use or sale of our stents based on one or more of these patents. These companies also own patents relating to the use of drugs to treat restenosis, stent architecture, catheters to deliver stents, and stent manufacturing and coating processes and compositions, as well as general delivery mechanism patents like rapid exchange, which might be alleged to cover one or more of our products. In addition, it is possible that a lawsuit of which we are not aware asserting patent infringement, misappropriation of intellectual property, or related claims may have already been filed against us. As the number of competitors in the stent market grows and as the geographies in which we commercially market grow in number and scope, the possibility of patent infringement by us, and/or a patent infringement or misappropriation claim against us, increases.
Our competitors have maintained their positions in the market by, among other things, establishing intellectual property rights relating to their products and enforcing these rights aggressively against their competitors and new entrants into the market. All the major companies in the field of stents and related markets, including Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, Inc., W.L. Gore & Associates and Medtronic, have been repeatedly involved in patent litigation relating to stents since at least 1997. The field of stents and related markets have experienced rapid technological change and obsolescence in the past, and our competitors have strong incentives to stop or delay the introduction of new products and technologies. We may pose a competitive threat to many of the companies in these markets. Accordingly, these companies will have a strong incentive to take steps, through patent litigation or otherwise, to prevent us from distributing our products. Such litigation or claims would divert attention and resources away from the development and/or commercialization of our products and could result in an adverse court judgment that would make it impossible or impractical to sell our products in one or more territories.
If we fail to maintain or establish satisfactory agreements or arrangements with suppliers or if we experience an interruption of the supply of materials from suppliers, we may not be able to obtain materials that are necessary to develop our products.
We depend on outside suppliers for certain raw materials. These raw materials or components may not always be available at our standards or on acceptable terms, if at all, and we may be unable to locate alternative suppliers or produce necessary materials or components on our own.
Some of the components of our products are currently provided by only one vendor, or a single-source supplier. We may have difficulty obtaining similar components from other suppliers that are acceptable to the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities if it becomes necessary. During 2022, our mesh supplier informed us that it will not be able to supply the polymer fiber in the future due to issues with raw materials, therefore we purchased inventory which should be sufficient to support our production needs until the middle of 2028. We are currently testing a different source of PET showing equivalent mechanical properties of the original raw material however there can be no assurance that the alternative source will result in successful validation and if we are unable to timely source an alternative supplier this could result regulatory delays and the interruption of our manufacturing and delivery of stents for an extended period of time which would delay completion of our clinical trials or commercialization of our products.
In addition, we will be required to obtain prior regulatory approval from the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities to use different suppliers or components that may not be as safe or as effective. As a result, regulatory approval of our products may not be received on a timely basis or at all.
Finally, we rely on a third-party vendor to perform the sterilization process. A third-party vendor’s failure to properly sterilize a component may cause delays or disruptions in our manufacturing process.
If there is a renewed outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may have a significant adverse effect on our business.
In the past, we were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused interruptions or delays of our business plan. If there is a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 it may result in restrictions and safety measures that could cause fluctuations in sales of our products, ability to manufacture, as well as potential disruptions to our supply chain.
In addition, if there is a renewed outbreak of COVID-19, this may cause disruptions that could have a material adverse impact on our FDA clinical trial plans and timelines, including:
● Delays in receiving authorizations from local regulatory authorities, ethics committees and institutional review boards to initiate planned clinical trials;
● Delays or difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials;
● Delays or difficulties in clinical site initiation, including difficulties in recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;
● Delays in clinical sites receiving the supplies and materials needed to conduct our clinical trials, including interruptions in global shipping that may affect the transport of clinical trial materials;
● Changes in local regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic which may require us to change the ways in which our clinical trials are conducted, which may result in unexpected costs, or to discontinue the clinical trials altogether;
● Diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;
● Diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;
● Interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others, or interruption of clinical trial subject visits and study procedures, the occurrence of which could affect the integrity of clinical trial data;
● Risk that participants enrolled in our clinical trials will acquire COVID-19 while the clinical trial is ongoing, which could impact the results of the clinical trial, including by increasing the number of observed adverse events;
● Delays in necessary interactions with local regulators, ethics committees and other third parties and contractors due to limitations in employee resources or forced furlough of government employees;
● Limitations in employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our clinical trials, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people; and
● Refusal of the FDA to accept data from clinical trials in affected geographies.
Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the delay or denial of regulatory approvals or clearances of our product.
The extent to which any future outbreak of COVID-19 will impact our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the virus.
Increasing inflation could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Inflation and some of the measures taken by or that may be taken by the governments in countries where we operate in an attempt to curb inflation may have negative effects on the economies of those countries generally. If the United States or other countries where we operate experience substantial inflation in the future, our business may be adversely affected. This could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Risks Related to our Clinical Trials and Regulatory Matters
Completing clinical trials for CGuard, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop in the United States require meeting a number of regulatory requirements and must be conducted in compliance with the FDA’s IDE regulations. Failure to maintain compliance with IDE regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Clinical trials involve use of a medical device on human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with current Good Clinical Practices, including the requirement that all research subjects provide informed consent for their participation in the clinical study. The FDA classifies medical device candidates into “significant risk” and “non-significant risk” devices. Significant risk devices present a potential for serious risk to the health, safety, or welfare of a subject. Examples may include implants, devices that support or sustain human life, and devices that are substantially important in diagnosing, curing, mitigating, or treating disease or in preventing impairment to human health. If a medical device candidate presents a significant risk, an IDE application must be submitted and approved prior to commencing any human clinical trials in the United States in connection with such device.
In addition to our IDE approval, we must apply for and obtain IRB approval in connection with each clinical site before commencing any study activities. A written protocol with predefined end points, an appropriate sample size, and pre-determined patient inclusion and exclusion criteria, is also required before we may initiate or conduct the trial.
Importantly, the C-GUARDIANS trial and any others that we are conducting or may conduct in the future, must be conducted in accordance with the FDA’s IDE regulations, which, among other things, establish requirements for investigational device labeling, prohibit pre-approval promotion of a device candidate, and specify recordkeeping, reporting, and monitoring responsibilities of study sponsors and study investigators.
We may not be able to obtain IRB approval to undertake clinical trials in the United States for any products we intend to market in the United States in the future. If we do obtain such approvals, we may not be able to conduct studies which comply with the IDE and other regulations governing clinical investigations or the data from any such trials may not support clearance or approval of the investigational device. Failure to obtain such approvals or to comply with such regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Relatedly, certainty that clinical trials must meet FDA requirements, including desired endpoints, produce meaningful or useful data, and be free of unexpected adverse effects, or that the FDA will accept the validity of foreign clinical study data, as applicable, cannot be guaranteed, and such uncertainty could preclude or delay regulatory approvals and commercialization, resulting in significant financial costs and reduced revenue. Moreover, the timing of the commencement, continuation, and completion of any future clinical trial may be subject to significant delays attributable to various causes, including, but not limited to, scheduling conflicts with participating clinicians and clinical institutions, difficulties in identifying and enrolling patients who meet trial eligibility criteria, failure of patients to complete the clinical trial, delay in or failure to meet regulatory and/or IRB requirements to conduct a clinical trial at a one or more prospective sites, and shortages of supply in the investigational device.
Clinical trials necessary to support a PMA application are lengthy and expensive and require the enrollment of a large number of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit. Any such delay or failure of clinical trials could prevent us from commercializing our stent products, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and the value of our business.
Clinical trials necessary to support a pre-market approval application to the FDA for our products, including CGuard, SwitchGuard and any other product we develop stent are expensive and require the enrollment of a large number of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit, which may cause a delay in the development and commercialization of our products. Patient enrollment in clinical trials and the ability to successfully complete patient follow-up depends on many factors, including the size of the patient population, the nature of the trial protocol, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial and patient compliance. For example, patients may be discouraged from enrolling in our clinical trials if the trial protocol requires them to undergo extensive post-treatment procedures or follow-up to assess the safety and efficacy of our products, or they may be persuaded to participate in contemporaneous clinical trials of competitive products. In addition, patients participating in our clinical trials may die before completion of the trial or suffer adverse medical events unrelated to or related to our products. Delays in patient enrollment or failure of patients to continue to participate in a clinical trial, including during a follow-up period, may cause an increase in costs and delays or result in the failure of the clinical trial.
In addition, the length of time required to complete clinical trials for pharmaceutical and medical device products varies substantially according to the degree of regulation and the type, complexity, novelty and intended use of a product, and can continue for several years and cost millions of dollars. The commencement and completion of clinical trials for our products under development may be delayed by many factors, including governmental or regulatory delays and changes in regulatory requirements, policy and guidelines or our inability or the inability of any potential licensee to manufacture or obtain from third parties materials sufficient for use in preclinical studies and clinical trials.
The results of our C-GUARDIANS trial as well as any other clinical trials may be insufficient to obtain regulatory approval for our products.
We will only receive regulatory approval to commercialize CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop if we can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency, in well designed and conducted clinical trials, that the product is safe and effective. If we are unable to demonstrate that a product is safe and effective in advanced clinical trials involving large numbers of patients, we will be unable to submit the necessary application to receive regulatory approval to commercialize the product. We face risks that:
● the product may not prove to be safe or effective;
● the product’s benefits may not outweigh its risks;
● the results from advanced clinical trials may not confirm the positive results from pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials;
● the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may interpret data from pre-clinical and clinical testing in different ways than us; and
● the FDA or other regulatory agencies may require additional or expanded trials and data.
Patients may discontinue their participation in our clinical studies, which may negatively impact the results of these studies and extend the timeline for completion of our development programs.
Clinical trials for our products require sufficient patient enrollment. We may not be able to enroll a sufficient number of patients in a timely or cost-effective manner. Patients enrolled in our clinical studies may discontinue their participation at any time during the study as a result of a number of factors, including withdrawing their consent or experiencing adverse clinical events, which may or may not be judged to be related to our products under evaluation. If a large number of patients in a study discontinue their participation in the study, the results from that study may not be positive or may not support a filing for regulatory approval of the product.
In addition, the time required to complete clinical trials is dependent upon, among other factors, the rate of patient enrollment. Patient enrollment is a function of many factors, including the following:
● the size of the patient population;
● the nature of the clinical protocol requirements;
● the availability of other treatments or marketed therapies (whether approved or experimental);
● our ability to recruit and manage clinical centers and associated trials;
● the proximity of patients to clinical sites; and
● the patient eligibility criteria for the study.
Even if CGuard Prime, SwitchGuard or any other product we develop receives marketing approval, we or others may later discover that the product is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, which could compromise our ability or that of any collaborators to market the product, and could cause regulatory authorities to take certain regulatory actions.
It is possible that our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect of a product that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any, or alternatively fail to identify undesirable side effects. For example, we, or others, may discover that our products are less safe and effective than previously believed. If, we, or others, discover that a product is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, any of the following adverse events could occur:
● regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product or seize the product;
● we, or any of our collaborators, may be required to recall the product, change the way the product is administered or conduct additional clinical trials;
● additional restrictions may be imposed on the marketing of, or the manufacturing processes for, the particular product;
● we, or any of our collaborators, may be subject to fines, injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties;
● regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as a “black box” warning or a contraindication including with the product;
● we, or any of our collaborators, may be required to create a Medication Guide outlining the risks of the previously unidentified side effects for distribution to patients;
● we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
● physicians and patients may stop using our product; and
● our reputation may suffer.
Any of these events could harm our business and operations and could negatively impact our stock price.
Our products may in the future be subject to product notifications, recalls, or voluntary market withdrawals that could harm our reputation, business and financial results.
After regulatory approval has been obtained for medical device products, the product and the manufacturer are subject to continual review, including the review of adverse events and clinical results that are reported after our products are made available to patients, and there can be no assurance that such approval will not be withdrawn or restricted. Regulators may also subject approvals to restrictions or conditions or impose post-approval obligations on the holders of these approvals, and the regulatory status of such products may be jeopardized if such obligations are not fulfilled. If post-approval studies are required, such studies may involve significant time and expense.
The manufacturing and marketing of medical devices involves an inherent risk that our products may prove to be defective and cause a health risk even after regulatory clearances have been obtained. Medical devices may also be modified after regulatory clearance is obtained to such an extent that additional regulatory clearance is necessary before the device can be further marketed. In these events, we may voluntarily implement a recall or market withdrawal or may be required to do so by a regulatory authority.
In the European Economic Area, we must comply with the EU Medical Device Vigilance System. Under this system, manufacturers are required to take Field Safety Corrective Actions (“FSCAs”) to reduce a risk of death or serious deterioration in the state of health associated with the use of a medical device that is already placed on the market. A FSCA may include the recall, modification, exchange, destruction or retrofitting of the device. FSCAs must be communicated by the manufacturer or its legal representative to its customers and/or to the end users of the device through Field Safety Notices.
Any adverse event involving our products could result in other future voluntary corrective actions, such as recalls or customer notifications, or agency action, such as inspection or enforcement action. Adverse events have been reported to us in the past, and we cannot guarantee that they will not occur in the future. Any corrective action, whether voluntary or involuntary, as well as defending ourselves in a lawsuit, would require the dedication of our time and capital, distract management from operating our business and could harm our reputation and financial results.
We have only limited experience in regulatory affairs, which may affect our ability, or the time required, to navigate complex regulatory requirements and obtain necessary regulatory approvals, if such approvals are received at all. Regulatory delays or denials may increase our costs, cause us to lose revenue and materially and adversely affect our results of operations and the value of our business.
Because long-term success measures have not been completely validated for our products, especially CGuard, SwitchGuard and any other product we may develop, regulatory agencies may take a significant amount of time in evaluating product approval applications. Treatments may exhibit a favorable measure using one metric and an unfavorable measure using another metric. Any change in accepted metrics may result in reconfiguration of, and delays in, our clinical trials. Additionally, we have only limited experience in filing and prosecuting the applications necessary to gain regulatory approvals, and our clinical, regulatory and quality assurance personnel are currently composed of only ten employees. As a result, we may experience delays in connection with obtaining regulatory approvals for our products.
In addition, the products we and any potential licensees license, develop, manufacture and market are subject to complex regulatory requirements, particularly in the United States, Europe and Asia, which can be costly and time-consuming. There can be no assurance that such approvals will be granted on a timely basis, if at all. Furthermore, there can be no assurance of continued compliance with all regulatory requirements necessary for the manufacture, marketing and sale of the products we will offer in each market where such products are expected to be sold, or that products we have commercialized will continue to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. If a government regulatory agency were to conclude that we were not in compliance with applicable laws or regulations, the agency could institute proceedings to detain or seize our products, issue a recall, impose operating restrictions, enjoin future violations and assess civil and criminal penalties against us, our officers or employees and could recommend criminal prosecution. Furthermore, regulators may proceed to ban, or request the recall, repair, replacement or refund of the cost of, any device manufactured or sold by us. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that all necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained for the manufacture, marketing and sale in any market of any new product developed or that any potential licensee will develop using our licensed technology.
Even if our products are approved by regulatory authorities, if we or our suppliers fail to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, or if we experience unanticipated problems with our products, these products could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market.
Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our products will require surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product and may require us to conduct post-approval clinical studies. In addition, if a regulatory authority approves our products, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import, export and recordkeeping for our products will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements.
Moreover, if we obtain regulatory approval for any of our products, we will only be permitted to market our products for the indication approved by the regulatory authority, and such approval may involve limitations on the indicated uses or promotional claims we may make for our products. In addition, later discovery of previously unknown problems with our products, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our suppliers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:
● restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of our products, withdrawal of the product from the market, or voluntary or mandatory product recalls;
● fines, warning letters, or untitled letters;
● holds on clinical trials;
● refusal by the regulatory authority to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications filed by us or suspension or revocation of license approvals;
● product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of our products; and
● injunctions, the imposition of civil penalties or criminal prosecution.
The FDA also requires that our sales and marketing efforts, as well as promotions, be consistent with various laws and regulations. Approved medical device promotions must be consistent with and not contrary to labeling, balanced, truthful and not false or misleading, adequately substantiated (when required), and include adequate directions for use. In addition to the requirements applicable to approved products, we may also be subject to enforcement action in connection with any promotion of an investigational new device. A sponsor or investigator, or any person acting on behalf of a sponsor or investigator, may not represent in a promotional context that an investigational new device is safe or effective for the purposes for which it is under investigation or otherwise promote the device.
If the FDA investigates our marketing and promotional materials or other communications and finds that any of our investigational devices, or future commercial products, if any, are being marketed or promoted in violation of the applicable regulatory restrictions, we could be subject to the enforcement actions listed above, among others. Any enforcement action (or related lawsuit, which could follow such action) brought against us in connection with alleged violations of applicable device promotion requirements, or prohibitions, could harm our business and our reputation, as well as the reputation of any devices that may be approved for marketing in the U.S. in the future.
The applicable regulatory authorities’ policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our products. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
Failure to obtain regulatory approval in foreign jurisdictions will prevent us from marketing our products in such jurisdictions.
We market CGuard EPS in certain international markets. In order to market any our products in other foreign jurisdictions, we must obtain separate regulatory approvals from the appropriate governing body in each applicable country. The approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional testing, and the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain CE mark or FDA approval. Foreign regulatory approval processes may include all of the risks associated with obtaining CE mark or FDA approval in addition to other risks. We may not obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all. CE mark approval or any future FDA approval does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries. We may not be able to file for regulatory approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in certain markets.
We are, or may be, subject to federal, state and foreign healthcare laws and regulations and implementation of or changes to such healthcare laws and regulations could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In both the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions, there are laws and regulations specific to the healthcare industry which may affect all aspects of our business, including development, testing, marketing, sales, pricing, and reimbursement. Additionally, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory proposals in recent years to change the healthcare system in ways that could impact our ability to sell our products. If we are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other federal or state regulations, we may be subject to administrative, civil and/or criminal penalties, damages, fines, individual imprisonment, exclusion from federal healthcare programs and the restructuring of our operations. Any of these could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results. Since many of these laws have not been fully interpreted by the courts, there is an increased risk that we may be found in violation of one or more of their provisions. Any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we ultimately are successful in our defense, will cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention away from the operation of our business.
We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to applicable U.S. federal and state anti-kickback, false claims laws, physician payment transparency laws, fraud and abuse laws or similar healthcare and security laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.
Healthcare providers, physicians and others will play a primary role in the recommendation, ordering and utilization of any products for which we obtain regulatory approval. If we obtain U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for any of our products and begin commercializing those products in the United States, our operations may be subject to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal False Claims Act, and physician payment sunshine laws and regulations. These laws may impact, among other things, our potential sales, marketing and education programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:
● the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce, or in return for, either the referral of an individual, or the purchase, lease, order or recommendation of any good, facility, item or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs;
● federal civil and criminal false claims laws and civil monetary penalty laws, including the False Claims Act, which may be pursued through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, impose criminal and civil penalties against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment or approval from Medicare, Medicaid or other third-party payors that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government;
● federal criminal statutes created through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which prohibit knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (e.g., public or private) and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by any trick or device a material fact or making any materially false statements in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services relating to healthcare matters;
● HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 and their respective implementing regulations, which imposes requirements on certain covered healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their respective business associates that perform services for them that involve the use, or disclosure of, individually identifiable health information, relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;
● the federal transparency requirements under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, enacted into law in the United States in March 2010 (known collectively as the “Affordable Care Act”), including the provision commonly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires manufacturers of drugs, biologics, devices and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members; and
● state and federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers.
Additionally, we may be subject to state and non-U.S. equivalents of each of the healthcare laws described above, among others, some of which may be broader in scope and may apply regardless of the payor. Many U.S. states have adopted laws similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, some of which apply to the referral of patients for healthcare services reimbursed by any source, not just governmental payors, including private insurers. Several states impose marketing restrictions or require medical device companies to make marketing or price disclosures to the state. There are ambiguities as to what is required to comply with these state requirements, and if we fail to comply with an applicable state law requirement, we could be subject to penalties.
Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our future business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. In addition, healthcare reform legislation has strengthened these laws. For example, the Affordable Care Act, among other things, amended the intent requirement of the federal Anti-Kickback and criminal healthcare fraud statutes. As a result of such amendment, a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of these statutes or specific intent to violate them in order to have committed a violation. Moreover, the Affordable Care Act provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act.
Violations of fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal and/or civil sanctions, including penalties, fines and/or exclusion or suspension from federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and debarment from contracting with the U.S. government. In addition, private individuals have the ability to bring actions on behalf of the U.S. government under the False Claims Act as well, as under the false claim laws of several states.
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our existing or future business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. Any such actions instituted against us could have a significant adverse impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, disgorgement, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Even if we are successful in defending against such actions, we may nonetheless be subject to substantial costs, reputational harm and adverse effects on our ability to operate our business. In addition, the approval and commercialization of any of our products outside the United States will also likely subject us to non-U.S. equivalents of the healthcare laws mentioned above, among other non-U.S. laws.
If any of our employees, agents, or the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found to have violated applicable laws, we may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs, or, if we are not subject to such actions, we may suffer reputational harm for conducting business with persons or entities found, or accused of being, in violation of such laws. Any such events could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.
We may be exposed to product liability claims and insurance may not be sufficient to cover these claims.
We may be exposed to product liability claims based on the use of any of our products, or products incorporating our licensed technology, in the market or clinical trials. We may also be exposed to product liability claims based on the sale of any products under development following the receipt of regulatory approval. Product liability claims could be asserted directly by consumers, health-care providers or others. We have obtained product liability insurance coverage; however, such insurance may not provide full coverage for our future clinical trials, products to be sold, and other aspects of our business. Insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive, and we may not be able to maintain current coverage or expand our insurance coverage to include future clinical trials or the sale of new products or existing products in new territories, at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect against losses due to product liability or at all. A successful product liability claim, or series of claims brought against us could result in judgments, fines, damages and liabilities that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may incur significant expense investigating and defending these claims, even if they do not result in liability. Moreover, even if no judgments, fines, damages or liabilities are imposed on us, our reputation could suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if one or more of our products are approved by the FDA, we may fail to obtain an adequate level of reimbursement for our products by third party payors, such that there may be no commercially viable markets for our products, or the markets, may be much smaller than expected.
The availability and levels of reimbursement by governmental and other third-party payors affect the market for our products. The efficacy, safety, performance and cost-effectiveness of our products and of any competing products are factors that may impact the availability and level of reimbursement. Reimbursement and healthcare payment systems in international markets vary significantly by country and include both government sponsored healthcare and private insurance. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to produce clinical data, which may involve one or more clinical trials that compares the cost-effectiveness of our products to other available therapies. We may not obtain international reimbursement or pricing approvals in a timely manner, if at all. Our failure to receive international reimbursement or pricing approvals would negatively impact market acceptance of our products in the international markets in which those approvals are sought.
We believe that future reimbursement may be subject to increased restrictions both in the U.S. and in international markets. There is increasing pressure by governments worldwide to contain healthcare costs by limiting both the coverage and the level of reimbursement for therapeutic products and by refusing, in some cases, to provide any coverage for products that have not been approved by the relevant regulatory agency. Future legislation, regulation or reimbursement policies of third party payors may adversely affect the demand for our products and limit our ability to sell our products on a profitable basis. In addition, third party payors continually attempt to contain or reduce the costs of healthcare by challenging the prices charged for healthcare products and services. If reimbursement for our products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, market acceptance of our products would be impaired, and future revenues, if any, would be adversely affected.
In the United States and European Union, our business could be significantly and adversely affected by healthcare reform initiatives and/or other legislation or judicial interpretations of existing or future healthcare laws and/or regulations.
The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in the United States in March 2010, contains certain provisions which can be modified through the regulatory process and for which it is unclear what the full impact and changes will be under the law.
The law also focuses on a number of provisions aimed at improving quality, broadening access to health insurance, enhancing remedies for fraud and abuse, adding transparency requirements, and decreasing healthcare costs, among others. Uncertainties remain regarding what negative unintended consequences these provisions will have on patient access to new technologies, pricing and the market for our products, and the healthcare industry in general. The Affordable Care Act includes provisions affecting the Medicare program, such as value-based payment programs, increased funding of comparative effectiveness research, reduced hospital payments for avoidable readmissions and hospital acquired conditions, and pilot programs to evaluate alternative payment methodologies that promote care coordination (such as bundled physician and hospital payments). Additionally, the provisions include a reduction in the annual rate of inflation for hospitals which started in 2011 and the establishment of an independent payment advisory board to recommend ways of reducing the rate of growth in Medicare spending. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.
Since its enactment, there have been judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act, to modify, repeal or otherwise invalidate all, or certain provisions of, the Affordable Care Act. Following the enactment of the Tax Act, on December 14, 2018 in a case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, a federal judge ruled that the individual mandate imposed by the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional and inseverable from the other provisions of the Affordable Care Act and, therefore, the remaining provisions of the Affordable Care Act are invalid. On November 10, 2020, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, in whole or in part, and determined that the case lacked standing. The regulatory process of implementation of the Affordable Care Act will remain ongoing and may also increase our regulatory burdens and operating costs. Litigation and legislation related to the Affordable Care Act are likely to continue, with unpredictable and uncertain results. We cannot predict with certainty what affect further changes to the Affordable Care Act, and other similar health care laws that are enacted, would have on our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. These changes included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to two percent per fiscal year, which will remain in effect through 2027 unless additional Congressional action is taken. It is unclear what impact new quality and payment programs may have on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, and discounts, and require marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures. We believe that additional state and federal health care reform measures may be adopted in the future that could have a material adverse effect on our industry generally and on our customers. Any changes in, or uncertainty with respect to, future reimbursement rates could impact our customers’ demand for our products, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Further, the federal, state and local governments, Medicare, Medicaid, managed care organizations, and foreign governments have in the past considered, are currently considering, and may in the future consider healthcare policies and proposals intended to curb rising healthcare costs, including those that could significantly affect both private and public reimbursement for healthcare services. Future significant changes in the healthcare systems in the United States or other countries, including changes intended to reduce expenditures along with uncertainty about whether and how changes may be implemented, could have a negative impact on the demand for our products. We are unable to predict with certainty whether other healthcare policies, including policies stemming from legislation or regulations affecting our business, may be proposed or enacted in the future; what effect such policies would have on our business; or the effect ongoing uncertainty about these matters will have on our customers’ purchasing decisions.
We cannot predict the impact that such actions against the Affordable Care Act and other laws enacted after its enactment will have on our business, and there is uncertainty as to what healthcare programs and regulations may be implemented or changed at the federal and/or state level in the United States, or the effect of any future legislation or regulation. Furthermore, we cannot predict what actions the Biden administration will implement in connection with laws impacting us. However, it is possible that such initiatives could have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain approval and/or successfully commercialize products in the United States in the future. For example, any changes that reduce, or impede the ability to obtain, reimbursement for the type of products we intend to commercialize in the United States (or our products more specifically, if approved) or reduce medical procedure volumes could adversely affect our business plan to introduce our products in the United States.
In May 2017, the European parliament and the council of the European Union approved the MDR which has replaced the existing medical device directives (93/42/EEC). The regulations entered into full application in May 26, 2021. The MDR provided a transitional period for placing on the market or putting into service of medical devices, which period was further extended on March 20. 2023, but such transitional provisions are not relevant to our products where already certified under the The MDR imposes stricter requirements on medical device manufacturers and strengthens the supervising competences of the competent authorities of European Union member states, the notified bodies and the authorized representatives. If we fail to comply with the modified regulation and requirements, it can adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects. Any new regulations or revisions or reinterpretations of existing regulations may impose additional costs or lengthen review times of future products.
Risk Factors Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products, others may be able to make, use or sell our products, which would adversely affect our revenue.
Our ability to protect our products from unauthorized or infringing use by third parties depends substantially on our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents. Similarly, the ability to protect our trademark rights might be important to prevent third party counterfeiters from selling poor quality goods using our designated trademarks, and trade names. Due to evolving legal standards relating to the patentability, validity and enforceability of patents covering medical devices and pharmaceutical inventions and the scope of claims made under these patents, our ability to enforce patents is uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. Accordingly, rights under any of our pending patent applications and patents may not provide us with commercially meaningful protection for our products or may not afford a commercial advantage against our competitors or their competitive products or processes. In addition, patents may not be issued from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us, and moreover, patents that may be issued to us now or in the future may later be found invalid or unenforceable. Further, even if valid and enforceable, our patents may not be sufficiently broad to prevent others from marketing products like ours, despite our patent rights.
The validity of our patent claims depends, in part, on whether prior art references exist that describe or render obvious our inventions as of the filing date of our patent applications. We may not have identified all prior art, such as U.S. and foreign patents or published applications or published scientific literature, that could adversely affect the patentability of our issued patents and pending patent applications. For example, some material references may be in a foreign language and may not be uncovered during examination of our patent applications. Additionally, patent applications in the United States are maintained in confidence for up to 18 months after their filing. In some cases, however, patent applications remain confidential in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the entire time prior to issuance as a U.S. patent. Patent applications filed in countries outside the U.S. are not typically published until at least 18 months from their first filing date. Similarly, publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature often lags behind actual discoveries. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we were the first to invent, or the first to file patent applications relating to, our stent technologies and related surgical technologies that we are developing. Third parties may initiate adversarial proceedings, known as an inter-partes review (IPR) in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to challenge the validity of our patent claims in the United States. It is possible that we may be unsuccessful in the proceedings, resulting in a loss of some portion or all of our patent rights in the United States.
In addition, statutory differences in patentable subject matter among jurisdictions may limit the protection we can obtain on certain of the technologies we develop. The laws of some foreign jurisdictions do not offer the same protection to, or may make it more difficult to effect the enforcement of, proprietary rights as in the United States. This risk may be exacerbated if we move our manufacturing to certain countries in Asia. If we encounter such difficulties or are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting our intellectual property rights in any foreign jurisdictions, our business prospects could be substantially harmed.
Our initiation of litigation to enforce our patent rights may prompt adversaries in such litigation to challenge the validity, scope, ownership, or enforceability of our patents. Third parties can sometimes bring challenges against a patent holder to resolve these issues, as well. If a court decides that any such patents are not valid, not enforceable, not wholly owned by us, or are of a limited scope, we may not have the right to stop others from using our inventions. Also, even if our patent rights are determined by a court to be valid and enforceable, they may not be sufficiently broad to prevent others from marketing products similar to ours or designing around our patents, despite our patent rights, nor do they provide us with freedom to operate unimpeded by the patent and other intellectual property rights of others that may cover our products. We may be forced into litigation to uphold the validity of the claims in our patent portfolio, as well as our ownership rights to such intellectual property, and litigation is often an uncertain and costly process.
We may not be able to protect our trade secrets adequately. Although we rely on non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants and other parties to protect, in part, trade secrets and other proprietary technology, these agreements may be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for such breach. Moreover, others may independently develop equivalent proprietary information, and third parties may otherwise gain access to our trade secrets and proprietary knowledge. Any disclosure of confidential data into the public domain or to third parties could allow competitors to learn our trade secrets and use the information in competition against us.
Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our products and services, and we might be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties in order to develop or market our products. Such litigation or licenses could be costly or not available on commercially reasonable terms.
It is inherently difficult to conclusively assess our freedom to operate without infringing on third-party rights. Our competitive position may be adversely affected if existing patents or patents resulting from patent applications issued to third parties or other third-party intellectual property rights are held to cover our products or services or elements thereof, or our manufacturing or uses relevant to our development plans. In such cases, we may not be in a position to develop or commercialize products or services unless we successfully pursue litigation to nullify or invalidate the third-party intellectual property right concerned or enter into a license agreement with the intellectual property right holder, if available on commercially reasonable terms. There may also be pending patent applications that if they result in issued patents, could be alleged to be infringed by our new products or services. If such an infringement claim should be brought and be successful, we may be required to pay substantial damages, be forced to abandon our new products or services or seek a license from any patent holders. No assurances can be given that a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. For example, certain U.S. patent applications that will not be filed outside the United States remain confidential until patents issue. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our new products or services could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our services, our new products or the use of our new products. Third-party intellectual property right holders may also actively bring infringement claims against us. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully settle or otherwise resolve such infringement claims. If we are unable to successfully settle future claims on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to engage in or continue costly, unpredictable and time-consuming litigation and may be prevented from or experience substantial delays in pursuing the development of and/or marketing our new products or services. If we fail in any such dispute, in addition to being forced to pay damages, we may be temporarily or permanently prohibited from commercializing our new products or services that are held to be infringing. We might, if possible, also be forced to redesign our new products so that we no longer infringe the third-party intellectual property rights. Any of these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business.
Patent policy and rule changes could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of any issued patents.
Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of any patents that may issue from our patent applications or narrow the scope of our patent protection. The laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. 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 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. We therefore cannot be certain that we were the first to file the invention claimed in our owned and licensed patent or pending applications, or that we or our licensor were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. Assuming all other requirements for patentability are met, in the United States prior to March 15, 2013, the first to make the claimed invention without undue delay in filing, is entitled to the patent, while generally outside the United States, the first to file a patent application is entitled to the patent. After March 15, 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, enacted on September 16, 2011, the United States has moved to a first to file system. The Leahy-Smith Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and also affect patent litigation. In general, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of any issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property, which could be expensive, time consuming, and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe our intellectual property. If we were to initiate legal proceedings against a third-party to enforce a patent covering one of our products or services, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. Under the Leahy-Smith Act, the validity of U.S. patents may also be challenged in post-grant and inter partes review proceedings before the USPTO. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable.
Derivation and interference proceedings initiated by third parties or brought by us may be necessary to determine the priority and ownership of inventions and/or their scope with respect to our patent or patent applications or those of our licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our new products or services to market.
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. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our shares of common stock.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations
We face risks associated with litigation and claims.
We have in the past and may, in the future, be involved in one or more lawsuits, claims or other proceedings. These suits could concern issues including contract disputes, employment actions, employee benefits, taxes, environmental, health and safety, fraud and abuse, personal injury and product liability matters.
Our business and operations would suffer in the event of computer system failures, cyber-attacks or deficiencies in our cyber-security.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, research data, our proprietary business information and that of our suppliers, technical information about our products, clinical trial plans and employee records. Similarly, our third-party providers possess certain of our sensitive data and confidential information. The secure maintenance of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems, and those of third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, malware, ransomware, cyber fraud, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the Internet, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. Any such breach could compromise our networks and the information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, encrypted, lost or stolen. Any such access, inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information or other loss of information, including our data being breached at third-party providers, could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or financial loss under laws that protect the privacy of personal information, disruption of our operations or our product development programs and damage to our reputation, which could adversely affect our business. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data.
The loss of key members of our senior management team or our inability to attract and retain highly skilled scientists and laboratory and field personnel could adversely affect our business.
We depend on the skills, experience and performance of our senior management and research personnel. The efforts of each of these persons will be critical to us as we continue to further develop our products, increase sales and broaden our product offerings. If we were to lose one or more of these key employees, we may experience difficulties in competing effectively, developing our technologies and implementing our business strategies. Our research and development programs and commercial laboratory operations depend on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled scientists and technicians. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified scientists and technicians in the future due to the intense competition for qualified personnel among life science businesses. There can be no assurance that we will be able to attract and retain necessary personnel on acceptable terms given the intense competition among medical device, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, universities and non-profit research institutions for experienced management, scientists, researchers, sales and marketing and manufacturing personnel. If we are unable to attract, retain and motivate our key personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience constraints that will adversely affect our ability to support our operations, and our results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
We are an international business, and we are exposed to various global and local risks that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We operate globally and develop and market products in multiple countries. Consequently, we face complex legal and regulatory requirements in multiple jurisdictions, which may expose us to certain financial and other risks. In addition, we are subject to global events beyond our control, including war, public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, trade disputes and other international events. Any of these changes could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations.
For example, in the past we have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused interruptions or delays of our business plan. If there is a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 it may result in restrictions and safety measures that could cause fluctuations in sales of our products, ability to manufacture, as well as potential disruptions to our supply chain.
International sales and operations are subject to a variety of risks, including:
● foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
● greater difficulty in staffing and managing foreign operations;
● greater risk of uncollectible accounts;
● longer collection cycles;
● logistical and communications challenges;
● potential adverse changes in laws and regulatory practices, including export license requirements, trade barriers, tariffs and tax laws;
● changes in labor conditions;
● burdens and costs of compliance with a variety of foreign laws;
● political and economic instability;
● the escalation of hostilities in Israel, which could impair our ability to manufacture our products;
● increases in duties and taxation;
● foreign tax laws and potential increased costs associated with overlapping tax structures;
● greater difficulty in protecting intellectual property;
● the risk of third party disputes over ownership of intellectual property and infringement of third party intellectual property by our products; and
● general economic and political conditions in these foreign markets.
International markets are also affected by economic pressure to contain reimbursement levels and healthcare costs. Profitability from international operations may be limited by risks and uncertainties related to regional economic conditions, regulatory and reimbursement approvals, competing products, infrastructure development, intellectual property rights protection and our ability to implement our overall business strategy. We expect these risks will increase as we pursue our strategy to expand operations into new geographic markets. We may not succeed in developing and implementing effective policies and strategies in each location where we conduct business. Any failure to do so may harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues, including those related to climate change and sustainability, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and damage our reputation.
There is an increasing focus from certain investors, customers, consumers, employees and other stakeholders concerning ESG matters. Additionally, public interest and legislative pressure related to public companies’ ESG practices continue to grow. If our ESG practices fail to meet regulatory requirements or investor, customer, consumer, employee or other shareholders’ evolving expectations and standards for responsible corporate citizenship in areas including environmental stewardship, support for local communities, board of director and employee diversity, human capital management, employee health and safety practices, product quality, supply chain management, corporate governance and transparency, our reputation, brand and employee retention may be negatively impacted, and our customers and suppliers may be unwilling to continue to do business with us.
Customers, consumers, investors and other shareholders are increasingly focusing on environmental issues, including climate change, energy and water use, plastic waste and other sustainability concerns. Concern over climate change may result in new or increased legal and regulatory requirements to reduce or mitigate impacts to the environment. Changing customer and consumer preferences or increased regulatory requirements may result in increased demands or requirements regarding plastics and packaging materials, including single-use and non-recyclable plastic products and packaging, other components of our products and their environmental impact on sustainability, or increased customer and consumer concerns or perceptions (whether accurate or inaccurate) regarding the effects of substances present in certain of our products. Complying with these demands or requirements could cause us to incur additional manufacturing, operating or product development costs.
If we do not adapt to or comply with new regulations, including the SEC’s published proposed rules that would require companies to provide significantly expanded climate-related disclosures in their periodic reporting, which may require us to incur significant additional costs to comply and impose increased oversight obligations on our management and board of directors, or fail to meet evolving investor, industry or stakeholder expectations and concerns regarding ESG issues, investors may reconsider their capital investment in our Company, we may become subject to penalties, and customers and consumers may choose to stop purchasing our products, if approved for commercialization, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business or financial condition.
Our business, operating results and growth rates may be adversely affected by current or future unfavorable economic and market conditions and adverse developments with respect to financial institutions and associated liquidity risk.
Our business depends on the economic health of the global economies. If the conditions in the global economies remain uncertain or continue to be volatile, or if they deteriorate, including as a result of the impact of military conflict, such as the war between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine, terrorism or other geopolitical events, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. Economic weakness, inflation and increases in interest rates, limited availability of credit, liquidity shortages and constrained capital spending have at times in the past resulted, and may in the future result, in challenging and delayed sales cycles, slower adoption of new technologies and increased price competition, and could negatively affect our ability to forecast future periods, which could result in an inability to satisfy demand for our products and a loss of market share.
In addition, increases in inflation raise our costs for commodities, labor, materials and services and other costs required to grow and operate our business, and failure to secure these on reasonable terms may adversely impact our financial condition. Additionally, increases in inflation, along with the uncertainties surrounding any resurgence of COVID-19, geopolitical developments and global supply chain disruptions, have caused, and may in the future cause, global economic uncertainty and uncertainty about the interest rate environment, which may make it more difficult, costly or dilutive for us to secure additional financing. A failure to adequately respond to these risks could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
There can be no assurance that future credit and financial market instability and a deterioration in confidence in economic conditions will not occur. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturn, liquidity shortages, volatile business environment or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. If the current equity and credit markets deteriorate, or if adverse developments are experienced by financial institutions, it may cause short-term liquidity risk and also make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly, more onerous with respect to financial and operating covenants and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance and stock price and could require us to alter our operating plans. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our service providers, financial institutions, manufacturers, suppliers and other partners may be adversely affected by the foregoing risks, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget.
We are subject to financial reporting and other requirements that place significant demands on our resources.
We are subject to reporting and other obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 requires us to conduct an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. These reporting and other obligations place significant demands on our management, administrative, operational, internal audit and accounting resources. Any failure to maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and stock price. Moreover, effective internal control is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, we may not be able to manage our business as effectively as we would if an effective control environment existed, and our business and reputation with investors may be harmed.
There are inherent limitations in all control systems, and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
The ongoing internal control provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 require us to identify material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, which is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, does not expect that our internal controls and disclosure controls will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. In addition, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefit of controls must be relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, in our 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 errors or mistakes. Further, controls can be circumvented by individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more persons, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon 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. Over time, a control may be inadequate because of changes in conditions, such as growth of the company or increased transaction volume, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
In addition, discovery and disclosure of a material weakness, by definition, could have a material adverse impact on our financial statements. Such an occurrence could discourage certain customers or suppliers from doing business with us and adversely affect how our stock trades. This could in turn negatively affect our ability to access equity markets for capital.
Risks Related to Operating in Israel
We anticipate being subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates because we expect a substantial portion of our revenues will be generated in Euros and U.S. dollars, while a significant portion of our expenses will be incurred in New Israeli Shekels.
We expect a substantial portion of our revenues will be generated in U.S. dollars and Euros, while a significant portion of our expenses, principally salaries and related personnel expenses, is paid in New Israeli Shekels, or NIS. As a result, we are exposed to the risk that the rate of inflation in Israel will exceed the rate of devaluation of the NIS in relation to the Euro or the U.S. dollar, or that the timing of this devaluation will lag behind inflation in Israel. Because inflation has the effect of increasing the dollar and Euro costs of our operations, it would therefore have an adverse effect on our dollar-measured results of operations. The value of the NIS, against the Euro, the U.S. dollar, and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in Israel’s political and economic conditions. Any significant revaluation of the NIS may materially and adversely affect our cash flows, revenues and financial condition. Fluctuations in the NIS exchange rate, or even the appearance of instability in such exchange rate, could adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
If there are significant shifts in the political, economic and military conditions in Israel and its neighbors, it could have a material adverse effect on our business relationships and profitability.
Our executive office, sole manufacturing facility and certain of our key personnel are located in Israel. Our business is directly affected by the political, economic and military conditions in Israel and its neighbors. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have occurred between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
In October 2023, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel’s southern border from the Gaza Strip and conducted a series of attacks on civilian and military targets. Hamas also launched extensive rocket attacks on Israeli population and industrial centers located along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip and in other areas within the State of Israel. These attacks resulted in extensive deaths, injuries and kidnapping of civilians and soldiers. Following the attack, Israel’s security cabinet declared war against Hamas and a military campaign against these terrorist organizations commenced in parallel to their continued rocket and terror attacks. In addition, since the commencement of these events, there have been continued hostilities along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon (with the Hezbollah terror organization) and southern border (with the Houthi movement in Yemen, as described below). It is possible that hostilities with Hezbollah in Lebanon will escalate, and that other terrorist organizations, including Palestinian military organizations in the West Bank as well as other hostile countries, such as Iran, will join the hostilities. Such clashes may escalate in the future into a greater regional conflict.
In connection with the Israeli security cabinet’s declaration of war against Hamas and possible hostilities with other organizations, several hundred thousand Israeli military reservists were drafted to perform immediate military service, including five full time employees in Israel of ours. Although many of such military reservists have since been released, including all our employees, they may be called up for additional reserve duty, depending on developments in the war in Gaza and along Israel’s other borders. Military service call ups that result in absences of personnel from us for an extended period of time may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. As of the date hereof, we currently have 56 full-time employees located in Israel.
Since the war broke out on October 7, 2023, our operations have not been adversely affected by this situation, and we have not experienced disruptions to our clinical studies. None of the clinical sites currently participating in our clinical studies are located in Israel however we currently manufacture our CGuard at our facility in Tel Aviv, Israel. If there were a disruption to our existing manufacturing facility or our ability to procure raw materials and ship our products, we would have no other means of manufacturing and distributing CGuard until we were able to restore the manufacturing and distribution capability at our facility or develop alternative manufacturing facilities and distribution capabilities.
The intensity and duration of Israel’s current war against Hamas is difficult to predict at this stage, as are such war’s economic implications on the Company’s business and operations and on Israel’s economy in general. If the war extends for a long period of time or expands to other fronts, such as Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, our operations may be adversely affected.
Our commercial insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of events associated with war and terrorism. Although the Israeli government currently covers the reinstatement value of direct damages that are caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be maintained or that it will sufficiently cover our potential damages. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business. Any armed conflicts or political instability in the region would likely negatively affect business conditions and could harm our results of operations.
The continued political instability and hostilities between Israel and its neighbors and any future armed conflict, terrorist activity or political instability in the region could adversely affect our operations in Israel and adversely affect the market price of our shares of common stock. In addition, several organizations and countries may restrict doing business with Israel and Israeli companies have been and are today subjected to economic boycotts. The interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its present trading partners could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Finally, political conditions within Israel may affect our operations. Israel has held five general elections between 2019 and 2022, and prior to October 2023, the Israeli government pursued extensive changes to Israel’s judicial system, which sparked extensive political debate and unrest. To date, these initiatives have been substantially put on hold. Actual or perceived political instability in Israel or any negative changes in the political environment, may individually or in the aggregate adversely affect the Israeli economy and, in turn, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We may not be able to enforce covenants not-to-compete under current Israeli law.
We have non-competition agreements with most of our employees, many of which are governed by Israeli law. These agreements generally prohibit our employees from competing with us or working for our competitors for a specified period following termination of their employment. However, Israeli courts are reluctant to enforce non-compete undertakings of former employees and tend, if at all, to enforce those provisions for relatively brief periods of time in restricted geographical areas and only when the employee has unique value specific to that employer’s business and not just regarding the professional development of the employee. Any such inability to enforce non-compete covenants may cause us to lose any competitive advantage resulting from advantages provided to us by such confidential information.
We may become subject to claims for remuneration or royalties for assigned service invention rights by our employees, which could result in litigation and adversely affect our business.
A significant portion of our intellectual property has been developed by our Israeli employees in the course of their employment for us. Under the Israeli Patent Law, 5727-1967 (the “Israeli Patent Law”), inventions conceived by an employee during the term and as part of the scope of his or her employment with a company are regarded as “service inventions,” which belong to the employer, absent a specific agreement between the employee and employer giving the employee service invention rights. The Israeli Patent Law also provides that if there is no such agreement between an employer and an employee, the Israeli Compensation and Royalties Committee (the “C&R Committee”), a body constituted under the Israeli Patent Law, shall determine whether the employee is entitled to remuneration for his inventions. The C&R Committee (decisions of which have been upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court) has held that employees may be entitled to remuneration for their service inventions despite having specifically waived any such rights. We generally enter into intellectual property assignment agreements with our employees pursuant to which such employees assign to us all rights to any inventions created in the scope of their employment or engagement with us. Although our employees have agreed to assign to us service invention rights and have specifically waived their right to receive any special remuneration for such assignment beyond their regular salary and benefits, we may face claims demanding remuneration in consideration for assigned inventions. As a consequence of such claims, we could be required to pay additional remuneration or royalties to our current or former employees, or be forced to litigate such claims, which could negatively affect our business.
It may be difficult for investors in the United States to enforce any judgments obtained against us or some of our directors or officers.
The majority of our assets other than cash are located outside the U.S. In addition, certain of our officers are nationals and/or residents of countries other than the U.S., and all or a substantial portion of such persons’ assets are located outside the U.S. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to enforce within the United States any judgments obtained against us or any of our non-U.S. officers, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the U.S. or any state thereof. Additionally, it may be difficult to assert U.S. securities law claims in actions originally instituted outside of the U.S. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a U.S. securities law claim because Israeli courts may not be the most appropriate forums in which to bring such a claim. Even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that the Israeli law, and not U.S. law, is applicable to the claim. Further, if U.S. law is found to be applicable, certain content of applicable U.S. law must be proved as a fact, which can be a time-consuming and costly process, and certain matters of procedure would still be governed by the Israeli law. Consequently, you may be effectively prevented from pursuing remedies under U.S. federal and state securities laws against us or any of our non-U.S. directors or officers.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock, Preferred Stock and Warrants
The market prices of our common stock are subject to fluctuation and have been and may continue to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses for investors.
The market prices of our common stock have been and are likely to continue to be highly volatile and could fluctuate widely in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including the following:
● technological innovations or new products and services by us or our competitors;
● additions or departures of key personnel;
● our ability to execute our business plan;
● operating results that fall below expectations;
● loss of any strategic relationship;
● industry developments;
● economic, political and other external factors; and
● period-to-period fluctuations in our financial results.
In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also significantly affect the market prices of our common stock.
Our common stock could be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market if we fail to meet the Nasdaq Capital Market’s stockholders’ equity continued listing standards. Our ability to publicly or privately sell equity securities and the liquidity of our common stock could be adversely affected if we are delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market.
Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and we are therefore subject to its continued listing requirements, including requirements with respect to the market value of publicly-held shares, market value of listed shares, minimum bid price per share, and minimum stockholders’ equity, among others, and requirements relating to board and committee independence. If we fail to satisfy one or more of the requirements, we may be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market.
Delisting from the Nasdaq Capital Market may adversely affect our ability to raise additional financing through the public or private sale of equity securities, may significantly affect the ability of investors to trade our securities and may negatively affect the value and liquidity of our common stock. Delisting also could have other negative results, including the potential loss of employee confidence, the loss of institutional investors or interest in business development opportunities.
Delaware law and our corporate charter and bylaws contain anti-takeover provisions that could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Our board of directors is authorized to issue shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the voting powers, preferences and other rights and limitations of the preferred stock. Accordingly, we may issue shares of preferred stock with a preference over our common stock with respect to dividends or distributions on liquidation or dissolution, or that may otherwise adversely affect the voting or other rights of the holders of common stock. Issuances of preferred stock, depending upon the rights, preferences and designations of the preferred stock, may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change of control, even if that change of control might benefit our stockholders. In addition, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Section 203 generally prohibits a public Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless (i) prior to the date of the transaction, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; (ii) the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of shares outstanding (a) shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers and (b) shares owned by employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or (iii) on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by the board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66, 2/3%, of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.
Section 203 could delay or prohibit mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts with respect to us and, accordingly, may discourage attempts to acquire us even though such a transaction may offer our stockholders the opportunity to sell their stock at a price above the prevailing market price.
We have a staggered board of directors, which could impede an attempt to acquire us or remove our management.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which serves for a staggered term of three years. This division of our board of directors could have the effect of impeding an attempt to take over our company or change or remove management, since only one class will be elected annually. Thus, only approximately one-third of the existing board of directors could be replaced at any election of directors.
As a former shell company, resales of shares of our restricted common stock in reliance on Rule 144 of the Securities Act are subject to the requirements of Rule 144(i).
We previously were a “shell company” and, as such, sales of our securities pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, cannot be made unless, among other things, at the time of a proposed sale, we are subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and have filed all reports and other materials required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months, other than Form 8-K reports. Because, as a former shell company, the reporting requirements of Rule 144(i) will apply regardless of holding period, restrictive legends on certificates for shares of our common stock cannot be removed except in connection with an actual sale that is subject to an effective registration statement under, or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Because our unregistered securities cannot be sold pursuant to Rule 144 unless we continue to meet such requirements, any unregistered securities we issue will have limited liquidity unless we continue to comply with such requirements.
If securities and/or industry analysts fail to continue publishing research about our business, if they change their recommendations adversely or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. In addition, it is likely that in some future period our operating results will be below the expectations of securities analysts or investors. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price could decline.
Aspects of the tax treatment of the securities may be uncertain.
The tax treatment of our preferred stock and our warrants is uncertain and may vary depending upon whether you are an individual or a legal entity and whether or not you are domiciled in the United States. In the event you are a non-U.S. investor, you should consult your tax advisors as to the consequences, under the tax laws of the country where you are resident for tax purposes, of acquiring, holding and disposing of our preferred stock and our warrants.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties.
Our headquarters are located in Tel Aviv, Israel, where we lease a 1,700 square meter office and manufacturing facility that has the capacity to manufacture and assemble 2,000 stents per month, based upon the production schedule of one shift per day. We believe that our current facility is sufficient to meet anticipated future demand by adding additional shifts to our current production schedule.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings, which arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may harm our business. There are currently no pending material legal proceedings, and we are currently not aware of any legal proceedings or claims against us or our property that we believe will have any significant effect on our business, financial position or operating results.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our common stock has been quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) since May 21, 2021, under the symbol “NSPR.” The last reported sales price of our common stock on the Nasdaq on March 4, 2024, was $2.57 per share.
Record Holders
As of March 3, 2023, we had 278 stockholders of record of our common stock. This figure includes an indeterminate number of stockholders who hold their shares in “street name.”
Dividends
In the past, we have not declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We do not intend to pay cash dividends in the future; rather, we intend to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the operation and expansion of our business and for general corporate purposes.
The holders of Series C Preferred Stock are not entitled to receive any dividends, unless and until specifically declared by our board of directors. However, holders of our Series C Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends on shares of Series C Preferred Stock equal (on an as-if-converted-to-common-stock basis, and without giving effect for such purposes to the 4.99% or 9.99% beneficial ownership limitation, as applicable) to and in the same form as dividends actually paid on shares of the common stock when such dividends are specifically declared by our board of directors. We are not obligated to redeem or repurchase any shares of Series C Preferred Stock. Shares of Series C Preferred Stock are not otherwise entitled to any redemption rights, or mandatory sinking fund or analogous fund provision.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a medical device company focusing on the development and commercialization of our proprietary MicroNet™ stent platform for the treatment of carotid artery disease and other vascular disease. A stent is an expandable “scaffold-like” device, usually constructed of a metallic material, that is inserted into the lumen of the artery to create patency and revascularization of blood flow. MicroNet, a micron mesh sleeve, is attached over a stent to provide embolic protection both during and after stenting procedures.
Our CGuard EPS combines MicroNet and a unique self-expandable nitinol stent in a single device for use in carotid artery revascularization. Our CGuard EPS originally received CE mark approval under the MDD in the EU in March 2013 and was fully launched in Europe in September 2015. Subsequently, we launched CGuard EPS in over 30 countries and on February 3, 2021, we executed a distribution agreement with Chinese partners for the purpose of expanding our presence in the Asian markets. In January 2024, we received CE mark recertification under the EU’s Medical Device Regulation regulatory framework. Currently, we are seeking strategic partners for a potential launch of CGuard EPS in Japan and other Asian countries.
On September 8, 2020, we received approval from the FDA of our IDE, thereby allowing us to proceed with a pivotal study of our CGuard™ Carotid Stent System, C-GUARDIANS, for prevention of stroke in patients in the United States. C-GUARDIANS is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm, pivotal study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the CGuard™ Carotid Stent System when used to treat symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis in patients undergoing CAS. The study, which completed enrollment in June 2023, enrolled 316 patients across 24 trial sites in the U.S. and Europe and from April 2023 included deployment of the CGuard stent using CGuard Prime, our next generation CAS stent platform.
The primary endpoint is a composite of: (1) incidence of major adverse events including Death (all-cause mortality), any Stroke, and Myocardial Infarction (DSMI) through 30-days post index procedure, or (2) ipsilateral stroke from day 31 to day 365 post-procedure. All events are adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee. The composite index will be compared to a performance goal based on the observed rate of the two components of the primary endpoint from previous pivotal stent trials which are considered industry standard. The performance goal will be considered met if the upper bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval calculated from the observed primary endpoint rate is < 11.6% and the p-value is less than 0.025.
In November 2023, we announced positive 30-day follow up results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in which stenting with the C-Guard Carotid Stent System in patients with carotid artery stenosis and at high risk for carotid endarterectomy had a DSMI rate of 0.95%, measured from the date of the procedure through 30 days follow-up post-procedure. We anticipate reporting primary endpoint results from the C-GUARDIANS trial in mid 2024 that may support the submission of a PMA application in the third quarter of 2024 with a view to potential FDA approval of the CGuard Prime stent system in the first half of 2025.
We continue to invest in current and future potential new indications, products and manufacturing enhancements for CGuard that are expected to reduce cost of goods and/or provide the best-in-class performing delivery systems, such as CGuard Prime. In furtherance of our strategy that focuses on establishing the CGuard Carotid Stent System as a viable alternative to vascular surgery, we are developing a new transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) delivery system, SwitchGuard NPS, for transcarotid access and neuro protection. In addition, we intend to explore new indications for CGuard to leverage the advantages of stent design and mesh protection, well suited in labels such as acute stroke with tandem lesions.
We consider our current addressable market for our CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS to be both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with diagnosed high-grade carotid artery stenosis ) for whom intervention is preferable to medical (drug) therapy. This group includes not only carotid artery stenting patients but also individuals undergoing carotid endarterectomy, as the two approaches compete for the same patient population. Assuming full penetration of the intervention caseload by CGuard Carotid Stent System, we estimate that the addressable market for CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS is approximately $1.3 billion (source: Health Research International Personal Medical Systems, Inc. September 13, 2021 Results of Update Report on Global Carotid Stenting Procedures and Markets by Major Geography and Addressable Markets and internal estimates). According to this same report and internal estimates, assuming full penetration of treatment for all individuals diagnosed with high-grade carotid artery stenosis, we estimate the total available market for CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS to be approximately $9.3 billion, which may grow over time if expanded treatment options such as CGuard Carotid Stent System and SwitchGuard NPS lead to increased patient screening for carotid artery disease.
Recent Developments
Private Placement
On May 12, 2023, we entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement pursuant to which we agreed to sell and issue in a private placement (the “Private Placement Offering) an aggregate of 10,266,270 shares (the “Private Placement Shares”) of our common stock, pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”) to purchase up to 15,561,894 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 51,656,328 shares of common stock, consisting of Series H warrants to purchase up to 12,914,078 shares of common stock (the “Series H Warrants”), Series I warrants to purchase up to 12,914,078 shares of common stock (the “Series I Warrants”), Series J warrants to purchase up to 12,914,086 shares of Common Stock (the “Series J Warrants”) and Series K warrants to purchase up to 12,914,078 shares of common stock (the “Series K Warrants” and together with the Series H Warrants, Series I Warrants and Series J Warrants, the “Warrants”), at an offering price of $1.6327 per Private Placement Share and associated Warrants and an offering price of $1.6326 per Pre-Funded Warrant and associated Warrants.
The Pre-Funded Warrants will be immediately exercisable at an exercise price of $0.0001 per share and will not expire until exercised in full. The Warrants will be immediately exercisable upon issuance at an exercise price of $1.3827 per share, subject to adjustment as set forth therein. The Warrants have a term of the earlier of (i) five years from the date of issuance and (ii) (A) in the case of the Series H Warrants, 20 trading days following the Company’s public release of primary and secondary end points related to one year follow up study results from the Company’s C-GUARDIANS pivotal trial, (B) in the case of the Series I Warrants, 20 trading days following the Company’s announcement of receipt of Premarket Approval from the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for the CGuard Prime Carotid Stent System (135 cm), (C) in the case of the Series J Warrants, 20 trading days following the Company’s announcement of receipt of FDA approval for the SwitchGuard and CGuard Prime 80 and (D) in the case on the Series K Warrants, 20 trading days following the end of the fourth fiscal quarter after the fiscal quarter in which the first commercial sales of the CGuard Carotid Stent System in the United States begins.
The Warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis if there is no effective registration statement registering the shares underlying the Warrants. Under the terms of the Pre-Funded Warrants and Warrants, certain of the selling stockholders may not exercise the Pre-Funded Warrants or Warrants to the extent such exercise would cause such selling stockholder, together with its affiliates and attribution parties, to beneficially own a number of shares of common stock which would exceed 4.99% or 9.99% of our then outstanding common stock following such exercise, excluding for purposes of such determination common stock issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants or Warrants which have not been exercised. The Warrants may be exercised into pre-funded warrants if the selling stockholder is unable to exercise the Warrant due to the foregoing beneficial ownership limitation or at the selling shareholder’s election.
In connection with the Purchase Agreement, we entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”). Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, we were required to file a resale registration statement (the “Registration Statement”) with the SEC to register for resale the Private Placement Shares and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants and Warrants, within 20 days of the signing date of the Purchase Agreement (the “Signing Date”), and to have such Registration Statement declared effective within 45 days after the Signing Date in the event the Registration Statement is not reviewed by the SEC, or 90 days of the Signing Date in the event the Registration Statement is reviewed by the SEC. We were obligated to pay certain liquidated damages if we fail to file the Registration Statement when required, fails to cause the Registration Statement to be declared effective by the SEC when required, of if we fail to maintain the effectiveness of the Registration Statement. The Registration Statement was subsequently filed on May 23, 2023 and declared effective on June 1, 2023. We paid LifeSci Capital LLC, a placement fee equal to 5.6% of the aggregate gross proceeds from the closing of the Private Placement Offering, or approximately $2.4 million, and legal expenses of $41,600. In addition, we paid Piper Sandler & Co. a financial advisory fee of $1.5 million, AGP/Alliance Global Partners a financial advisory fee of $250,000 and lead investor counsel expenses of $125,000.
Critical Accounting Policies
We prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”). U.S. GAAP represents a comprehensive set of accounting and disclosure rules and requirements, and applying these rules and requirements requires management judgments and estimates including, in certain circumstances, choices between acceptable U.S. GAAP alternatives. The following is a discussion of our most critical accounting policies, judgments and uncertainties that are inherent in our application of U.S. GAAP.
Use of estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates using assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of sales and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
As applicable to these consolidated financial statements, the most significant estimates and assumptions relate to inventory valuations and assessing the likelihood of exercise of options to extend the lease term.
Marketable securities
Marketable securities consist of debt securities. We elected the fair value option to measure and recognize our investments in debt securities in accordance with ASC 825, Financial Instruments as we manage our portfolio and evaluates the performance on a fair value basis. Changes in fair value, realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, are reflected in the statements of operation as finance expense (income), net.
Concentration of credit risk and allowance for doubtful accounts
Financial instruments that may potentially subject us to a concentration of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits, which are deposited in major financially sound institutions in the U.S, Israel and Germany, and trade accounts receivable and other receivables. Our trade accounts receivable is derived from revenues earned from customers from various countries. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers’ financial condition and, requires no collateral from our customers. We also have a credit insurance policy for some of our customers. We maintain the allowance for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. The allowance represents the current estimate of lifetime expected credit losses over the remaining duration of existing accounts receivable considering current market conditions and supportable forecasts when appropriate. The estimate is a result of our ongoing evaluation of collectability, customer creditworthiness, historical levels of credit losses, and future expectations. The allowance for expected credit losses was immaterial during the periods presented.
Inventory
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost (cost is determined on a “first-in, first-out” basis) or net realizable value. Our inventories generally have a limited shelf life and are subject to impairment as they approach their expiration dates. We regularly evaluate the carrying value of our inventories and when, based on such evaluation, factors indicate that impairment has occurred, we impair the inventories’ carrying value. In addition, we write-off fails in production based on actual and estimated.
Leases
Operating leases are included in operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, Accounts payable and accruals - Other, and operating lease liabilities. ROU assets represent Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. In determining the present value of lease payments, we use the incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date as the rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable. The determination of the incremental borrowing rate requires management judgment based on information available at lease commencement. The lease terms may include periods covered by options to extend the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise such options, and periods covered by options to terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will not exercise such options. Operating lease cost is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Lease agreements that include lease and non-lease components are accounted for as a single lease component. The Company elected the short-term lease recognition exemption for leases with a lease term of 12 months or less.
Revenue recognition
A contract with a customer exists only when: 1) the parties to the contract have approved it and are committed to perform their respective obligations, 2) we can identify each party’s rights regarding the distinct goods or services to be transferred (“Performance Obligations”), 3) we can determine the transaction price for the goods or services to be transferred, 4) the contract has commercial substance and 5) it is probable that we will collect the consideration to which it will be entitled in exchange for the goods or services that will be transferred to the customer. Revenues are recorded in the amount of consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for Performance Obligations upon transfer of control to the customer, excluding sales taxes.
Revenue from sales of goods, including sales to distributors, is recognized when the customer obtains control of the product, once we have a present right to payment, legal title, and risk and rewards of ownership are obtained by the customer. This occurs when products are shipped.
We recognize the incremental costs of obtaining contracts as an expense since the amortization period of the assets that we otherwise would have recognized is one year or less. The costs are recorded under selling and marketing expenses.
We recognize revenue net of value added tax (VAT).
Share-based compensation
Employee option awards are classified as equity awards and accounted for using the grant-date fair value method. The fair value of share-based awards is estimated using the Black-Scholes valuation model and expensed over the requisite service period, net of estimated forfeitures. We elected to account for forfeitures as they occur.
We elected to recognize compensation expenses for awards with only service conditions that have graded vesting schedules using the accelerated multiple option approach.
The attribution for nonemployee awards is in the same manner as if we had paid cash for the goods or services.
In addition, certain of our share-based awards to service providers are performance based, i.e., the vesting of these awards depends upon achieving certain goals. We recognize compensation expenses for awards with performance conditions when we conclude that it is probable that the performance condition will be achieved.
Results of Operations
Twelve months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2022
Revenues. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, revenue increased by $1,034,000, or 20.0%, to $6,205,000, from $5,171,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. This increase was predominantly driven by a 21.1% increase in sales volume of CGuard EPS, from $5,123,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, to $6,205,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. This sales increase was mainly due to growth in existing and new markets.
With respect to regions, the increase in revenue was primarily attributable to a $1,036,000 increase in Europe, a $76,000 increase in Asia and $24,000 increase in Latin America. This growth was mainly due to growth in existing and new markets. This increase was offset by a $92,000 decline in revenue in the U.S. as less stents were used in our C-GUARDIANS FDA study as trial enrollment ended in June 2023 as well as a $10,000 decline in other markets.
Gross Profit. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, gross profit (revenue less cost of revenues) increased by 61.8%, or $690,000, to $1,807,000, compared to a gross profit of $1,117,000 for the same period in 2022. This increase in gross profit resulted from a $484,000 increase in revenues less the associated related material and labor costs, a decrease in write-offs of $179,000 and a decrease of $27,000 in miscellaneous expenses. Gross margin (gross profits as a percentage of revenue) increased to 29.1% during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, from 21.6% during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, driven by the reasons mentioned above.
Research and Development Expenses. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, research and development expenses increased by 2.2%, or $171,000, to $7,981,000, from $7,810,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. This increase resulted primarily from an increase of compensation expenses to employees and consultants of $638,000 mainly due to an increase of approximately $341,000 of share-based compensation-related expenses due to the expense recognition of grants made during the second quarter of 2023, an increase of $165,000 in expenses related to the SwitchGuard regulatory and approval process, and an increase of $513,000 in miscellaneous expenses offset, in part, by a decrease of $1,145,000 in expenses related to the C-GUARDIANS FDA study as we completed enrollment in June 2023.
Selling and Marketing Expenses. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, selling and marketing expenses increased by 5.5%, or $201,000, to $3,865,000, from $3,664,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. This increase resulted primarily from an increase of compensation expenses of $151,000 mainly due to an increase of share-based compensation-related expenses due to the expense recognition of grants made during the second quarter of 2023 and an increase of $50,000 in miscellaneous expenses.
General and Administrative Expenses. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, general and administrative expenses increased by 32.9%, or $2,748,000, to $11,104,000, from $8,356,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. This increase resulted primarily from an increase in compensation expenses of $2,177,000, mainly due to an increase of approximately $1,585,000 of share-based compensation-related expenses due to the expense recognition of grants made during the second quarter of 2023 and an increase in salary expenses and related accruals of $592,000 mainly due to hiring of a General Manager of North America and VP of Global Marketing (who was subsequently promoted to the Company’s Chief Commercial Officer in the third quarter of 2023), an increase in legal expenses of $292,000 and an increase of $279,000 in miscellaneous expenses.
Financial Income (Expenses). For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, financial income increased by $1,042,000, to $1,292,000 from $250,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. The increase in financial income primarily resulted from a $1,152,000 increase in interest income from investment in marketable securities, money market funds and short-term bank deposits.
Tax Expenses. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, tax increased by $37,000 compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. Our expenses for income taxes reflect primarily the tax liability due to potential tax exposure.
Net Loss. Our net loss increased by $1,425,000, or 7.7%, to $19,916,000 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, from $18,491,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. The increase in net loss resulted primarily from an increase of $3,120,000 in operating expenses, offset by an increase of $1,042,000 in financial income and increase of $690,000 in gross profit.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of the date of issuance of the consolidated financial statements, we have the ability to fund our planned operations for at least the next 12 months. However, we expect to continue incurring losses and negative cash flows from operations until our products (primarily CGuard reaches commercial profitability. Therefore, in order to fund our operations until such time that we can generate substantial revenues, we may need to raise additional funds.
Our plans include continued commercialization of our products and raising capital through sale of additional equity securities, debt or capital inflows from strategic partnerships. There are no assurances, however, that we will be successful in obtaining the level of financing needed for our operations. If we are unsuccessful in commercializing our products or raising capital, we may need to reduce activities, curtail or cease operations.
In May 2023, we closed a Private Placement Offering that resulted in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $42.2 million, before deducting fees payable to the placement agent and other offering expenses payable by the Company. If the Warrants from the Private Placement Offering are exercised in cash in full this would result in an additional $71.4 million of gross proceeds. There can be no assurance that we will achieve any of the milestones set forth in the Warrants or that the Warrants will be exercised in cash in full.
Twelve months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2022
General. At December 31, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $9,640,000 and marketable securities of $29,383,000 as compared to $4,632,000 of cash and cash equivalents and $13,171,000 Short-term bank deposits as of December 31, 2022. We have historically met our cash needs through a combination of issuing new shares, borrowing activities and product sales. Our cash requirements are generally for research and development, marketing and sales activities, finance and administrative cost, capital expenditures and general working capital.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in our operating activities increased by $834,000 to $16,376,000, from $15,542,000 during the same period in 2022. The primary reason for the increase in cash used in our operating activities was an increase of $731,000 in payments for third party related expenses and for professional services, an increase of $937,000 in salary and bonus payments from $8,558,000 in the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 to $9,495,000 during the same period in 2022, offset, in part, by an increase of $137,000 in payments received from customers to $5,470,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, from $5,333,000 during the same period in 2022 and an increase of $697,000 in interest income received from marketable securities, money market funds and short-term bank deposits
Cash used by our investing activities was $16,092,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, compared to cash provided by our investing activities of $8,441,000 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. The primary reason for the increase in cash used by our investing activities is an investment in marketable securities, net of withdrawal of $28,644,000, offset by an increase in withdrawal from short-term bank deposits, net of investment in short-term deposits, of $4,000,000, and a decrease of $92,000 in payments made for purchase of property, plant and equipment during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.
Cash provided by financing activities for the twelve months December 31, 2023, was $37,534,000. The principal source of the cash provided by financing activities during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 were the proceeds from the Private Placement Offering in May 2023 that resulted in approximately $37,534,000 of aggregate net proceeds. Cash used by financing activities for the twelve months ended December, 2022 was $140,000, the cash used by financing activities during the twelve months ended December, 2022 were due to issuance costs associated with a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the SEC on June 3, 2022.
As of December 31, 2023, our current assets exceeded our current liabilities by a multiple of 7.3. Current assets increased by $22,833,000 during the period and current liabilities increased by $950,000 during the period. As a result, our working capital increased by $21,883,000 to $38,139,000 as of December 31, 2023.
Contractual Obligations
Operating lease payments represent our commitment for future rent made under non-cancelable lease for our offices in Israel. The total future payments for our operating lease obligation at December 31, 2023 were approximately $1,815,000 and are due in the next twelve months. For additional details regarding our lease, see Note 7_ to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet transactions, arrangements, obligations (including contingent obligations), or other relationships with unconsolidated entities or other persons that have, or may have, a material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326)-Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This guidance replaces the current incurred loss impairment methodology. Under the new guidance, on initial recognition and at each reporting period, an entity is required to recognize an allowance that reflects its current estimate of credit losses expected to be incurred over the life of the financial instrument based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. In November 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-10, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), and Leases (Topic 842): Effective Dates (“ASU 2019-10”). The purpose of this amendment is to create a two tier rollout of major updates, staggering the effective dates between larger public companies and all other entities. This granted certain classes of companies, including Smaller Reporting Companies (“SRCs”), additional time to implement major FASB standards, including ASU 2016-13. Larger public companies had an effective date of December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. +All other entities are permitted to defer adoption of ASU 2016-13, and its related amendments, until the earlier of fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2022. Under the current SEC definitions, we meet the definition of an SRC and are adopting the deferral period for ASU 2016-13. The guidance requires a modified retrospective transition approach through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption. We adopted the provisions of this update as of January 1, 2023 with no material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07 “Segment Reporting: Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures”. This guidance expands public entities ‘segment disclosures primarily by requiring disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss, an amount and description of its composition for other segment items, and interim disclosures of a reportable segment’s profit or loss and assets. Public entities with a single reportable segment are required to provide the new disclosures and all the disclosures required under ASC 280. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The amendments are required to be applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented in an entity’s financial statements. We are currently evaluating this guidance to determine the impact it may have on our consolidated financial statements related disclosures. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09 “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures”. This guidance is intended to enhance the transparency and decision-usefulness of income tax disclosures. The amendments in ASU 2023-09 address investor requests for enhanced income tax information primarily through changes to disclosure regarding rate reconciliation and income taxes paid both in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024 on a prospective basis, with the option to apply the standard retrospectively. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating this guidance to determine the impact it may have on our consolidated financial statements related disclosures.
Factors That May Affect Future Operations
We believe that our future operating results will continue to be subject to quarterly variations based upon a wide variety of factors, including the cyclical nature of the ordering patterns of our distributors, timing of regulatory approvals, the implementation of various phases of our clinical trials and manufacturing efficiencies due to the learning curve of utilizing new materials and equipment. Our operating results could also be impacted by a weakening of the Euro and strengthening of the NIS, both against the U.S. dollar. Lastly, other economic conditions we cannot foresee may affect customer demand, such as individual country reimbursement policies pertaining to our products.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
Not applicable.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
The following financial statements are included as part of this Report (See Item 15):
● Report of Kesselman & Kesselman, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
● Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2021
● Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2021
● Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2021
● Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2021
● Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
Not applicable.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Management’s Conclusions Regarding Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our “disclosure controls and procedures”, as defined by Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as of December 31, 2023, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The disclosure controls and procedures evaluation was done under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer. There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures. Accordingly, even effective disclosure controls and procedures can only provide reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives. Based upon this evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level as of December 31, 2023.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate over time.
Management, including our chief executive officer and our chief financial officer, assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control-Integrated Framework 2013. Based on its assessment and those criteria, management has concluded that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct that applies to our officers, directors and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer, which is posted on our website at www.inspiremd.com. We intend to disclose future amendments to certain provisions of the code of ethics, or waivers of such provisions granted to executive officers and directors, on this website within four business days following the date of such amendment or waiver.
Other Information
The remaining information required by this Item 10 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
The information required by this Item 11 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The information required by this Item 12 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
The information required by this Item 13 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The information required by this Item 13 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
Documents filed as part of report:
1. Financial Statements
The following financial statements are included herein:
● Report of Kesselman & Kesselman, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
● Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022
● Consolidated Statements of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022
● Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022
● Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022
● Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
2. Financial Statement Schedules
None
3. Exhibits
See Index to Exhibits