ARTL US Equity☆

artl_10k.htm

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024

OR

For the transition period from ____________ to ____________

Artelo Biosciences, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

505 Lomas Santa Fe, Suite 160,Solana Beach, CA USA 92075

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (858) 925-7049

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share ARTL The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐

Non-accelerated Filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒

Emerging Growth Company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant on June 30, 2024, was $4,289,305 based on a $1.34 average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

The Registrant had 3,281,032 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of February 27, 2025.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS 5

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS 20

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 50

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY 50

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES 51

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS 51

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES 51

PART II

ITEM 6. [RESERVED] 53

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 59

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA F-1

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 60

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION 60

ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS 60

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 61

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 70

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES 81

PART IV

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES 82

SIGNATURES 83

Table of contents

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Some of the statements in the sections captioned “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Business,” and elsewhere contain forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expects,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of these terms or other comparable expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes, although not all forward-looking statements contain these terms. Unless otherwise noted, all amounts are expressed in United States dollars (“USD”) and “we”, “us”, “our” and the “Company” refer to Artelo Biosciences, Inc., including its subsidiaries unless otherwise indicated.

These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

· the size and growth of the markets for our product candidates;

· regulatory developments in the U.S. and internationally;

· our ability to attract and retain key scientific or management personnel;

· potential claims related to our intellectual property;

· our ability to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements;

· our ability to develop innovative new product candidates; and

· our financial performance.

Table of contents

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We discuss these risks in greater detail in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. Also, forward-looking statements represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

In addition, statements that include terms such as “we believe” and similar terms reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this filing, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

Our audited financial statements are stated in USD and are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes that appear elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless otherwise specified, all dollar amounts are expressed in USD and all references to “Common Shares” refer to shares of our common stock.

As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms “we”, “us”, “our” and the “company” mean Artelo Biosciences, Inc., and our wholly owned subsidiaries, Trinity Reliant Ventures Limited, in Ireland, Artelo Biosciences Limited, in England and Wales, and Artelo Biosciences Corporation, in Canada, unless otherwise indicated.

Table of contents

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Corporate Overview

We incorporated in the State of Nevada on May 2, 2011, and are presently based in the County of San Diego, California. We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics that target lipid-signaling modulation pathways, including the endocannabinoid system (the “ECS”), a network of receptors and neurotransmitters that form a biochemical communication system throughout the body.

Our product candidate pipeline broadly leverages leading scientific methodologies and balances risk across mechanisms of action and stages of development. Our programs represent a comprehensive approach in utilizing the power and promise of lipid signaling to develop pharmaceuticals for patients with unmet healthcare needs. We are currently developing a dual cannabinoid (CB) agonist that targets both the CB1 and CB2 receptors. This synthetic small molecule program is a G protein-coupled receptor (“GPCR”) designated ART27.13. We are developing ART27.13 as a potential treatment for cancer-related anorexia in a Phase 1b/2a trial, titled the Cancer Appetite Recovery Study (“CAReS”).

Our second program, ART26.12 is a small molecule and the lead product candidate from our chemical library of inhibitors of fatty acid binding proteins, notably Fatty Acid Binding Protein 5 (“FABP5”). We received U.S. Food & Drug Administration (the “FDA”) clearance for our Investigational New Drug (“IND”) application for ART26.12 in July 2024 and has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. In addition, ART26.12 may have broad applications as a cancer therapeutic,as a treatment for dermatologic conditions, such as psoriasis, as a treatment for pain and inflammation, and potential use in anxiety-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

We are also developing our own invention ART12.11 (the “CBD cocrystal”).ART12.11 is our patented solid-state composition of cannabidiol (“CBD”) and tetramethylpyrazine (“TMP”). TMP serves as the coformer in the CBD cocrystal. ART12.11 may be considered by the regulatory authorities as a fixed drug combination instead of a new chemical entity (“NCE”).

We obtained two of our patent protected product candidates through our in-licensing activities. Our first in-licensed program, ART27.13, is being developed for cancer-related anorexia. ART27.13 is a peripherally-selective high-potency dual CB1 and CB2 full-receptor agonist, which was originally invented at AstraZeneca plc (“AstraZeneca”). We exercised our option to exclusively license this product candidate through the NEOMED Institute (“NEOMED”), a Canadian not-for-profit corporation, renamed adMare Bioinnovations (“adMare”) in June 2019, which had obtained rights to ART27.13 from AstraZeneca. In Phase 1, single dose studies in healthy volunteers and a multiple ascending dose study in individuals with chronic low back pain conducted by AstraZeneca, ART27.13 exhibited an attractive pharmacokinetic and absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion profile and was well tolerated within the target exposure range. It also exhibited dose-dependent and potentially clinically meaningful increases in body weight. Importantly, the changes in body weight were not associated with fluid retention or other adverse effects and occurred at exposures without central nervous system (“CNS”) side effects. Discussions with United Kingdom (“UK”), U.S. and Canadian regulators indicate there is a potential pathway for development of ART27.13 for the treatment of cancer-related anorexia, which affects approximately 60% of advanced stage cancer patients.

We commenced enrollment and dosed the first patient in CAReS, our Phase 1b/2a clinical study of cancer-related anorexia with ART27.13 in April 2021, and completed enrolling patients in the Phase 1b during the first quarter 2023. Data from the Phase 1b stage was used to determine the most effective and safe dose selected as the starting dose for the Phase 2a portion of CAReS. We received approval from the regulatory authorities in the UK, Ireland and Norway to increase the daily dose from 650 micrograms to 1,000 micrograms after 4 weeks and up to 1,300 micrograms initiated at 8 weeks in patients for whom intra-patient dose escalation is expected to be well tolerated. We also received approval from the regulatory authorities to enroll 40 evaluable patients to the Phase 2a stage with a 3:1 randomization of ART27.13 to placebo. We initiated the Phase 2a portion of CAReS during April 2023 and expect up to 15 sites across five countries to participate in the Phase 2a. As of February 2025, 18 clinical sites are open and full enrollment is projected during the first half of 2025.

Our second in-licensed patented program is from our platform of small-molecule inhibitors of fatty acid binding proteins, notably FABP5. Fatty acid binding proteins (“FABPs”) are attractive therapeutic targets, however, the high degree of sequence and structural similarities among family members have made the creation of drugs targeting specific FABPs challenging. FABP5 is believed to specifically target and regulate one of the body’s endogenous cannabinoids, anandamide (“AEA”). While searching for a FABP5 inhibitor to regulate AEA, researchers at Stony Brook University (“SBU”) discovered the chemistry for creating a large library of compounds which we believe to be highly specific and potent small molecule inhibitors of FABP5 and other isoforms. SBU had received approximately $8.0 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop FABP5 inhibitor candidates including a $4.2 million grant in 2020 to advance research of FABP5 inhibition in prostate cancer. We licensed the rights to world-wide intellectual property in all fields and certain know-how to these inhibitors from SBU.

Our lead FABP5 inhibitor program is designated ART26.12. Based upon positive pre-clinical evidence from five separate studies showing promising activity and a differentiated mechanism-of-action for the prevention and treatment of painful neuropathies, including diabetic neuropathy and Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (“CIPN”), we have prioritized CIPN as the initial indication for development of our lead product candidate among our library of FABP5 inhibitor compounds, ART26.12. Treatment and/or prevention of CIPN is a significant unmet need, often resulting in anti-cancer treatment delays or discontinuations, and there are currently no approved treatments for CIPN by the regulatory authorities in the U.S., UK or EU. We submitted an IND application for ART26.12 to the FDA on 10th of June 2024 and received a study may proceed notice from the FDA on the 8th of July 2024. First-in-human studies for ART26.12 began in Q4 of 2024. In addition to its potential as a synthetic endocannabinoid modulator with development targeting pain, inflammation, dermatologic conditions such as psoriasis, FABP5 is understood to play an important role in lipid signaling and is believed to be an attractive strategy for drug development in oncology. Large amounts of human biomarker and animal model data support FABP5 as an oncology target, including triple negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, and castration-resistant prostate cancer. Through our sponsored research we have also subsequently identified a potential role for FABP5 inhibition to treat anxiety disorders, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”). We have been awarded a research grant in Canada to expand on our earlier research at the University of Western Ontario in this new development area.

Table of contents

In addition to our in-licensed programs, we have internal discovery research initiatives which resulted in ART12.11, a proprietary cocrystal composition of CBD. The crystal structure of CBD is known to exhibit solid polymorphism, or the ability to manifest in different forms. Polymorphism can adversely affect stability, dissolution, and bioavailability of a drug product and thus may affect its quality, safety, and efficacy. Based upon our research, we believe our CBD cocrystal exists as a single crystal form and as such is anticipated to have advantages over other solid forms of CBD that exhibit polymorphism. Emerging data demonstrates potential advantages of this single crystal structure, including improved stability, solubility, and a more consistent absorption profile. We believe these features have contributed to a more consistent and improved bioavailability profile and may ultimately lead to improved safety and efficacy in human therapeutics, as already demonstrated in animal studies.

Presently, we have two U.S. patents, one pending U.S. patent application, six foreign patents (Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan) and three pending foreign patent applications (Canada, Europe, and South Korea) directed to our cocrystal composition of CBD. Composition claims are generally known in the pharmaceutical industry as the most desired type of intellectual property and should provide for long lasting market exclusivity for our synthetic CBD cocrystal drug product candidate. In addition, due to the reasons outlined above, we believe that our synthetic CBD cocrystal will continue to demonstrate a superior set of pharmaceutical properties compared to non-cocrystal CBD compositions. We plan to develop ART12.11 for multiple potential indications where CBD has shown activity of such anxiety disorders, including PTSD, depression, and other possible uses such as epilepsy and insomnia.

We are developing our product candidates in accordance with traditional regulated drug development standards and expect to make them available to patients via prescription or physician orders only after obtaining marketing authorization from a country’s regulatory authority, such as the FDA. Our management team has experience developing, commercializing, and partnering ethical pharmaceutical products, including several first-in-class therapeutics. Based upon our current management’s capabilities and the future talent we may attract, we plan to retain rights to internally develop and commercialize products; however, we may seek collaborations with partners in the biopharmaceutical industry when a partnering strategy serves to maximize value for our stockholders.

Product Candidate Pipeline:

Table of contents

Background

Emerging science suggests that modulating lipid-signaling pathways can unlock novel therapeutic strategies for diseases and medical conditions for which there are no or limited options. Lipids are critical to certain cell signaling pathways. Lipid-signaling modulation is the alteration of the signaling of lipid molecules to change biological activity or function within cellular communication pathways. Lipids contain various fatty acids as their building blocks and are the key components of lipid activity. Fatty Acid Binding Proteins (FABPs) facilitate lipid-signaling by binding to fatty acids which control various cellular functions. FABPs are essential mediators of normal cell signaling processes and under certain conditions can be associated with dysfunctional signaling. Inhibition of specific FABPs may correct abnormal lipid-signaling or improve the function of the ECS, which holds promise as new treatment modalities. Our Company is at the forefront of advancing the application of lipid-modulating therapeutics.

The ECS is composed of cannabinoid receptors, endogenous receptor ligands (“endocannabinoids”) and their associated transporter mechanisms, as well as enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of endocannabinoids and has emerged as a considerable target for pharmacotherapy approaches of numerous human diseases. As a widespread modulatory and lipid-signaling system, the ECS plays important roles in the CNS, development, synaptic plasticity, and the response to endogenous and environmental factors.

The modulation of the ECS can be affected by using selective or non-selective agonists, partial agonists, inverse agonists, and antagonists of the cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2. The CB1 receptor is distributed in brain areas associated with motor control, emotional responses, motivated behavior and energy homeostasis. In the periphery, CB1 is ubiquitously expressed in the adipose tissue, pancreas, liver, gastrointestinal tract, skeletal muscles, heart and the reproductive system. The CB2 receptor is mainly expressed in the immune system regulating its functions and is upregulated in response to tissue stress or damage in most cell types. The ECS is therefore involved in pathophysiological conditions in both the central and peripheral tissues.

The actions of endogenous ligands can be enhanced or attenuated by targeting mechanisms that are associated with their transport within the cellular and extra cellular matrix as well as their synthesis and breakdown. Small molecule chemical modulators of the ECS can be derived from plants (phytocannabinoids), can be semi-synthetic derivatives of phytocannabinoids or endocannabinoids, or can be completely synthetic new chemical entities. We plan to develop approaches within our portfolio that address receptor binding and endocannabinoid transport modulation using only synthetic new chemical entities. Future approaches may also involve targeting synthesis or breakdown enzymes.

ECS targeting cannabinoid-based medicines are already approved and used to treat numerous medical conditions. The ECS is further implicated in many disease states within the peer reviewed literature including conditions which involve the regulation of food intake, central nervous system, pain, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immune and inflammation, behavioral, antiproliferative and reproductive functions. These areas of ECS pathophysiology are aligned with our therapeutic areas of focus: anxiety, pain, inflammation, anorexia, and cancer.

Business Strategy

Our objective is to develop and commercialize ethical pharmaceutical products that provide physicians access to the therapeutic potential of lipid signaling modulation, including within the ECS. We intend to pursue technologies and compounds that offer promising therapeutic approaches to known and validated signaling pathways, specifically lipid-signaling which includes compounds that promote the effectiveness of the ECS. While several of our programs are directed towards improving the lives of people suffering with cancer and cancer treatments, our portfolio may ultimately be used to treat a wide range of diseases and conditions where lipid-signaling modulation is particularly promising, including pain, inflammation, various neurological diseases, epilepsy, anxiety disorders, and dermatologic conditions.

Intellectual Property

We are a party to certain license agreements as described below and, going forward, we intend to license intellectual property from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and research institutions which would cover research stage and clinical stage assets to build a pipeline of product candidates that are associated with lipid signaling.

Table of contents

Patent Estate and Licenses

Product Candidate Patent Status License

The NEOMED Relationship

On December 20, 2017, the Company entered into an agreement with NEOMED (the “NEOMED Agreement”), which provided the Company with up to twelve months from the date of receipt by the Company of the required materials to conduct certain non-clinical research studies, diligence and technical analyses with NEOMED’s proprietary therapeutic compound NEO1940, now known as ART27.13 (the “Compound”) and an option (the “NEOMED Option”) for an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize products comprising or containing the Compound. The NEOMED Agreement has an effective date of January 2, 2018 (the “NEOMED Effective Date”). On the NEOMED Effective Date, the Company issued 15,000 shares of its common stock (on a pre-reverse stock split basis) to NEOMED. Pursuant to the terms of the NEOMED Agreement, within 30 days after the NEOMED Effective Date, NEOMED, without additional consideration and at its sole cost, delivered to the Company certain technology transfer materials and the quantity of the Compound substance specified in a research plan, both as set out under the NEOMED Agreement.

On January 4, 2019, the Company entered into the First Amendment to Material and Data Transfer, Option and License Agreement (the “First Amendment to NEOMED Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue NEOMED shares of our common stock as consideration for the waiver by NEOMED of the cash payment of $100,000 that was due to NEOMED on October 1, 2018. The Company issued 61,297 shares of common stock (on a pre-reverse stock split basis) to NEOMED in connection with the Company’s exercise of the NEOMED Option. The Company also issued 11,363 shares of common stock (on a pre-reverse stock split basis) to NEOMED pursuant to the terms of the First Amendment to NEOMED Agreement. Pursuant to the NEOMED Agreement, in July 2019, the Company completed a payment of $1,500,000 to NEOMED for the exercise of the NEOMED Option. Upon exercise of the NEOMED Option, NEOMED provided the Company with an exclusive worldwide license under all of NEOMED’s intellectual property rights covering the Compound (“Licensed IP Rights”) to research, develop, make, have made, use, offer for sale, sell, have sold and import products containing the Compound and otherwise exploit the Licensed IP Rights worldwide, in all fields.

Table of contents

In connection with the NEOMED Agreement, additional potential payments of up to $200.0 million will be due upon the achievement of certain regulatory, commercial, and sales milestones. Additionally, we will pay mid-to high-single digit royalties on annual net sales of any product successfully developed.

In clinical development studies with NEOMED’s prior sponsor, ART27.13 was dosed in over 200 subjects. From 2007 to 2008, ART27.13 was evaluated in five phase 1 clinical trials under its original sponsor, AstraZeneca. ART27.13 was administered orally in 205 patients and its safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics were investigated. Four of these studies were single dose or Single Ascending Dose (“SAD”) studies. An initial SAD study was conducted in the UK. The program was completed with another study performed in a Japanese population. The two other single dose studies aimed at measuring a pharmacodynamics effect (Proof-of-Principle or POP studies) on analgesia using the capsaicin test in one case, and the third molar extraction model in the other case. The last phase 1 study was a Multiple Ascending Dose (“MAD”) study, where patients with chronic lower back pain received ART27.13 for a scheduled period of 12 days. Further details of the studies are found in Table 1.

Table 1 – Clinical studies performed with ART27.13 (formerly NEO1940)

Year Full Title Schedule Primary Endpoint Secondary Endpoints

___________

ART27.13 demonstrated, in general, an acceptable safety and tolerability profile in the safety endpoints. The profile of the observed safety effects was generally typical of cannabinoids and the majority of the adverse events were of mild or moderate intensity. A maximum tolerated dose was defined by the frequency and severity of adverse events. A dose dependent increase in body weight was observed in the MAD study. In three out of the five phase 1 studies, analgesia in acute pain models was also measured as an endpoint; no convincing analgesic efficacy was seen in any of these studies.

Table of contents

The Stony Brook University Relationship

On January 18, 2018, we entered into a license agreement (the “Stony Brook Agreement”) with the Research Foundation at Stony Brook University (the “Foundation”) which became effective on that same date (the “SBU Effective Date”). The Stony Brook Agreement provides us with an exclusive license under certain licensed patents of the Foundation to develop, make, manufacture, have made, use, sell, have sold, import, export, and offer for sale Patent Product(s) (as defined in the Stony Brook Agreement) and Other Product(s) (as defined in the Stony Brook Agreement) worldwide in all fields, including without limitation the field of human therapeutics. .

Pursuant to the Stony Brook Agreement, we paid an upfront fee and are paying to the Foundation annual license maintenance fees, beginning on the first anniversary of the SBU Effective Date and annually thereafter on each anniversary of the SBU Effective Date.

We will also be required to pay a low-single digit royalty on net sales on any patent products (the “Royalties”). The Stony Brook Agreement provides for a reduction of the Royalties in certain cases. We will also pay to the Foundation, beginning in the first calendar year of the first commercial sales, an annual minimum royalty fee (the “Annual Minimum Royalty”). The Annual Minimum Royalty will be credited against the total Royalties due for the calendar year in which the Annual Minimum Royalty is paid.

We will also be required to make payments for the following milestones:

Milestone MilestonePayment ($US)

The term of the Stony Brook Agreement commenced on the SBU Effective Date and will continue until the Stony Brook Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms.

Research & Development

We intend to combine innovative science and accelerated clinical development to create and develop novel therapies using small molecule drug development strategies targeting lipid signaling pathways and the ECS. Our current research and development efforts have been limited to investigative work surrounding lipid signaling, including creating and developing novel and synthetic formulations, and evaluating potential opportunities to license technologies from pharmaceutical companies and leading research institutions. Our principal research efforts to date have been with the Stony Brook University, New York, University of Western Ontario, Canada, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and with various clinical research organizations (“CROs”) in the U.S., China, Spain, and UK.

Scientific Approach

We intend to create, acquire, and develop a broad spectrum of therapeutics, each of which has the potential to modulate lipid signaling for human health. The principal scientific platforms of our strategy are as follows:

Table of contents

Our Board and management have experience developing and commercializing ethical pharmaceutical products, including several first-in-class therapeutics. As we build our pipeline and advance our research and clinical development programs, we will evaluate partnerships with large pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies where applicable. Based upon our management’s current experience and the future talent we may attract, we plan to retain rights to develop and commercialize products on our own. However, we will seek to collaborate with biopharmaceutical partners should that strategy be believed to maximize the value for our stockholders.

Two of our development programs were licensed from established and respected organizations that have already conducted pre-clinical research and, in some cases, clinical research. Our science and regulatory teams are leveraging this research to speed development and commercialization timelines across our portfolio. Our current pipeline encompasses multiple mechanisms associated with lipid signaling. The specific programs that are currently in development are set forth below.

Competition

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and an emphasis on proprietary products. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize may compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future.

We plan to compete in the segments of the pharmaceutical, biotechnological and other related markets with therapeutics that demonstrate clinical utility, have an acceptable safety profile and target commercially attractive indications characterized by previously unmet medical need.

Table of contents

Our potential competitors, which include pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies such as Novartis International AG, Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.), Inc., NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc., Skye Bioscience, Longboard Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer Inc. may have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved medicines than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Our commercial opportunities could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize medicines that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain approval from the FDA or other regulatory agencies for their medicines more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

Government Regulation

United States

Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local levels, and in other countries and jurisdictions, including the European Union, extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, packaging, storage, recordkeeping, labeling, advertising, promotion, distribution, marketing, post-approval monitoring and reporting, and import and export of pharmaceutical products. The processes for obtaining marketing approvals in the United States and in foreign countries and jurisdictions, along with subsequent compliance with applicable statutes and regulations and other regulatory authorities, require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.

In the United States, the FDA approves and regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”) and the implementing regulations promulgated thereunder. The failure to comply with requirements under the FDCA and other applicable laws at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval may subject an applicant and/or sponsor to a variety of administrative or judicial sanctions, including refusal by the FDA to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, imposition of a clinical hold, issuance of warning letters and other types of letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement of profits, or civil or criminal investigations and penalties brought by the FDA and the Department of Justice or other governmental entities.

An applicant seeking approval to market and distribute a new drug product in the United States must typically undertake the following:

· review by an FDA advisory committee, where appropriate or if applicable;

· securing FDA approval of the NDA; and

Table of contents

Prior to beginning the first clinical trial with a product candidate in the United States, we must submit an IND to the FDA. An IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational new drug product to humans. The central focus of an IND submission is on the general investigational plan and the protocol(s) for clinical studies. The IND also includes results of animal and in vitro studies assessing the toxicology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, and pharmacodynamic characteristics of the product; chemistry, manufacturing, and controls information; and any available human data or literature to support the use of the investigational product. An IND must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the 30-day time period, raises safety concerns or questions about the proposed clinical trial. In such a case, the IND may be placed on clinical hold and the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns or questions before the clinical trial can begin. Submission of an IND therefore may or may not result in FDA authorization to begin a clinical trial.

Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with GCPs, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent for their participation in any clinical study. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the study, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A separate submission to the existing IND must be made for each successive clinical trial conducted during product development and for any subsequent protocol amendments. Furthermore, an independent IRB for each site proposing to conduct the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial and its informed consent form before the clinical trial begins at that site and must monitor the study until completed. Regulatory authorities, the IRB or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk or that the clinical trial is unlikely to meet its stated objectives. Some studies also include oversight by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical study sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board, which may review data and endpoints at designated check points, make recommendations or halt the clinical trial if it determines that there is an unacceptable safety risk for subjects or other grounds, such as no demonstration of efficacy. There are also requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical studies and clinical study results to public registries.

Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:

Post-approval clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 studies, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These clinical trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA.

The FDA or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. In addition, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. Depending on its charter, this group may determine whether a clinical trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the clinical trial.

During the development of a new drug, sponsors are given opportunities to meet with the FDA at certain points. These points may be prior to submission of an IND, at the end of Phase 2, and before an NDA is submitted. Meetings at other times may be requested. These meetings can provide an opportunity for the sponsor to share information about the data gathered to date, for the FDA to provide advice, and for the sponsor and the FDA to reach agreement on the next phase of development. Sponsors typically use the meetings at the end of the Phase 2 clinical trial to discuss Phase 2 clinical results and present plans for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials that they believe will support approval of the new drug. Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, and purity of the final drug. In addition, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.

While the IND is active and before approval, progress reports summarizing the results of the clinical trials and nonclinical studies performed since the last progress report must be submitted at least annually to the FDA, and written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and investigators for serious and unexpected suspected adverse events, findings from other studies suggesting a significant risk to humans exposed to the same or similar drugs, findings from animal or in vitro testing suggesting a significant risk to humans, and any clinically important increased incidence of a serious suspected adverse reaction compared to that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure.

Table of contents

NDA Review and Approval Process

Assuming successful completion of all required testing in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements, the results of product development nonclinical and clinical trials, along with descriptions of the manufacturing process, analytical tests conducted on the chemistry of the drug, proposed labeling and other relevant information are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting approval to market the product. The submission of an NDA is subject to the payment of substantial user fees; a waiver of such fees may be obtained under certain limited circumstances. Additionally, no user fees are assessed on NDAs for products designated as orphan drugs, unless the product also includes a non-orphan indication.

The FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether a product is safe and effective for its intended use and whether its manufacturing is cGMP-compliant to assure and preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality, and purity. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the date of “filing” of a standard NDA for a new molecular entity to review and act on the submission. This review typically takes 12 months from the date the NDA is submitted to FDA because the FDA has approximately two months to make a “filing” decision after the application is submitted. The FDA conducts a preliminary review of all NDAs within the first 60 days after submission, before accepting them for filing, to determine whether they are sufficiently complete to permit substantive review The FDA may request additional information rather than accept an NDA for filing. In this event, the NDA must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing.

The FDA may refer an application for a novel drug to an advisory committee. An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that reviews, evaluates and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.

Before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCPs. If the FDA determines that the application, manufacturing process, or manufacturing facilities are not acceptable, it will outline the deficiencies in the submission and often will request additional testing or information. Notwithstanding the submission of any requested additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval.

After the FDA evaluates an NDA, it will issue an approval letter or a Complete Response Letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with prescribing information for specific indications. A Complete Response Letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete, and the application will not be approved in its present form. A Complete Response Letter usually describes the specific deficiencies in the NDA identified by the FDA and may require additional clinical data, such as an additional pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial or other significant and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, nonclinical studies, or manufacturing. If a Complete Response Letter is issued, the sponsor must resubmit the NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or withdraw the application. Even if such data and information are submitted, the FDA may decide that the NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval.

If regulatory approval of a product is granted, such approval will be granted for particular indications and may entail limitations on the indicated uses for which such product may be marketed. For example, the FDA may approve the NDA with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) to ensure the benefits of the product outweigh its risks. A REMS is a safety strategy to manage a known or potential serious risk associated with a medicine and to enable patients to have continued access to such medicines by managing their safe use. It could include medication guides, physician communication plans, or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries, and other risk minimization tools. The FDA also may offer conditional approval subject to, among other things, changes to proposed labeling or the development of adequate controls and specifications. Once approved, the FDA may withdraw the product approval if compliance with pre- and post-marketing requirements is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the marketplace. The FDA may also require one or more Phase 4 post-market studies and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization and may limit further marketing of the product based on the results of these post-marketing studies. In addition, new government requirements, including those resulting from new legislation, may be established, or the FDA’s policies may change, which could impact the timeline for regulatory approval or otherwise impact ongoing development programs.

Post-Approval Requirements

Any products manufactured or distributed by us pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to recordkeeping, reporting of adverse experiences, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, and advertising and promotion of the product. After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications or other labeling claims, are subject to prior FDA review and approval. There are continuing, annual program fees for any marketed products. Drug manufacturers and their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon us and our third-party manufacturers. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and, depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting requirements upon us and any third-party manufacturers that we may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain compliance with cGMP and other aspects of regulatory compliance.

Table of contents

The FDA may withdraw approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:

· fines, warning letters, or untitled letters;

· clinical holds on post-approval or Phase IV clinical studies, if applicable;

· injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

The FDA closely regulates the marketing, labeling, advertising, and promotion of drug products. A company can make only those claims relating to safety and efficacy that are approved by the FDA and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in, among other things, adverse publicity, warning letters, corrective advertising, and potential civil and criminal penalties. Physicians may prescribe, in their independent professional medical judgment, legally available products for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those tested by us and approved by the FDA. Physicians may believe that such off-label uses are the best treatment for many patients in varied circumstances. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. The FDA does, however, restrict manufacturer’s communications on the subject of off-label use of their products. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion of off-label use and has enjoined companies from engaging in off-label promotion. The FDA and other regulatory agencies have also required that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. However, companies may share truthful and not misleading information that is otherwise consistent with a product’s FDA-approved labelling.

Marketing Exclusivity

Market exclusivity provisions authorized under the FDCA can delay the submission and approval of certain marketing applications for products containing the same active ingredient. The FDCA permits patent term restoration of up to five years as compensation for a patent term lost during product development and FDA regulatory review process to the first applicant to obtain approval of an NDA for a new chemical entity in the United States. Patent-term restoration, however, cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. A drug is a new chemical entity if the FDA has not previously approved any other new drug containing the same active moiety, which is the molecule or ion responsible for the action of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not approve or even accept for review an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, or an NDA submitted under Section 505(b)(2) (“505(b)(2) NDA”), submitted by another company for another drug based on the same active moiety, regardless of whether the drug is intended for the same indication as the original innovative drug or for another indication, where the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference to all the data required for approval. However, an application may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement to one of the patents listed with the FDA by the innovator NDA holder.

The FDCA alternatively provides three years of marketing exclusivity for an NDA, or supplement to an existing NDA if new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability studies, that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant are deemed by the FDA to be essential to the approval of the application, for example new indications, dosages, or strengths of an existing drug. This three-year exclusivity covers only the modification for which the drug received approval on the basis of the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs or 505(b)(2) NDAs for drugs containing the active agent for the original indication or condition of use. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full NDA. However, an applicant submitting a full NDA would be required to conduct or obtain a right of reference to any nonclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.

Pediatric exclusivity is another type of marketing exclusivity available in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity provides for an additional six months of marketing exclusivity attached to another period of exclusivity if a sponsor conducts clinical trials in children in response to a written request from the FDA. The issuance of a written request does not require the sponsor to undertake the described clinical trials. In addition, orphan drug exclusivity, as described above, may offer a seven-year period of marketing exclusivity, except in certain circumstances.

In response to the court decision in Catalyst Pharms., Inc. v. Becerra, 14 F.4th 1299 (11th Cir. 2021), in January 2023, the FDA published a notice in the Federal Register to clarify that while the agency complies with the court’s order in Catalyst, the FDA intends to continue to apply its longstanding interpretation of the regulations to matters outside of the scope of the Catalyst order – that is, the agency will continue tying the scope of orphan-drug exclusivity to the uses or indications for which a drug is approved, which permits other sponsors to obtain approval of a drug for new uses or indications within the same orphan designated disease or condition that have not yet been approved. It is unclear how future litigation, legislation, agency decisions, and administrative actions will impact the scope of the orphan drug exclusivity.

Table of contents

Foreign Jurisdictions

In addition to regulations in the United States, a manufacturer is subject to a variety of regulations in foreign jurisdictions to the extent they choose to sell any drug products in those foreign countries. Even if a manufacturer obtains FDA approval of a product, it must still obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. For other countries, outside of the European Union, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary.

In the European Union, marketing authorizations for medicinal products may be obtained through different procedures founded on the same basic regulatory process. The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization that is valid for all EU Member States. The centralized procedure is compulsory for medicinal products produced by certain biotechnological processes, products designated as orphan medicinal products, and products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases. On the other hand, a decentralized procedure provides for approval by one or more other concerned EU Member States of an assessment of an application for marketing authorization conducted by one EU Member State, known as the reference EU Member State. In accordance with the mutual recognition procedure, the sponsor applies for national marketing authorization in one EU Member State. Upon receipt of this authorization the sponsor can then seek the recognition of this authorization by other EU Member States.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) prohibits U.S. businesses and their representatives from offering to pay, paying, promising to pay or authorizing the payment of money or anything of value to a foreign official in order to influence any act or decision of the foreign official in his or her official capacity or to secure any other improper advantage in order to obtain or retain business. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the U.S. to comply with accounting provisions requiring us to maintain books and records, which in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, if any, and to devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements. United States governmental authorities that enforce the FCPA, including the Department of Justice, deem most health care professionals and other employees of foreign hospitals, clinics, research facilities and medical schools in countries with public health care or public education systems to be “foreign officials” under the FCPA. Accordingly, when we interact with foreign health care professionals and researchers in testing and marketing our product candidates abroad, we must have policies and procedures in place sufficient to prevent us and agents acting on our behalf from providing any bribe, gift or gratuity, including excessive or lavish meals, travel or entertainment in connection with marketing our products and services or securing required permits and approvals such as those needed to initiate clinical trials in foreign jurisdictions.

International Laws

In Europe, and throughout the world, other countries have enacted anti-bribery laws and/or regulations similar to the FCPA. Violations of any of these anti-bribery laws, or allegations of such violations, could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and reputation.

There are also international privacy laws that impose restrictions on the access, use, and disclosure of health information. All of these laws may impact our business. Our failure to comply with these privacy laws or significant changes in the laws restricting our ability to obtain required patient information could significantly impact our business and our future business plans.

Table of contents

Other Healthcare Laws

Our business operations and current and future arrangements with healthcare professionals, consultants, customers and patients, may expose us to broadly applicable state and federal fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws constrain the business and financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and distribute our products. Such laws include:

Table of contents

Efforts to ensure that our current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations may involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities may conclude that some of our business practices, including our promotional activities and interactions with our customers do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable healthcare laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these or any other health regulatory laws that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other U.S. healthcare programs, additional integrity reporting and oversight obligations, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired. If any of the above occur, it could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

U.S. Healthcare Reform

In the U.S. and some non-U.S. jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could, among other things, affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval.

Among policy makers and payors in the U.S. and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality and/or expanding access. For example, in the U.S., in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), was passed, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both the government and private insurers.

There have been judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, as well as recent efforts to repeal or replace certain aspects of the ACA and we expect such challenges and amendments to continue. For example, in June 2021 the U.S. Supreme Court held that Texas and other challengers had no legal standing to challenge the ACA, dismissing the case on procedural grounds without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. Thus, the ACA will remain in effect in its current form. It is possible that the ACA will be subject to judicial or Congressional challenges in the future. It is unclear how any such challenges and healthcare measures promulgated by the government will impact the ACA, our business, financial condition and results of operations. Complying with any new legislation or reversing changes implemented under the ACA could be time-intensive and expensive, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the U.S. since the ACA was enacted. These changes include aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011, which began in 2013 and will remain in effect through 2032 unless additional Congressional action is taken.

Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 eliminated the statutory Medicaid drug rebate cap manufacturers pay to state Medicaid programs. Elimination of this cap may require pharmaceutical manufacturers to pay more in rebates than it receives on the sale of products, which could have a material impact on our business. Moreover, payment methodologies may be subject to changes in healthcare legislation and regulatory initiatives. For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) may develop new payment and delivery models, such as bundled payment models. Recently, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their products. Such scrutiny has resulted in several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. In August 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, which includes prescription drug provisions that have significant implications for the pharmaceutical industry and Medicare beneficiaries, including allowing the federal government to negotiate a maximum fair price for certain high-priced single source Medicare drugs, imposing penalties and excise tax for manufacturers that fail to comply with the drug price negotiation requirements, requiring inflation rebates for all Medicare Part B and Part D drugs, with limited exceptions, if their drug prices increase faster than inflation, and redesigning Medicare Part D to reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for beneficiaries, among other changes. Various industry stakeholders, including certain pharmaceutical companies and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, have initiated lawsuits against the federal government asserting that the price negotiation provisions of the IRA are unconstitutional. The impact of these judicial challenges, legislative, executive, and administrative actions and any future healthcare measures and agency rules implemented by the government on us and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole is unclear. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product candidates if approved.

Table of contents

In addition, individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures and, in some cases, mechanisms to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. A number of states are considering or have recently enacted state drug price transparency and reporting laws that could substantially increase our compliance burdens and expose us to greater liability under such state laws once we begin commercialization after obtaining regulatory approval for any of our products. Further, FDA recently authorized the state of Florida to import certain prescription drugs from Canada for a period of two years to help reduce drug costs, provided that Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration meets the requirements set forth by the FDA. Other states may follow Florida. Furthermore, there has been increased interest by third party payors and governmental authorities in reference to pricing systems and publication of discounts and list prices. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our product candidates.

The IRA became law in August 2022. The IRA includes new provisions related to health care, and prescription drug pricing in particular, which is expected to have far-reaching, long-term, and adverse effects on the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and its stakeholders. The prescription drug pricing provisions have already altered and terminated some pharmaceutical drug research and development strategies and going forward may impact patent litigation and market entry opportunities for competitor drugs.

Before the IRA became law, the Social Security Act prohibited the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from negotiating with drug manufacturers. The IRA now enables the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within HHS to negotiate a “maximum fair price” (MFP) for selected high-expenditure, single-source drugs annually. The price setting provisions of the IRA may also discourage further development of drugs that have already been approved to treat one rare disease.

A single-source small molecule drug generally qualifies for selection if at least seven years have passed since the date of approval from the FDA and there are no generic alternatives commercially available. Drug manufacturers are provided approximately 24 months advance notice for negotiation with CMS prior to the implementation of the negotiated price therefore the pharmaceutical companies are afforded at least nine years before they are required sell their product under Medicare Part B and Part D, as applicable, at the CMS-negotiated price. Pharmaceutical products covered by private insurance or paid for in cash by patients are not subject to the CMS price-negotiated MFP.

The small-molecule drug development pipeline has been impacted as many large and small pharmaceutical and biotech companies have already shifted their strategies to accommodate slightly more favorable treatment of biologics. Under the IRA, biologics are afforded more time on the market before becoming eligible for price-reduction negotiations. Specifically, compared to a small-molecules, biologics now have an extra four years to recoup investments before being subjected to CMS-negotiated MFP. Consequently, investors may view biotech more favorably than small-molecule drug innovation.

Because federal funding is one of many aspects CMS considers when negotiating the MFP under the IRA, a drug developed using government funding, such as from the National Institute of Health (NIH), risks lower MFP due to that collaboration. This risk may also discourage investment in drug manufacturers who have accepted funding from the U.S. government. Since the IRA is ambiguous with respect to what constitutes “prior” financial support leads to further uncertainty for both investors and innovators. As a consequence of the IRA both pharmaceutical companies and their investors may be disincentivized from pursuing development of scientific innovations associated with NIH collaboration.

Table of contents

While the IRA has created many uncertainties and potentially broad applications in the industry, many believe that the government’s new pricing scheme may also impact patent infringement litigation. Patent litigation strategies may adjust for both the innovators and follow on manufacturers, depending on the timing, potential availability of generic drugs or biosimilar competitors, and cost versus benefit analysis of litigation. While we endeavor to monitor developments with the IRA and its resultant risks and consequences, especially with the companies with near-term impacts, we may not be able to anticipate all necessary alterations to our business strategies, actions by our potential competitors, or subsequent modifications of Congress.

Employees and Human Capital

As of December 31, 2024, we had six (6) employees. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered under a collective bargaining agreement. We also engage multiple contractors, consultants and advisors who provide services on a part-time basis. Our employees, contractors and consultants conduct or oversee all day-to-day operations of the Company including technical development, research, and administration. We currently have no material retainers or minimum financial commitments with any of our consultants, contractors or service providers. We consider relations with our employees, consultants, and contractors to be satisfactory.

Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees, advisors and consultants. The principal purposes of our equity and cash incentive plans are to attract, retain and reward personnel through the granting of stock-based and cash-based compensation awards, in order to increase stockholder value and the success of our company by motivating such individuals to perform to the best of their abilities and achieve our objectives.

Corporate and Available Information

We were incorporated in Nevada in May 2011. Our principal executive offices are located at 505 Lomas Santa Fe, Suite 160, Solana Beach, CA 92075, and our telephone number is (858) 925-7049. Our investor relations website is located at ir.artelobio.com. Information contained on the website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K or any other filings we make with the SEC.

We use our investor relations website to post important information for investors, including news releases, analyst presentations, and supplemental financial information, and as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our investor relations website, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. We also make available, free of charge, on our investor relations website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing or furnishing those reports to the SEC.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

You should consider carefully the following information about the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other public filings, in evaluating our business. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future growth prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. In these circumstances, the market price of our Common Stock would likely decline. The Company has organized the description of these risks into groupings in an effort to enhance readability, but many of the risks interrelate or could be grouped or ordered in other ways, so no special significance should be attributed to the groupings or order below.

Table of contents

Risk Factor Summary

Risks Related to our Business and Product Candidates:

Risks Related to our Intellectual Property:

· Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.

Table of contents

Risks Related to our Securities:

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND PRODUCT CANDIDATES

Our financial condition raises substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $2.3 million in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, and working capital of $785 thousand, and we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our drug candidates. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded a net loss of approximately $9.8 million and used cash in operations of approximately $8.4 million. Our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024 have been prepared assuming that we will continue to operate as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. To date, we have not generated substantial product revenues from our activities and have incurred substantial operating losses. We expect that we will continue to generate substantial operating losses for the foreseeable future until we complete development and approval of one of our product candidates. We expect to continue to fund our operations primarily through utilization of our current financial resources and additional raises of capital.

These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The Company has evaluated the significance of the uncertainty regarding the Company’s financial condition in relation to its ability to meet its obligations, which has raised substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. While it is very difficult to estimate the Company’s future liquidity requirements, the Company believes if it is unable to obtain additional financing, existing cash resources will not be sufficient to enable it to fund the anticipated level of operations through one year from the date the accompanying financial statements are issued. There can be no assurances that the Company will be able to secure additional financing on acceptable terms. In the event the Company does not secure additional financing, the Company will be forced to delay, reduce, or eliminate some or all of its discretionary spending, which could adversely affect the Company’s business prospects, ability to meet long-term liquidity needs and the ability to continue operations.

The Company will need to raise additional financing to support our business objectives. The Company cannot be sure the Company will be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us when needed, or at all. If the Company is unable to obtain additional financing to meet our needs, our operations may be adversely affected or terminated.

Since our inception, the Company has used substantial amounts of cash to fund our research and operations and we expect our expenses to increase substantially in the foreseeable future as developing our product candidates and conducting and completing clinical trials will require substantial amounts of capital. The Company will also require a significant additional amount of capital to commercialize any products that may be approved in the future.

The Company will need to raise additional funds in the near future in order to satisfy our working capital and capital expenditure requirements. The Company may raise additional funds through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, strategic partnerships or alliances, receivables or royalty financings or corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements. The Company cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. To the extent that the Company raises additional capital by issuing equity securities or convertible debt, your ownership may be diluted and the terms of such financings may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of existing stockholders. Any future debt financing into which the Company enters may impose upon us covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, redeem our stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. These restrictions could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business and may result in liens being placed on our assets and intellectual property. Debt financings may also be coupled with an equity component, such as warrants to purchase shares, which could also result in dilution of our existing stockholders’ ownership. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business and may result in liens being placed on our assets and intellectual property. If the Company were to default on such indebtedness, the Company could lose such assets and intellectual property. If the Company raises additional funds through strategic partnerships and alliances and licensing arrangements with third parties, the Company may have to relinquish valuable rights to our product candidates. In addition, if the Company raises additional funds through corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish potentially valuable rights to products or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. Our future capital requirements may depend on a wide range of factors, including, but not limited to:

· any change in the clinical development plans for these product candidates;

Table of contents

· the costs associated with attracting and retaining skilled personnel;

· the costs associated with being a public company;

· the cost of defending intellectual property disputes; and

If the Company is unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, the Company may be required to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue one or more of our product development programs or commercialization efforts, or other aspects of our business plan. The Company also may be required to relinquish, license or otherwise dispose of rights to products or product candidates that the Company would otherwise seek to commercialize or develop ourselves on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available. In addition, our ability to achieve profitability or to respond to competitive pressures would be significantly limited.

As described in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” the Company entered into the Equity Line with an institutional investor which provides, among other things, for the sale by us to the institutional investor of up to $20.0 million in shares of our Common Stock, subject to the terms of the Equity Line. Though the Company has the right, but not the obligation, to sell to the institutional investor shares of our Common Stock under the Equity Line, market conditions may not be favorable for us to sell shares of our Common Stock to the institutional investor.

Under the terms of the Equity Line, the Company is prohibited from effecting or entering into an agreement to effect any issuance by us or our subsidiaries of shares of our Common Stock involving the issuance of any floating conversion rate or variable priced equity-like securities, not including the prohibition of the issuance and sale of shares of our Common Stock pursuant to an “at-the-market offering” by us exclusively through a registered broker-dealer acting as our agent pursuant to a written agreement between us and such registered broker-dealer.

The Company is currently receiving Research and Development (“R&D”) tax credits from the UK in connection with its activities in the UK. The value of these will likely decrease and there is an increased risk payments may be significantly delayed.

The UK government grants R&D tax credits to companies conducting preclinical research and clinical trials in the UK, as the Company is currently doing. The credits are paid in cash to loss making companies, which effectively reduces the costs, and the cash the Company uses, for our current trials. The value of R&D tax credits has decreased for all companies due to legislative changes affecting expenditure incurred after 1st April 2023. As a result of this and because of the increase in R&D activities in the USA the company will likely no longer meet the definition of a “R&D intensive” company in the UK and will therefore only be eligible for payable credits at the lower rate of 10%. Furthermore, increased compliance activity by the UK tax authorities over the last year has resulted in a significantly higher number of claims being selected for enquiry. In the event of an inquiry the payment of the R&D credit would be delayed by 6 – 12 months.

Table of contents

If the Company fails to comply with our obligations under our patent licenses with third parties, the Company could lose license rights that are vital to our business.

The Company is a party to license agreements with NEOMED Institute and the Research Foundation at Stony Brook University, pursuant to which the Company in-licenses key patents and patent applications for our product candidates. These existing licenses impose various diligence, milestone payment, royalty and other obligations on us. If the Company fails to comply with these obligations, our licensors may have the right to terminate the licenses, in which event the Company would not be able to develop or market the products covered by such licensed intellectual property. In particular, on April 24, 2019, the Company exercised our option (the “Option Exercise”) pursuant to the Material and Data Transfer, Option and License Agreement with NEOMED dated as of December 20, 2017, as amended on January 4, 2019 (the “NEOMED Agreement”). In the future, if the Company is found not to be in compliance with the NEOMED Agreement, our license agreement with the Research Foundation at Stony Brook University (the “Stony Brook Agreement”), or any other license agreements it could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. If the Company fails to comply with any of our license obligations, our licensors may have the right to terminate these agreements, in which event the Company might not be able to develop and market any product candidate that is covered by these agreements. Termination of these licenses or reduction or elimination of our licensed rights may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated licenses with less favorable terms. The Company may enter into additional licensing agreements in the future and if the Company fails to comply with obligations under those agreements, the Company could suffer similar consequences.

Changes in regulatory requirements or other unforeseen circumstances may impact the timing of the initiation or completion of our clinical trials.

Changes in regulatory requirements and guidance may occur, and the Company may need to amend clinical trial protocols or our development plan to reflect these changes. Amendments may require resubmitting clinical trial protocols to the FDA or other similar authorities in other jurisdictions and institutional review boards (“IRBs”) for re-examination, which may impact the costs, timing or successful completion of our clinical trials. If the Company experiences delays in completion of, or if the Company terminates any planned clinical trials, the commercial prospects for product candidates may be harmed, and the ability to generate product revenues will be delayed. 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 denial of regulatory approval of product candidates. Further, changes in regulatory requirements and policies can impact our clinical trials, including due to public health concerns, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, stresses on healthcare systems and our clinical trial sites may have a material impact on our ability to recruit participants for our clinical trials and the Company may not be able to commence or complete our clinical trials as currently planned. The Company may also be required to significantly modify our study protocol, policies and procedures in order to address or accommodate patients and study site needs. Such changes can include modification to protocol inclusion and exclusion criteria, extending the time for patient follow up visits, using telemedicine, phone interviews and other technology to monitor patient safety, all of which will need to be approved by applicable IRBs, ethics committees, and regulatory authorities. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine, which gives deference to regulatory agencies’ statutory interpretations in litigation against federal government agencies, such as the FDA, where the law is ambiguous. This landmark Supreme Court decision may invite more companies and other stakeholders to bring lawsuits against the FDA to challenge longstanding decisions and policies of the FDA, including FDA’s statutory interpretations of market exclusivities and the “substantial evidence” requirements for drug approvals, which could undermine the FDA’s authority, lead to uncertainties in the industry, and disrupt the FDA’s normal operations, any of which could delay the FDA’s review of our regulatory submissions. We cannot predict the full impact of this decision, future judicial challenges brought against the FDA, or the nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action.

Geopolitical tensions, including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war or other regional conflicts may disrupt investment in our business, supply chains carrying required materials and the movement of people globally. Such disruptions may adversely affect our clinical trials, scope of potential partners and our business generally. In particular, there is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and various other countries, most significantly China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs, taxes, and other limitations on cross-border operations. The U.S. government has made and continues to make significant additional changes in U.S. trade policy and may continue to take future actions that could negatively impact U.S. trade. We cannot predict what actions may ultimately be taken with respect to trade relations between the United States and China or other countries, what products and services may be subject to such actions or what actions may be taken by the other countries in retaliation. If we are unable to obtain or use services from existing service providers or become unable to export or sell our products to any of our customers or service providers, our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

Table of contents

The Company faces many of the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by relatively new companies with respect to our operations.

Our business objective is to pursue the licensing, development and commercialization of therapeutic treatments that modulate lipid-signaling pathways, including the endocannabinoid system. The Company has limited operating history as a medical research company engaged in biopharmaceutical research upon which an evaluation of our company and our prospects could be based. There can be no assurance that our management will be successful in being able to commercially exploit the results, if any, from our product development research projects or that the Company will be able to develop products and treatments that will enable us to generate sufficient revenues to meet our expenses or to achieve and/or maintain profitability.

If the Company is unable to raise sufficient capital as needed, the Company may be required to reduce the scope of our planned research and development activities, which could harm our business plans, financial condition and operating results, or cease our operations entirely, in which case, you may lose all your investment.

Even if one or more of our product candidates is approved for commercial sale, the Company anticipates incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate and the Company may not generate significant revenue from sales of such products, resulting in limited or no profitability in the future. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital for the foreseeable future. Any failure to become and remain profitable may adversely affect the market price of our securities, our ability to raise capital and our future viability.

The Company has no mature product candidates and may not be successful in licensing any.

One of the key elements of our business strategy is to license technologies or compounds from companies and/or research institutions. The Company may not be able to identify technologies or compounds that are commercially viable, or that are available for licensure under acceptable terms. If the Company is able to identify suitable technologies or compounds, the Company may be unable to successfully negotiate a license or maintain the licensing and collaboration arrangements necessary to develop and commercialize any product candidates. The Company may be unable to compete for licenses to available technologies and compounds with companies that are more established than us and have greater financial resources than us. Even if the Company is successful in licensing programs, the Company may not be able to satisfy development requirements should the Company be unable to raise additional funding.

Any failure to establish or maintain licensing or collaboration arrangements on favorable terms could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize product candidates, which can adversely affect our business prospects and financial condition.

Even if the Company is successful in licensing lead product candidates, resource limitations may limit our ability to successfully develop them.

Pharmaceutical development requires substantial capital, skilled personnel and infrastructure to successfully develop products for the market. The success of our business is highly dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize products. The Company does not currently have the financial resources to fund the full development of any lead product candidate to commercialization and there is no assurance that the Company can raise enough capital to fund full product development. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, the Company will not be able to pursue the development of any products and may have to relinquish rights to any products the Company may have licensed.

Table of contents

The Company does not have any therapeutic products that are approved for commercial sale. Our ability to generate revenue from product sales and become profitable depends significantly on our success in a number of areas.

The Company currently does not have any therapeutic products that are approved for commercial sale. The Company has not received and does not expect to receive for at least the next several years, if at all, any revenues from the commercialization of our product candidates, if approved in the future. To obtain revenues from sales of our product candidates that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability, the Company must succeed, either alone or with third parties, in developing, obtaining regulatory approval for, manufacturing and marketing therapies with commercial potential. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our success in many areas, including:

· addressing any competing technological and industry developments;

· attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel.

The Company has very limited operating history and capabilities.

Although our company was formed in 2011, our current business focus and operations in pharmaceutical development began in 2017. The Company does not currently have the ability to perform all the functions necessary to develop and commercialize any product candidates. The successful development of any product candidates will require us to perform a variety of functions including, but not limited to:

· identifying, licensing and obtaining development programs and lead candidates;

· adding manufacturers and suppliers required to advance our programs;

· making milestone or other payments under any license agreements;

· expanding, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property portfolio;

· attracting and retaining skilled personnel; and

Table of contents

Our operations continue to be focused on acquiring, developing and securing our proprietary technology and undertaking preclinical and clinical trials of our products.

The Company expects our financial condition and operating results to continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Upon the approval of any of our product candidates, the Company will need to transition from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of undertaking commercial activities. The Company may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays and may not be successful in such a transition.

The Company may experience delays in providing sufficient product for future testing of our candidates due to prior and any future supply chain limitations caused by COVID-19 or other pandemics.

Due to prior and any future supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 or other pandemics, our contract manufacturing organizations may experience an inability to manufacture and produce sufficient quantities of our drug candidates as the Company progresses through our regulatory testing and/or approval. Should this happen, the Company may not be able to provide sufficient quantities of our drug candidates to complete our testing as currently planned which could delay our ability to bring an approved drug to market. Such a delay may cause us to use more capital than currently planned which may have a material adverse effect on our projected timing of product approval and financials.

After submitting Investigational New Drug applications, the FDA may not permit us to proceed in a timely manner, or at all.

Prior to commencing clinical trials in territories with a regulatory authority the Company must obtain the necessary approvals to commence the clinical studies. For example, before initiating a clinical trial in the United States for any of our product candidates, the Company may be required to have an IND in effect for each product candidate. Submission of an IND may not result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to begin and, once begun, issues may arise that will require us to suspend or terminate such clinical trials. Once an IND is submitted, the sponsor must wait 30 calendar days before initiating the clinical trial, during which FDA will review the IND and either provide comments or allow the trial to proceed. Additionally, even if relevant regulatory authorities agree with the design and implementation of the clinical trials set forth in an IND or a clinical trial application (the equivalent of an IND in foreign jurisdictions), these regulatory authorities may change their requirements in the future. Although we have commenced clinical trials, the fact that the Company is pursuing novel technologies may also exacerbate these risks with respect to our product candidates, and as a result the Company may not meet our anticipated clinical development timelines.

Use of our product candidates could be associated with adverse side effects.

As with most biopharmaceutical products, use of our product candidates could be associated with side effects or adverse events which can vary in severity and frequency. Side effects or adverse events associated with the use of our product candidates may be observed at any time, including in clinical trials or once a product is commercialized, and any such side effects or adverse events may negatively affect our ability to obtain regulatory approval or market our product candidates. Side effects such as toxicity or other safety issues associated with the use of our product candidates could require us to perform additional studies or halt development or sale of these product candidates or expose us to product liability lawsuits which will harm our business if the Company is found liable.

The emergence of unforeseen safety issues or adverse events may lead to regulatory agencies requiring us to conduct additional preclinical or clinical trials regarding the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, which the Company has not planned or anticipated. The Company cannot assure you that the Company will resolve any issues related to any product-related adverse events to the satisfaction of the FDA or any regulatory agency in a timely manner or ever, which could harm our business, prospects and financial condition. The Company may also inadvertently fail to report adverse events the Company becomes aware of within the prescribed timeframe. The Company may also fail to appreciate that the Company has become aware of a reportable adverse event, especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of our products. If the Company fails to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA or other foreign regulatory agencies could take action including criminal prosecution, the imposition of civil monetary penalties, seizure of our products, or delay in approval or clearance of future products.

Table of contents

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, results of earlier studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results, and our clinical trials may fail to adequately demonstrate substantial evidence of safety and efficacy of our product candidates.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. There is a high failure rate for drugs proceeding through clinical trials, and product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the required safety and efficacy despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier clinical trials, and the Company cannot be certain that the Company will not face similar setbacks. Even if our clinical trials are completed, the results may not be sufficient to support obtaining regulatory approval for our product candidates.

The Company does not know whether future clinical trials, if any, will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll an adequate number of patients on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed, suspended or terminated by us, regulatory authorities, clinical trial investigators, and ethics committees for a variety of reasons, including failure to:

· identify, recruit and train suitable clinical investigators;

· obtain and maintain IRB approval at each clinical trial site;

· address any conflicts with new or existing laws or regulations;

· add a sufficient number of clinical trial sites;

· raise sufficient capital to fund a clinical trial.

Patient enrollment is a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials and is affected by many factors, including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ or caregivers’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs or treatments that may be approved for the indications the Company is investigating.

The Company could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the data safety monitoring board for such clinical trial or by the FDA or any other regulatory authority, or if the IRBs of the institutions in which such clinical trials are being conducted suspend or terminate the participation of their clinical investigators and sites subject to their review. Such authorities may suspend or terminate a clinical trial due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements, including GCPs or the approved clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or clinical trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in a finding of non-compliance, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product candidate, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions, or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

Table of contents

If the Company experiences delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of our product candidates for any reason, the commercial prospects of our product candidates may be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and the future marketing approval process, and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. 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 denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.

Interim, topline and preliminary data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary, interim or topline data from our preclinical studies and clinical trials. These interim updates are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. For example, we may report responses in certain patients that are unconfirmed at the time and which do not ultimately result in confirmed responses to treatment after follow-up evaluations. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the topline results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies or trials, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, topline data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. In addition, we may report interim analyses of only certain endpoints rather than all endpoints. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrolment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse changes between interim data and final data could significantly harm our business and prospects. Further, additional disclosure of interim data by us or by our competitors in the future could result in volatility in the price of our common stock.

In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or trial is typically selected from a more extensive amount of available information. Investors may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product candidate or our business. If the preliminary or topline data that we report differ from late, final or actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, any of our product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Table of contents

Due to our limited resources, the Company may be forced to focus on a limited number of development candidates which may force us to pass on opportunities that could have a greater chance of clinical success.

Due to our limited resources and capabilities, the Company will have to decide to focus on developing a limited number of product candidates. As a result, the Company may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial product candidates or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If the Company does not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, the Company may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.

The Company will need to rely on third parties to conduct our preclinical research and clinical trials and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such research or trials.

The Company plans to rely on third-party CROs to conduct the majority of our preclinical research studies and our clinical trials. In addition, the Company plans to rely on other third parties, such as clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators, to conduct those clinical trials. There is no assurance the Company can obtain the services the Company needs at commercially reasonable prices or within the timeframes the Company desires. Even though the Company will enter into agreements governing these third parties’ activities, the Company will have limited influence over their actual performance, and the Company will control only certain aspects of their activities. Further, agreements with such third parties might terminate for a variety of reasons, including a failure to perform by the CROs. If there is any dispute or disruption in our relationship with our contractors or if the Company needs to enter into alternative arrangements, that will delay our product development activities.

Our reliance on third parties for research and development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. For example, the Company will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. If any of our CROs’ processes, methodologies or results are determined to be invalid or inadequate, our own clinical data and results and related regulatory approvals could be adversely affected. Moreover, the FDA requires us to comply with GCPs for conducting, recording, and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity, and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. The FDA enforces these GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators, and clinical trial sites, as well as CROs. If the Company or our CROs fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving any marketing applications. Upon inspection, the FDA may determine that our clinical trials did not comply with GCPs. In addition, our clinical trials will require a sufficiently large number of test subjects to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a product candidate. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these regulations or fail to recruit a sufficient number of patients, our clinical trials may be delayed or the Company may be required to repeat such clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. These third parties may not assign as great a priority to our programs or pursue them as diligently as the Company would if the Company were undertaking such programs ourselves. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines, or if the quality of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, the Company will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates.

Table of contents

The Company currently has no marketing and sales organization and have no experience in marketing products. If the Company is unable to establish marketing and sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates, if approved in the future, the Company may not be able to generate product revenue.

The Company currently does not have sales, marketing or distribution capabilities and does not have experience as a company in commercializing products. If the Company develops internal sales, marketing, and distribution organization, this would require significant capital expenditures, management resources and time, and the Company would have to compete with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to recruit, hire, train and retain marketing and sales personnel.

If the Company is unable or decides not to establish internal sales, marketing, and distribution capabilities, the Company expects to pursue collaborative arrangements regarding the sales, marketing, and distribution of our future products. However, the Company may not be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements, or if the Company is able to do so, their sales forces may not be successful in marketing our future products. Any revenue the Company receives would depend upon the efforts of such third parties, which may not be successful. The Company may have little or no control over the sales, marketing, and distribution efforts of such third parties and our revenue from product sales may be lower than if the Company had commercialized our product candidates ourselves. The Company also faces competition in our search for third parties to assist us with the sales, marketing, and distribution efforts of our product candidates, if approved. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to develop internal sales, marketing distribution capabilities or establish or maintain relationships with third-party collaborators to commercialize any product in the United States or overseas.

If our contract manufacturing organization for materials to be used in our clinical trials fails to supply us with the necessary materials, the Company may be unable to complete our clinical trials on a timely basis, if at all.

The Company has entered into an agreement with a third party to handle the manufacturing supply chain for our product candidate ART27.13. If this manufacturer is unable or unwilling to provide us with sufficient quantities of our product candidate to meet its demands or fails to meet its standards of quality or other specification or to achieve drug cGMP compliance, the Company may not be able to locate any alternative suppliers or enter into commercially reasonable agreements with substitute suppliers in a timely manner or at all.

Changes in methods of product candidate manufacturing or formulation may result in additional costs or delay.

As product candidates progress through preclinical and clinical trials to marketing approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods and formulation, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize yield and manufacturing batch size, minimize costs and achieve consistent quality and results. For example, we may introduce an alternative formulation of one or more of our product candidates during the course of our clinical trials. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives.

Any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of clinical trials conducted with the altered materials. This could delay completion of clinical trials, require the conduct of bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our product candidates and jeopardize our ability to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, and generate revenue.

The Company may depend on third parties for clinical and commercial supplies, including, in some instances, a single supplier.

The Company may depend on third-party suppliers for clinical and commercial supplies, including the active ingredients which are used in our product candidate. These supplies may not always be available to us at the standards the Company requires or on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and the Company may not be able to locate alternative suppliers in a timely manner, or at all. If the Company is unable to obtain necessary clinical or commercial supplies, its manufacturing operations and clinical trials and the clinical trials of our collaborators may be delayed or disrupted, and its business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected as a result.

The Company may rely on a single supplier for certain of its supplies. If this supplier is unable to supply to us in the quantities the Company requires, or at all, or otherwise defaults on its supply obligations to us, the Company may not be able to obtain alternative supplies from other suppliers on acceptable terms, in a timely manner, or at all.

Table of contents

If any of our offices become damaged or inoperable, or the Company is required to vacate our facilities, our ability to pursue our research and development efforts may be jeopardized.

The Company currently does not have any manufacturing facilities. The Company also does not own any properties, laboratories, or manufacturing facilities. However, the Company has leased office space in Solana Beach, California and a location near Manchester, United Kingdom. Our facilities could be harmed or rendered inoperable by natural or human-made disasters, including earthquakes, fires, power shortages, nuclear, and radiation accidents, telecommunications failures, financial institution collapses, water shortages, famines, pestilence, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics, pandemics, such as the COVID-19 global pandemic, cyber warfare, national and international conflict, terrorism, climate change, and other natural or human-made disasters or other business interruptions, for which the Company is predominantly self-insured. Any of these may render it difficult or impossible for us to continue company operations. If any of our facilities is inoperable for even a short period of time, the interruption in research and development may result in harm to our reputation and increased costs, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, it could be costly and time-consuming to repair or replace our facilities and the equipment the Company uses to perform our research and development work.

Even if the Company is successful in licensing or developing research programs and/or product candidates, the Company or our licensors must maintain the intellectual property.

Our commercial success is significantly dependent on intellectual property related to any product candidates and technologies the Company may either acquire, license, or develop internally. The Company is currently the licensee of multiple issued patents and pending patent applications and the Company intends to license additional technologies from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and research institutions. In addition, the Company has one U.S. patent, one U.S. patent application, and two foreign patent applications directed to a solid-state CBD composition.

Our success depends in large part on our and our licensor’s ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology and product candidates. In some circumstances, the Company may not have the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the patents, covering technology or products that the Company licenses from third parties. Therefore, the Company cannot be certain that these patents and applications will be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. In addition, if third parties who license patents to us fail to maintain such patents, or lose rights to those patents, the rights the Company has licensed may be reduced or eliminated.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability, and commercial value of our and our licensor’s patent rights are highly uncertain. Our and our licensor’s pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws, including global waivers and patent removals which are being considered for COVID vaccines, in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents 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 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. Therefore, the Company cannot be certain that the Company or our licensor were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned and licensed patents or pending patent applications, or that the Company or our licensor were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. Assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, the first to file a patent application is generally entitled to the patent. The Company may become involved in opposition or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such proceeding could reduce the scope of, or invalidate our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or product candidates and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize our product candidates without infringing third-party patent rights.

Table of contents

Even if any owned and/or licensed patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner. The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop or prevent us from stopping others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and product candidates. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

The costs and other requirements associated with filing new patent applications, and the ongoing cost of prosecuting pending patent applications and maintenance of issued patents are material to us. Bearing these costs and complying with these requirements are essential to procurement and maintenance of patents integral to our product candidates.

Legal fees, filing costs, periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or patent applications will come due for payment periodically throughout the lifecycle of patent applications and issued patents. In order to help ensure that the Company complies with any required fee payment, documentary and/or procedural requirements as they might relate to any patents for which the Company is an assignee or co-assignee, the Company employs legal help and related professionals as needed to comply with those requirements. Failure to meet a required fee payment, document production or procedural requirement can result in the abandonment of a pending patent application or the lapse of an issued patent. In some instances, the defect can be cured through late compliance, but there are situations where the failure to meet the required deadline cannot be cured. Such an occurrence could compromise the intellectual property protection around a preclinical or clinical product candidate and possibly weaken or eliminate our ability to protect our eventual market share for that product candidate.

Our ability to research, develop and commercialize any product candidates is dependent on our ability to acquire, maintain or utilize third party contract research facilities that possess licenses relating to controlled substances and the dispensing of prescription products.

In the United States, the DEA regulates the use of chemicals for medical research and/or commercial development, including the requirement of annual registrations to manufacture or distribute cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals. The Company does not currently conduct manufacturing or repackaging/relabeling of any product candidates in the United States, however the Company intends to conduct research on its synthetic cannabidiol (“CBD”) cocrystal drug candidate. Cannabinoids, including naturally-occurring cannabinoids, are currently considered Schedule 1 controlled substances under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 (“CSA”) by the DEA. The Company has received guidance from the DEA that if a product does not contain any quantity of synthetically produced tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”) (or any other controlled substance), it is not controlled under the CSA. Additionally, the Company has obtained laboratory certifications that its synthetic CBD product candidate, ART12.11 does not contain any levels of THC. The Company plans to obtain the required licenses in the territories regulating the possession and supply of cannabinoids and to utilize third party contractors to conduct research who have the required registrations, however there is no assurance that the Company will be successful in obtaining the required licenses or that the Company will be successful identifying or engaging third party contractors who have the required registrations.

The Company is conducting a significant portion of our research in the United Kingdom, where licenses to cultivate, possess and supply certain cannabinoids for medical research are granted by the Home Office on an annual basis. The Company currently possesses the required licenses to do our research in the United Kingdom. Our research must be conducted within research institutions that also possess required licenses. If the Company is unable to conduct research at institutions that possess required licenses, or if those licenses are not obtained or renewed in the future, the Company may not be in a position to engage in or carry out research and development programs in the United Kingdom. In order to carry out research in countries other than the United States and the United Kingdom, similar licenses to those outlined above may be required to be issued by the relevant authority in each country. In addition, the Company will be required to obtain licenses to export from the U.S. or the UK, and to import into the recipient country. The Company may also conduct a portion of our research in Canada, where the Company is currently collaborating on certain research at the University of Western Ontario, and in Ireland, where the Company currently has multiple research collaborations with Trinity College Dublin.

To date, the Company has not obtained controlled substance import, export, or supply licenses in any countries, except the United Kingdom. The Company does not have an established track record of obtaining such required licenses and there is no assurance the Company will be able to obtain or maintain such licenses in the future, which could restrict our ability to conduct the research required for development and commercialization of our lead products.

Table of contents

Any product candidates the Company develops may be subject to U.S. controlled substance laws and regulations and similar controls in territories outside the U.S. where the Company is conducting research. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations, or the cost of compliance with these laws and regulations, may adversely affect the results of our business operations, both during clinical development and post approval, and our financial condition.

Some of our product candidates may contain controlled substances as defined in the federal CSA in the U.S. Controlled substances are subject to a high degree of regulation under the CSA, which establishes, among other things, certain registration, manufacturing quotas, security, recordkeeping, reporting, import, export and other requirements that are administered and enforced by the DEA. The DEA classifies controlled substances into five schedules: Schedule I, II, III, IV or V substances. Schedule I substances by definition have a high potential for abuse, have no currently “accepted medical use” in the United States, lack accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and may not be prescribed, marketed or sold in the US Pharmaceutical products approved for use in the United States that comprise or contain a controlled substance are listed as Schedule II, III, IV or V, with Schedule II substances presenting the highest potential for abuse or dependence and Schedule V substances the lowest relative risk of abuse among such substances. Schedule I and II drugs are subject to the strictest controls under the CSA, including manufacturing and procurement quotas, security requirements and criteria for importation. In addition, dispensing of Schedule II drugs by licensed and DEA-registered health care providers is further restricted. For example, they may not be refilled without a new prescription.

Schedule I controlled substances once approved for medical use in the United States may be placed in Schedules II-V, since marketing approval by the FDA satisfies the “accepted medical use” requirement. If and when any of our product candidates receive FDA approval, the DEA will make a scheduling determination within ninety days, taking into account recommendations from the FDA controlled substances staff, in order to place the product in a schedule other than Schedule I so that it may be prescribed to patients in the US Furthermore, if the FDA, DEA, or any foreign regulatory authority subsequently determines that any approved and commercialized cannabinoid-based products may have potential for abuse, it may require us to generate more clinical or other data to establish whether or to what extent the substance has an abuse potential, which could result in a re-scheduling of the product and increase the costs associated with marketing that product. The Company has received guidance from the DEA that if a product does not contain any quantity of synthetically produced tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”) (or any other controlled substance), it is not controlled under the CSA. Additionally, the Company has obtained laboratory certifications that its synthetic CBD product candidate, ART12.11 does not contain any levels of THC. Prior to June 2018, GW Pharmaceuticals was developing a phytocannabinoid CBD product designated as Schedule I. Since the FDA approval in June 2018 of Epidiolex® in the US, the DEA has removed it from the list of Schedule I chemicals and from the list of controlled substances.

DEA registration and inspection of facilities. Facilities conducting research, manufacturing, distributing, importing or exporting, or dispensing controlled substances must be registered (licensed) to perform these activities and have the security, control, recordkeeping, reporting and inventory mechanisms required by the DEA to prevent drug loss and diversion. All these facilities must renew their registrations annually, except dispensing facilities, which must renew every three years. The DEA conducts periodic inspections of certain registered establishments that handle controlled substances. Obtaining the necessary registrations may result in delay of the importation, manufacturing, or distribution of any cannabinoid derived products the Company may develop. Furthermore, failure to maintain compliance with the CSA, particularly non-compliance resulting in loss or diversion, can result in regulatory action that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The DEA may seek civil penalties, refuse to renew necessary registrations, or initiate proceedings to restrict, suspend or revoke those registrations. In certain circumstances, violations could lead to criminal proceedings.

State-controlled substances laws. Individual states have also established controlled substance laws and regulations. Though state-controlled substances laws often mirror federal law because the states are separate jurisdictions, they may separately schedule our product candidates as well. While some states automatically schedule a drug based on federal action, other states schedule drugs through rulemaking or a legislative action. State scheduling may delay commercial sale of any product for which the Company obtains federal regulatory approval and adverse scheduling could have a material adverse effect on the commercial attractiveness of such product. The Company or our partners must also obtain separate state registrations, permits or licenses in order to be able to obtain, handle, and distribute controlled substances for clinical trials or commercial sale, and failure to meet applicable regulatory requirements could lead to enforcement and sanctions by the states in addition to those from the DEA or otherwise arising under federal law.

Table of contents

Clinical trials. It is possible some compounds the Company develops may contain cannabinoids, which may be designated as Schedule I substances, therefore, to conduct clinical trials in the United States prior to approval, each of our research sites must submit a research protocol to the DEA and obtain and maintain a DEA researcher registration that will allow those sites to handle and dispense our lead products, as applicable, and to obtain the product from our importer. If the DEA delays or denies the grant of a research registration to one or more research sites, the clinical trial could be significantly delayed, and the Company could lose clinical trial sites. The importer for the clinical trials must also obtain a Schedule I importer registration and an import permit for each import. The Company does not currently conduct any clinical trials, clinical material manufacturing or repackaging/relabeling in the US; however, the Company is subject to similar laws and regulations in the UK and other countries where the Company is conducting a clinical trial and have contracted for clinical material manufacturing.

Importation. If one of our product candidates is approved and classified as a Schedule II or III substance, an importer can import for commercial purposes if it obtains an importer registration and files an application for an import permit for each import. The DEA provides annual assessments/estimates to the International Narcotics Control Board which guides the DEA in the amounts of controlled substances that the DEA authorizes to be imported. The failure to identify an importer or obtain the necessary import authority, including specific quantities, could affect product availability and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, an application for a Schedule II importer registration must be published in the Federal Register, and there is a waiting period for third party comments to be submitted. It is always possible a competitor could take this opportunity to make adverse comments that delay the grant of an importer registration.

If one of our product candidates is approved and classified as a Schedule II controlled substance, federal law may prohibit the import of the substance for commercial purposes. If a product is listed as a Schedule II substance, the Company will not be allowed to import that drug for commercial purposes unless the DEA determines that domestic supplies are inadequate or there is inadequate domestic competition among domestic manufacturers for the substance as defined by the DEA. It is always possible the DEA could find that the active substance in a product, even if it is a plant derived substance, could be manufactured in the US. Moreover, Schedule I controlled substances, have never been registered with the DEA for importation commercial purposes, only for scientific and research needs. Therefore, if any of our future products could not be imported, that product would have to be wholly manufactured in the United States, and the Company would need to secure a manufacturer that would be required to obtain and maintain a separate DEA registration for that activity.

Manufacturing in the United States. If, because of a Schedule II classification or voluntarily, the Company were to conduct manufacturing or repackaging/relabeling in the United States for clinical material, our contract manufacturers would be subject to the DEA’s annual manufacturing and procurement quota requirements. Additionally, regardless of the scheduling of any future product candidates, if the active ingredient in the final dosage form is a cannabinoid and is currently a Schedule I controlled substance it would be subject to such quotas as these substances could remain listed on Schedule I. The annual quota allocated to us or our contract manufacturers for the active ingredients in our products may not be sufficient to complete clinical trials or meet commercial demand. Consequently, any delay or refusal by the DEA in establishing our, or our contract manufacturers’ procurement and/or production quota for controlled substances could delay or stop our clinical trials or product launches, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and operations.

Distribution in the United States. If any of our product candidates is scheduled as Schedule II or III, the Company would also need to identify wholesale distributors with the appropriate DEA and state registrations and authority to distribute the product to pharmacies and other health care providers. The Company would need to identify distributors to distribute the product to pharmacies; these distributors would need to obtain Schedule II or III distribution registrations. The failure to obtain, or delay in obtaining, or the loss any of those registrations could result in increased costs to us. If any of our product candidates is a Schedule II drug, pharmacies would have to maintain enhanced security with alarms and monitoring systems, and they must adhere to recordkeeping and inventory requirements. This may discourage some pharmacies from carrying either or both products. Furthermore, state and federal enforcement actions, regulatory requirements, and legislation intended to reduce prescription drug abuse, such as the requirement that physicians consult a state prescription drug monitoring program may make physicians less willing to prescribe, and pharmacies to dispense, Schedule II products.

Table of contents

Our product candidates, if approved, may be unable to achieve the expected market acceptance and, consequently, limit our ability to generate revenue.

Even when and if product development is successful and regulatory approval has been obtained, our ability to generate significant revenue depends on the acceptance of our product candidates by physicians and patients. The Company cannot assure that any of our product candidates will achieve the expected market acceptance and revenue, if and when the Company obtains the regulatory approvals. The market acceptance of any of our potential products depends on a number of factors, including the indication statement and warnings approved by regulatory authorities in the drug label, continued demonstration of efficacy and safety in commercial use, physicians’ willingness to prescribe the product, reimbursement from third-party payers such as government health care systems and insurance companies, the price of the product, the nature of any post-approval risk management plans mandated by regulatory authorities, competition, and marketing and distribution support. Any factors preventing or limiting the market acceptance of our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Results of preclinical studies and earlier clinical trials are not necessarily predictive indicators of future results.

Any positive results from future preclinical testing of our product candidates and potential clinical trials may not necessarily be predictive of the results from Phase 1, Phase 2, or Phase 3 clinical trials. In addition, our interpretation of results derived from clinical data, or our conclusions based on our preclinical data may prove inaccurate. Frequently, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials after achieving positive results in preclinical testing and early clinical trials, and the Company cannot be certain that the Company will not face similar setbacks. These setbacks may be caused by the fact that preclinical and clinical data can be susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. Furthermore, certain product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials, but nonetheless failed to obtain FDA approval or a marketing authorization granted by the European Commission. If the Company fails to produce positive results in our clinical trials for our product candidates, the development timeline and regulatory approval and commercialization prospects for them and as a result our business and financial prospects, would be materially adversely affected.

Clinical trials of lipid-signaling modulators and cannabinoid-based product candidates are novel with very limited or non-existing history; the Company faces a significant risk that the trials will not result in commercially viable products and treatments.

At present, there is only a very limited documented clinical trial history related to lipid-signaling modulators and cannabinoids from which the Company can derive any scientific conclusions or prove that our present assumptions for the current and planned research are scientifically compelling. While the Company is encouraged by the limited results of clinical trials by others, there can be no assurance that any clinical trial will result in commercially viable products or treatments.

Clinical trials are expensive, time consuming and difficult to design and implement. The Company, as well as the regulatory authorities, may suspend, delay, or terminate our clinical trials at any time, may require us, for various reasons, to conduct additional clinical trials, or may require a particular clinical trial to continue for a longer duration than originally planned, including, among others:

· unfavorable results from ongoing non-clinical studies and clinical trials;

· patients or investigators failing to comply with study protocols;

· patients failing to return for post-treatment follow-up at the expected rate;

Table of contents

Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Changes in consumer preferences and acceptance of cannabinoid-derived products and any negative trends will adversely affect our business.

The Company is substantially dependent on initial and continued market acceptance and proliferation of cannabinoid-derived therapeutic treatments, and specifically ART12.11, our CBD cocrystal. The Company believes that as cannabinoid-derived products become more widely accepted by the medical and scientific communities and the public at large, stigma associated with cannabinoid-derived products and treatments will moderate and, as a result, consumer demand is likely to continue to grow. However, the Company cannot predict the future growth rate and size of the market, assuming that the regulatory framework is favorable of which there can be no assurance. Any negative outlook on cannabinoid-derived products and treatments could adversely affect our business prospects.

In addition, while some may believe that large, well-funded pharmaceutical and other related businesses and industries may have material economic reasons to be in strong opposition to cannabinoid-based products, the Company does not believe that it is accurate. Despite the fact that several large pharmaceutical companies are already marketing FDA approved cannabinoid-based or ECS targeting therapies, it remains relatively uncommon among the global pharmaceutical giants. The pharmaceutical industry is also well-funded with a strong and experienced lobby presence at both the federal and state levels in the U.S. as well as internationally, that surpasses financial resources of the current group of research and development companies working on product candidates that modulate the endocannabinoid system. Any effort the pharmaceutical lobby could or might undertake to halt or delay the development of cannabinoid-based products could have a detrimental impact on our business.