10-K
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2023
OR
Commission File Number 001-41422
HEART TEST LABORATORIES, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (682)-237-7781
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class TradingSymbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
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 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐No☒
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 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, 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. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2022, was approximately $17.9 million, based on the closing price of $2.45 for the registrant's common stock on October 31, 2022. For the sole purpose of making this calculation, the term “non-affiliate” has been interpreted to exclude directors, executive officers, affiliated holders of 10% or more of the registrant’s common stock and their affiliates.
As of July 17, 2023 there were 10,362,284 shares of the registrant's common stock issued and outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE - NONE
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HEART TEST LABORATORIES, INC.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Some of the statements made under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Business” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K constitute forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “aims,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “intends,” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our objectives, plans and strategies, statements that contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition, expected capital needs and expenses, statements relating to the research, development, completion and use of our device, and all statements (other than statements of historical facts) that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We have based these forward-looking statements on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate.
Important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, among other things:
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our expectation regarding the sufficiency of our existing cash and cash equivalents to fund our current operations;
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our ability to receive regulatory clearance for the MyoVista wavECG (the “MyoVista”) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), state regulators, if any, or other similar foreign regulatory agencies, including approval to conduct clinical trials, the timing and scope of those trials and the prospects for regulatory approval or clearance of, or other regulatory action with respect to the MyoVista or other future potential products;
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our ability to further advance the development of the MyoVista, our 12-lead electrocardiograph ("ECG") device that also incorporates an additional proprietary artificial intelligence ("AI")-based algorithm that we have been designing to detect cardiac dysfunction, and future potential products;
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our ability to launch sales of the MyoVista into the U.S. and any future potential products into the U.S.;
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our assessment of the potential of the MyoVista and any future potential products;
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our planned level of capital expenditures and liquidity;
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our plans to continue to invest in research and development to develop technology for new products;
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the regulatory environment and changes in the health policies and regimes in the countries in which we intend to operate, including the impact of any changes in regulation and legislation that could affect the medical device industry;
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our ability to meet our expectations regarding the commercial supply of the MyoVista and any future products;
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our ability to retain key executives;
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our ability to internally develop new inventions and intellectual property;
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the overall global economic environment;
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the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, or any other health epidemic, on our business, our clinical trials, our research programs, healthcare system or the global economy as a whole;
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the impact of competition and new technologies;
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general market, political and economic conditions in the countries in which we operate;
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our ability to develop new devices and intellectual property;
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changes in our strategy; and
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potential litigation.
These statements are only current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Except as required by law, we are under no duty to update or revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The Company will continue to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the dates specified in such filings. Except as expressly required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after any such date, whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements included in this report or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by us, or on our behalf. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.
NOTE REGARDING COMPANY REFERENCES
Throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “HeartSciences,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Heart Test Laboratories, Inc. References to "Fiscal 2024" refer to the 12-months ending April 30, 2024, references to "Fiscal 2023" refer to the 12-months ended April 30, 2023, and references to "Fiscal 2022" refer to the 12-months ended April 30, 2022.
Unless defined elsewhere, capitalized terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are defined in the "Glossary of Terms" appearing directly before Part III.
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Page
PART I
Item 1. Business 4
Item 1A. Risk Factors 14
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 15
Item 2. Properties 51
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 51
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 51
PART II
Item 6. Reserved 56
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 68
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 68
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 68
Item 9B. Other Information 69
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 69
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 74
Item 11. Executive Compensation 79
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 89
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 91
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Company Overview
We are a medical technology company focused on applying innovative AI-based technology to an ECG, also known as an “EKG,” to expand and improve an ECG’s clinical usefulness. Our objective is to make an ECG a far more valuable cardiac screening tool, particularly in frontline or point-of-care clinical settings. HeartSciences’ first product candidate for FDA clearance, the MyoVista is a resting 12-lead ECG that is designed to provide diagnostic information related to cardiac dysfunction as well as conventional ECG information in the same test. The cardiac dysfunction information has only traditionally been available through the use of cardiac imaging. Our business model, which involves the use of the MyoVista and consumables for each test, is expected to be “razor-razorblade” as the cable connection to the electrodes used with the MyoVista are proprietary to HeartSciences, and new electrodes are used for every test performed.
Our device is not cleared for marketing by the FDA and our future success is dependent upon receiving FDA De Novo clearance for the MyoVista. Additional funding may be required as part of achieving FDA clearance and thereafter would be required to support the sales launch of the MyoVista into the U.S., provide working capital and support further research and development (“R&D”).
We believe that there is currently no low-cost, front-line, medical device that is effective at screening for heart disease. As a result, we believe that frontline physicians face a significant challenge in determining if a patient has heart disease. Although many think of the ECG as the frontline test for heart disease, in 2012, the United States Preventive Services Task Force conducted an evaluation of conventional ECG testing and stated: “There is no good evidence the test, called an ECG, helps doctors predict heart risks any better than traditional considerations such as smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol levels in people with no symptoms.”
ECG devices record the electrical signals of a patient’s heart. The ECG is a ubiquitous, relatively low-cost, simple and quick test; it is portable and can be performed in a wide range of clinical settings by a non-specialist clinician or clinical aide. There are three basic categories of heart disease: electrical (such as an arrhythmia), structural (such as valvular disease) and ischemic (such as coronary artery disease, or CAD). Conventional resting ECGs have limited sensitivity in detecting structural and ischemic disease and are typically used for diagnosing cardiac rhythm abnormalities, such as atrial fibrillation, or acute coronary syndrome, such as a myocardial infarction which is also known as a heart attack. However, traditional ECGs have a limited role in identifying cardiac dysfunction associated with structural and ischemic disease.
HeartSciences has designed the MyoVista to help address these limitations and extend the clinical capability of an ECG in detecting cardiac dysfunction. We have been applying AI-machine learning to the signal processed electrical signal of the heart to develop a proprietary algorithm designed to detect cardiac dysfunction caused by heart disease and/or age-related cardiac dysfunction. The MyoVista has not yet received FDA clearance.
The editorial comment associated with the study titled “Prediction of Abnormal Myocardial Relaxation from Signal Processed Surface ECG” presented below discusses recent applications of machine learning to data derived from surface 12-lead ECGs in relation to cardiac dysfunction:
“These represent some of the most significant advances in electrocardiography since its inception, which has historically had a limited, if any, role in the evaluation of cardiac dysfunction. In the past, our cardiovascular community was resigned to the fact that surface ECGs are poor indicators for cardiac dysfunction.”
Khurram Nasir, MD, MPH, MSC, Department of Cardiology, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Houston, Texas, et. al., Journal of American College of Cardiology Editorial Comment Volume 76 Number 8 2020.
Almost all forms of heart disease, including CAD and structural disease, affect heart muscle, or cardiac, function prior to symptoms. Impaired cardiac function is first observed as impaired cardiac relaxation which is an early indicator of diastolic dysfunction and usually continues to increase in severity as heart disease progresses. The diastolic
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phase of the cardiac cycle occurs when the heart muscle relaxes (following contraction). Diastolic dysfunction may also be related to age-related cardiac dysfunction.
If we receive FDA clearance for the MyoVista, our main target markets would be frontline healthcare environments in the U.S., such as primary care, to assist physician decision making in the cardiology referral process. Currently, cardiology referral decisions are often based on a patient’s risk factors and/or a conventional ECG test. Accordingly, many patients with heart disease are left undetected while no treatment or intervention is required for most patients referred for cardiac imaging. We believe that adding the capability to detect cardiac dysfunction to a standard 12-lead resting ECG could help improve cardiac referral pathways and be valuable for patients, physicians, health systems and third-party payors.
New Class II devices, such as the MyoVista, require FDA De Novo premarket review. The MyoVista along with its proprietary software and hardware is classified as a Class II medical device by the FDA. Premarket review and clearance by the FDA for these devices is generally accomplished through the 510(k) premarket notification process or De Novo classification request, or petition process. We previously submitted an FDA De Novo classification request in December 2019 and, following feedback and communications with the FDA during and since that submission, we have been making modifications to our device, including our proprietary algorithm. We are part-way through a new, pivotal clinical validation study and have been undertaking device and algorithm development testing for a revised FDA De Novo submission, which we expect to be filed during 2023. Assuming the submission occurs in 2023, we would anticipate a determination by the FDA in 2024 which, if successful, would provide the ability to market and sell the MyoVista in the U.S.
Heart Disease Facts and Current ECG Testing Limitations
Heart disease refers to a variety of conditions that affect the heart—including heart rhythm problems, heart valve problems, genetic defects and blood-vessel diseases such as CAD. It is often referred to as the “silent killer” and, according to the American Heart Association, one in three patients are not properly diagnosed until after a heart attack occurs, as well, 50% of men and 64% of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms. Statistics published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, show that in the United States heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, across most racial and ethnic groups. According to the CDC, in the United States, one person dies from cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds. In 2020, about 20.1 million adults aged 20 and older have CAD (about 7.2%), with approximately one in five heart attacks being a silent heart attack therefore the person is not even aware of it, but the damage is done. Approximately 697,000 people in the U.S. died from heart disease in 2020, that’s one in every five deaths. The scale of the problem is similar worldwide. In 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed that heart disease has remained the leading cause of death at the global level for the last 20 years. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally. An estimated 17.9 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths.
The 2019 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey showed there were approximately 1 billion ambulatory care visits in the U.S. with a high incidence of patients with risk factors for heart disease (33% had hypertension, 15% had diabetes and 7% had a history of CAD, ischemic heart disease or myocardial infarction).
As heart disease progresses to more acute stages, the cost to treat patients increases significantly. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cost to the healthcare system and is estimated to be responsible for one in every six healthcare dollars spent in the United States. Heart disease cost the United States about $229 billion in each of 2017 and 2018, including the cost of health care services, medicines, and lost productivity due to death. Governments, healthcare providers and payors are motivated to shift the diagnosis and management of these conditions to earlier stages where better patient outcomes can be delivered at lower costs.
We believe that there is currently no low-cost, front-line, medical device that is effective at screening for heart disease. As a result, frontline physicians face a significant challenge in determining if a patient should be treated for heart disease. The conventional ECG is thought of by many to be the front-line tool in cardiac testing, but it has poor sensitivity in detecting CAD or structural heart disease.
Overuse of Expensive Cardiology-Based Diagnostic Testing
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We believe that the absence of cost-effective front-line or primary-care-based testing has resulted in the over-use of costly cardiology-based diagnostic tests. Noninvasive cardiac tests are significant contributors to healthcare costs, accounting for greater than 40% of Medicare Part B spending on medical imaging, or over$17 billion annually according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”). There are a variety of effective, though expensive, diagnostic tests for patients used to detect heart disease. These are typically performed in a specialist cardiology or hospital setting and include:
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Stress ECG testing, a non-invasive diagnostic test with a cost of approximately $200 with, according to the American College of Cardiology, a sensitivity of 68% in the detection of CAD.
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Echocardiogram, or echo, a non-invasive diagnostic imaging test, similar to an ultrasound, that is effective in the detection of heart disease; however, the Medicare cost of an echo in a hospital is approximately $600 and can be as much as $3,000 if performed privately.
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Cardiac imaging tests, such as nuclear stress tests and coronary computerized tomography angiograms alternatively can be conducted noninvasively, but typically cost $1,000 or more.
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Coronary angiogram, an invasive test in which dye that is visible by X-ray is injected into the blood vessels of the heart. A coronary angiogram can cost in excess of $5,000.
Diastolic Dysfunction, an Early Indicator of Heart Disease
The symptoms and causes of cardiac dysfunction have been researched for many years. The causes of cardiac dysfunction during the contraction (systolic) phase, also called reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, have been well understood for many years. However, according to the American Heart Association Statistics Committee report in 2013, approximately 50% of patients with heart failure (“HF”) symptoms have ejection fraction measures that are not markedly abnormal. In addition, multiple articles published by the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), state that approximately 50% of HF cases are due to severe diastolic dysfunction, also called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. HF with preserved ejection fraction (“HFpEF”) is a clinical syndrome in which patients have symptoms and signs of HF with normal or near-normal left ventricular ejection fraction (“LVEF”) (LVEF ≥50%). Roughly half of all patients with HF worldwide have an LVEF ≥50% and nearly half have an LVEF <50%. Thanks to the increased scientific attention about the condition and improved characterization and diagnostic tools, the incidence of HF with reduced ejection fraction (“HFrEF”) dropped while that of HFpEF has increased by 45%. As a result, understanding the causes and progression of diastolic dysfunction has become a key area of scientific and clinical interest. This research has led to the understanding that almost all patients with systolic dysfunction also have diastolic dysfunction and almost all types of heart disease including CAD, valvular disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, congenital heart disease, and pericardial disease induce diastolic dysfunction.
According to an article by Dr. Dalane W. Kitzman, MD and Dr. William C. Little, MD published in the February 14, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, diastolic performance is sensitive to nearly all of the common disease processes that affect cardiovascular function. The article indicates that left ventricular, or LV, diastolic function is impaired by all of the common disease processes that affect LV function or produce LV hypertrophy or fibrosis, including hypertension, diabetes, ischemia, myocarditis, toxins, and infiltrative cardiomyopathies. LV diastolic dysfunction (“LVDD”), begins early in the heart disease process and continues to increase in severity as heart disease progresses. LVDD is now recognized as one of the earliest signs of heart disease and typical onset occurs when a patient is still asymptomatic. We believe that the early detection of diastolic dysfunction can be a clinically valuable marker for almost all forms of heart disease and age-related cardiac abnormalities that may otherwise be missed by current conventional ECG devices.
Product and Technology
The MyoVista has been developed in response to the relatively recent understanding in cardiology that most forms of heart disease are associated with LV relaxation abnormalities and diastolic dysfunction. The MyoVista is a 12-lead resting ECG device that features our proprietary algorithm developed to detect cardiac dysfunction in the diastolic phase, specifically slower than normal left ventricular relaxation rates with age-adjustment for older patients in accordance with the American Society of Echocardiology Guidelines.
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The MyoVista also includes the capabilities of a full-featured conventional 12-lead resting ECG including analysis using the Glasgow Algorithm, also known as the Glasgow ECG Interpretation Algorithm. Developed by the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, the 12-lead ECG Analysis Algorithm has been relied upon for more than 35 years and is a widely used resting ECG interpretive algorithm. The Glasgow Algorithm has been improved over the years and is licensed to us pursuant to a licensing agreement with The University Court of the University of Glasgow, under which we obtained a non-exclusive, worldwide license, which includes automatic renewal provisions, to software modules for an Android platform for analysis of resting 12-lead electrocardiograms and all intellectual property rights (including patents, copyright, trademarks, trade secrets and know-how) relating to the software modules to be used in the MyoVista (the “Glasgow Licensing Agreement”).
In the MyoVista, the conventional ECG (including the Glasgow Algorithm) and our proprietary algorithm, designed to detect impaired left ventricular cardiac relaxation abnormalities, are combined as a single test with results presented separately. The MyoVista has a high-resolution touchscreen display and incorporates many easy and intuitive to use features commonly associated with a tablet device.
MyoVista device with 1 lead view of signal processed waveform
Market Opportunity
Diagnostic Gap
We believe that the significant diagnostic gap in heart disease is early identification. Heart disease often remains asymptomatic for many years until it reaches an acute stage, at which point many patients have a heart attack or die without prior diagnosis of disease. For this reason, heart disease is often referred to as the “silent killer.” In 2012, the United States Preventative Services Task Force stated that there is no good evidence that an ECG helps physicians predict heart risks in people with no symptoms any better than traditional considerations such as smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, acknowledging the diagnostic gap that currently exists.
According to the CDC, cardiovascular disease remains the largest cost for the U.S. healthcare system at approximately $219 billion per year. The cost of treating acute cardiac events and heart failure is especially high in comparison to preventative treatment. Governments, healthcare providers and third-party payors are focused on shifting the diagnosis and management of heart disease to earlier stages where better patient outcomes can be delivered at lower cost; however, to make substantial progress the existing diagnostic gap needs to be closed.
We believe that the scale of cardiac disease as well as changing demographics, growing ECG market, impetus to identify risks earlier through low-cost testing which is better able to detect heart disease at an early stage, along with the increasing number and type of health care settings creates a significant opportunity for a device such as the MyoVista.
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Changing Demographics
Heart disease is most commonly found in individuals age 65 and older with incidences of heart disease increasing at 65 years for men and 71.8 years for women. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, advances in the field of medicine have led to an increase in life expectancy which, as of 2020, was estimated to average 77.3. years for a person in the U.S., up from 75.4 years in 1990. As life expectancy increases, the average age of the population is expected to increase. According to the U.S. Health and Human Services — Office of the Inspector General (the “HHS”), the population age 65 and older increased from 38.8 million in 2008 to 52.4 million in 2018 (a 35% increase) and is projected to reach 94.7 million by 2060. By 2030, more than 20 percent of U.S. residents are projected to be age 65 and over. Since heart disease is most commonly found in individuals age 65 years and older, and that population pool is increasing, we believe there is a significant opportunity for a device such as the MyoVista.
Growing ECG Market
The demand for electrocardiograph devices and related supplies known as electrodes is on the rise worldwide. Despite the limitations of the conventional ECG and healthcare guidance around the world that recommends against its use for screening, in the absence of a better alternative, the ECG remains a ubiquitous and widely-used test throughout healthcare including non-cardiology settings. It is estimated that 1.5 million to 3.0 million ECGs are performed worldwide every day, making it one of the most commonly used cardiovascular diagnostic tests in healthcare and a fundamental tool in clinical practice. It is estimated that more than 100 million ECGs are performed each year in the United States. The 2019 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey indicated that office-based patient care physicians, excluding anesthesiologists, radiologists and pathologists, ordered or provided 47 million ECG tests during office visits, and the 2020 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey showed that during ambulatory care visits to hospital emergency departments, an additional 32 million ECG tests were ordered or performed by hospital emergency departments.
Impetus to Identify Risks Earlier for More Effective Low-Cost Testing
A key goal of the HHS is reducing healthcare costs. This places pressure on physicians and healthcare institutions to contain healthcare costs. Additionally, one of the key objectives of HHS’s Healthy People 2030, is to increase preventive care for people of all ages. We believe that efforts towards preventive care and maintenance will lead to more testing for high-risk individuals and patients who have existing cardiac conditions. This trend, we believe, in tandem with the push to shorten hospital stays, has created an impetus to identify pre-symptomatic patients at risk more effectively at the front-line physician or clinic level and to treat recovering cardiac patients through outpatient care and rehabilitation.
It is our belief that the MyoVista is positioned to respond to the global need for more effective, low-cost ECG testing that screens for heart disease.
Changing Nature of Healthcare Providers
The delivery of healthcare in the U.S. is evolving. Alternative treatment sites, such as retail clinics, concierge medicine, urgent care clinics and ambulatory surgical centers, deliver care from qualified providers in settings outside of emergency departments, hospitals or traditional physician offices. We expect this trend to accelerate the drive to provide more effective preventative care and represents a significant opportunity for the introduction of the MyoVista as a new medical device that offers an enhanced ability to screen for heart disease.
Capitation Provides an Incentive to Identify Medicare Advantage Patients
Healthcare providers are paid either through fee-for-service or capitation. Fee-for-service is a payment model where services are unbundled and paid for separately. In health care, the fee-for-service payment model incentivizes physicians to provide more treatments because payment is dependent on the quantity, rather than quality, of care. Capitation is a payment arrangement that pays a physician or group of physicians a set amount for each enrolled person assigned to them, per period of time, whether or not that person seeks care. Under capitation, the amount of remuneration is based on the average expected healthcare utilization of that patient, with greater payment for patients with significant history of medical problems.
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Approximately 48% (approximately 28 million people) of those covered by Medicare according to CMS are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. With respect to these patients, CMS pays capitation to healthcare providers. CMS uses risk adjustment to adjust capitation payments to health plans, either higher or lower, to account for the differences in the health costs of individuals with ailments such as heart failure, CAD, angina and valvular heart disease. Accordingly, under CMS guidelines, risk factor adjustments per patient will provide payment that is higher for sicker patients who have conditions where diagnosis codes are documented in the medical record as a result of a face-to-face visit. Therefore, there is a financial incentive to identify those Medicare Advantage patients who are sicker, including those who have undiagnosed ailments such as heart disease. We believe that undiagnosed heart disease represents a significant problem, and we believe insurance plans that have a high number of Medicare Advantage patients could be a target market for the MyoVista.
Market Strategy
General
Our objective is to make the MyoVista a standard-of-care diagnostic test. Our business model, which involves the capital sale (typically any item that would be capitalized as an asset and not expensed as a supply item) of the MyoVista and the use of proprietary supplies (electrodes) for each test, is “razor-razorblade.” The electrode connection system of the MyoVista is patented which, together with our proprietary high quality electrodes, facilitate high quality, stable ECG signal capture. New electrodes are needed for each test. Our proprietary electrodes, when purchased, would provide recurring per-test revenue for each MyoVista sold. In short, we do not expect to primarily rely on high initial device pricing and instead will seek to encourage the adoption of the MyoVista and intend to rely on recurring revenue from electrode sales as an important aspect of our business model.
Territories
Our initial sales focus will primarily be within the U.S where we intend to market the MyoVista using a direct sales force following FDA clearance. Outside of the U.S., for markets such as Europe and Latin America, we intend to utilize medical device distributors that have existing healthcare provider relationships and experience selling ECG devices, which will be supported by a small number of local field personnel.
Potential Markets
We believe that there is a large variety of potential markets for the MyoVista. Conventional ECGs are used throughout healthcare in almost every clinical setting including clinics, doctor’s offices, urgent care centers, and hospitals. We believe that, in many of those settings, the additional information on cardiac dysfunction which the MyoVista is designed to provide, in addition to the conventional ECG information provided, could be extremely valuable.
The MyoVista’s range of applications and potential uses are vast, and include providing:
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Primary care — front-line cardiac testing/referral tool, heart disease screening.
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Retail Healthcare — access to ECG testing at retail sites such as CVS, Walmart and Walgreens.
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Emergency Departments — enhanced ECG testing for emergency room patients.
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Cardiologists — prescreening cardiology patients.
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Hospitals — in-patient testing or testing prior to discharge, particularly cardiac wards.
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Surgery — pre-anesthesia testing, pre/post intervention.
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Life Insurance testing — ECGs when required in connection with the issuance of life insurance policies.
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Specialty Environments — screening for conditions such as, cardiomyopathy, cardiac oncology, drug trials, heart failure, and diabetes.
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Athlete testing — cardiac screening programs for athletes.
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Early Target Markets
Initially, our focus markets will be on: cardiology; primary care providers that serve upper to middle income regions including concierge medicine providers; retail clinics; and insurers with high levels of Medicare Advantage patients.
Reimbursement
In addition to targeting the health care settings described above, a key element of our strategy is to qualify for third-party payor reimbursement. This strategy has two stages. During the first stage, we intend to seek the support of the American College of Cardiology to use existing Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT, codes for the standard ECG functionality of the MyoVista. CPT codes are numbers assigned to each task or service provided by a healthcare provider including medical, surgical and diagnostic services. Insurers use the numbers to determine the amount to pay a provider. While we cannot be certain that we will receive such approval by ACC, this would provide physicians with the ability to use existing 12-lead ECG reimbursement codes. Medicare reimbursement for existing ECG testing procedures with interpretation and report ranges from approximately $17 to $55 depending on the type of healthcare facility. These charges would go directly to the healthcare facility/ physician.
After this initial stage, our longer-term reimbursement strategy is to obtain additional reimbursement for the MyoVista capabilities related to detecting cardiac dysfunction. In July 2022, the American Medical Association issued new CPT Category III codes for novel AI assistive algorithmic ECG risk assessment for cardiac dysfunction. These codes are expected to cover the proprietary algorithm to be incorporated in the MyoVista. CPT Category III codes are designed to facilitate the use, adoption, and potential reimbursement of emerging technologies. The new codes went into effect in the CPT codebook on January 1, 2023. While we cannot be certain that these new codes will ultimately lead to the issuance of CPT Category I codes, or that insurance coverage or payment can be obtained, if successful, this could potentially provide total reimbursement that is larger than reimbursement for conventional ECG devices, which, in turn, could provide MyoVista with a competitive advantage as compared to conventional ECG devices.
Competition
The medical device industry is characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition, and a strong emphasis on proprietary products. There are many medical device companies, biotechnology companies, public and private universities and research organizations actively engaged in the research and development of products that may be similar to the MyoVista. Competitors could include traditional ECG manufacturers such as GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc., (“GE Healthcare”), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (“Philips”), Baxter International, Inc. (“Baxter”), and Nihon Kohden Corporation that may seek to innovate, and new commercial entrants to the AI ECG market, such as Anumana, Inc. or companies involved in AI healthcare, such as Tempus Labs, Inc. that also see the opportunity to finally innovate in a market that, we believe, has significant need for improved products and technology change.
Intellectual Property
Our technology is protected by a patent portfolio as well as trade secrets, which together comprise an important part of the intellectual property protection for our existing and any future proprietary algorithms (especially when developing proprietary algorithms). We believe that the combination of patents and trade secrets creates valuable competitive barriers in favor of HeartSciences.
The USPTO has issued eight utility patents and one design patent to us. The patent expiration dates range from March 2031 to August 2040. We also have fourteen international design registrations and eighteen international utility patents granted (with expiration dates ranging from September 2036 to March 2037) in jurisdictions such as China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mexico and Australia. We currently have several pending patent applications in multiple jurisdictions including India, Brazil, Europe and the United States.
In addition, we have entered into two agreements that are material to our rights to the intellectual property utilized in the MyoVista:
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In January 2014, we entered into an invention assignment agreement under which certain specified MyoVista technology and proprietary and intellectual property rights thereto (including patents,
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copyright, trademarks, trade secrets and know-how) were transferred and assigned to us by the inventor; and
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In December 2015, we entered the Glasgow Licensing Agreement with The University Court of the University of Glasgow under which we obtained a non-exclusive, worldwide license to software modules for an Android platform for analysis of resting 12-lead electrocardiograms and all intellectual property rights (including patents, copyright, trademarks, trade secrets and know-how) relating to the software modules to be used in the MyoVista.
Research and Development
The Company’s R&D staff designs our hardware, software and AI-based algorithms. Hardware development assistance is provided by outside consulting firms. The Company internally develops the signal processing software elements along with outside assistance. The user interface elements of the software are designed by the Company along with the assistance of outside consultants. The data science work necessary to build the AI-based algorithms is performed both internally and externally using outside consultants. Incorporation of all software elements into the MyoVista hardware is performed internally. We currently employ four full-time R&D staff.
We believe, based on our research and other published research, that further algorithms could be developed for a range of additional clinical indications. Studies involving use of the MyoVista and proof of concept algorithms for alternative clinical indications have already been published and there is a growing body of third- party published research in this field.
On November 29, 2022, we entered into a multi-year collaboration agreement with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to develop AI-based ECG algorithms with our intention being to augment our product development pipeline for additional new ECG algorithms in the medium term. We believe that in the future the ECG will have significantly greater clinical value and will facilitate far more effective heart disease screening and referral.
Implications of Being an “Emerging Growth Company” and a “Smaller Reporting Company”
We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of relief from certain reporting requirements and other burdens generally applicable to public companies. In particular, as an emerging growth company we:
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are not required to obtain an attestation and report from our auditors on our management’s assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
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are not required to provide a detailed narrative disclosure discussing our compensation principles, objectives and elements and analyzing how those elements fit with our principles and objectives (commonly referred to as “compensation discussion and analysis”);
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are not required to obtain a non-binding advisory vote from our shareholders on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements (commonly referred to as the “say-on-pay,” “say-on-frequency” and “say-on-golden-parachute” votes);
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are exempt from certain executive compensation disclosure provisions requiring a pay-for-performance graph and CEO pay ratio disclosure;
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may present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related Management’s Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”); and
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are eligible to claim longer phase-in periods for the adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards under §107 of the JOBS Act.
We intend to take advantage of these reduced reporting requirements and exemptions, including the longer phase-in periods for the adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards under §107 of the JOBS Act. Our election to use the phase-in periods may make it difficult to compare our financial statements to those of non-emerging
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growth companies and other emerging growth companies that have opted out of the phase-in periods under §107 of the JOBS Act. Please see “Risk Factors—We are an ‘emerging growth company,’ and any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make the Common Stock less attractive to investors.”
Under the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of the above-described reduced reporting requirements and exemptions for up to five years after our initial sale of common equity pursuant to a registration statement declared effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or such earlier time that we no longer meet the definition of an emerging growth company. In this regard, the JOBS Act provides that we would cease to be an “emerging growth company” if we have more than $1.235 billion in annual revenue, have more than $700 million in market value of our Common Stock held by non-affiliates (and are not otherwise eligible to be a smaller reporting company), or issue more than $1 billion in principal amount of non-convertible debt over a three-year period. Further, under current SEC rules we will continue to qualify as a “smaller reporting company” for so long as we have a public float (i.e., the market value of common equity held by non-affiliates) of less than $250 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter.
Certain of the reduced reporting requirements and exemptions available to us as an “emerging growth company” are also available to us due to the fact that we also qualify as a “smaller reporting company” under the SEC rules. For instance, smaller reporting companies are not required to obtain an auditor attestation and report regarding internal control over financial reporting; are not required to provide a compensation discussion and analysis; are not required to provide a pay-for-performance graph or CEO pay ratio disclosure; and may present only two years of audited financial statements and related MD&A disclosure.
If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. We will continue to be a smaller reporting company so long as (i) the market value of our stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million as of the last business day of our second fiscal quarter or (ii) our annual revenue was less than $100 million during our most recently completed fiscal year and the market value of our stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million as of the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation.
Corporate Information
We are a Texas corporation based in Southlake, Texas and were incorporated in Texas in August 2007. Our principal executive offices are located at 550 Reserve Street, Suite 360, Southlake TX 76092. Our telephone number is 682-237-7781. We are doing business under an assumed name, HeartSciences. Our website address is www.heartsciences.com.We make available through our website, free of charge, copies of our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material electronically or otherwise furnishing it to the SEC. Also posted on our website are certain corporate governance documents, including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The reference to our website is textual in reference only, and the information included or referred to on, or accessible through, our website does not constitute part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this report or any other filing.
We also file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Such reports may be obtained by visiting the Public Reference Room of the SEC at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains an internet site at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information.
Employees and Independent Contractors
As of July 17, 2023, we had 12 employees (including our Chief Executive Officer), all of which are full-time employees, and 6 independent contractors. All of our employment and consulting agreements include employees’ and
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consultants’ undertakings with respect to non-competition and assignment to us of intellectual property rights developed in the course of employment and with respect to confidentiality.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks, as more fully described below in this "Risk Factors" section. The following is a summary of the most significant risks and uncertainties that we believe could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition to the following summary, you should read the other information set forth below in this “Risk Factors” section before you invest in our securities. In particular, our risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements:
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We have a limited operating history and we have incurred significant operating losses since our inception, and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future;
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We have been notified by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC of our failure to comply with certain continued listing requirements and, if we are unable to regain compliance with all applicable continued listing requirements and standards of Nasdaq, our Common Stock could be delisted from Nasdaq.
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Our future operating results are dependent on regulatory approval for the MyoVista, which we have not received as of the date of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K;
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We will need to raise substantial additional funding, which may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to obtain funding on acceptable terms and on a timely basis may require us to curtail, delay or discontinue our development efforts and other operations;
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All of our assets are subject to security interests; and
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There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which could prevent us from obtaining new financing either on reasonable terms or at all.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry:
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Our future success depends on our ability to develop, receive regulatory clearance or approval for, and introduce the MyoVista to the market in a timely manner. If we do not obtain and maintain the regulatory registrations and clearances for our device, we will be unable to market and sell the MyoVista in the United States, Europe or other regions;
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Our success will be dependent upon physician acceptance;
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If third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement for the use of the MyoVista, our revenue will be negatively impacted;
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We will be dependent upon third-party manufacturers and suppliers, making us vulnerable to supply shortages and problems, increased costs and quality or compliance issues, any of which could harm our business;
Risks Related to Product Development and Regulatory Approval:
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Our device and operations are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight both in the U.S. and abroad, and our failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business;
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If and when our products are ready for sales launch into the U.S., modifications to our marketed products may require new 510(k) clearances, or may require us to cease marketing or recall the modified products until clearances or approvals are obtained;
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Clinical studies may be necessary to support future product submissions to the FDA. The clinical trial process is lengthy and expensive with uncertain outcomes, and often requires the enrollment of large numbers of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit. Delays or failures in our
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clinical studies will prevent us from launching sales of modified or new products into the U.S. and will adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects;
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If the third parties on which we rely to conduct our clinical studies and to assist us with pre-clinical development do not perform as required or expected, we may be delayed or unable to obtain regulatory clearance or approval for sales launch of our device in the U.S.;
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We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical studies, or we may fail to demonstrate specificity and sensitivity to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities;
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The results of future clinical studies may not support additional or new claims for future products or may result in the discovery of adverse side effects;
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Failure to comply with post-marketing regulatory requirements could subject us to enforcement actions, including substantial penalties, and might require us to recall or withdraw a product from the market;
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The MyoVista must be manufactured in accordance with federal, state and foreign regulations, and we could be forced to recall our devices or terminate production if we fail to comply with these regulations; and
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Our device may cause or contribute to adverse medical events or be subject to failures or malfunctions that we are required to report to the FDA, and if we fail to do so, we would be subject to sanctions that could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property:
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If we are unable to obtain and maintain effective patent rights for our device, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets. If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets or know-how, such proprietary information may be used by others to compete against us;
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Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to market our device, and we might be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties in order to develop or market our device. Such litigation or licenses could be costly or not available on commercially reasonable terms; and
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We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our intellectual property.
Risks Related to the Ownership of our Securities:
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The market price of our Common Stock may be highly volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment;
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Future sales of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock by our existing shareholders could cause our stock price to decline;
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If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they publish negative reports regarding our business or our securities, our share price and trading volume could decline;
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We have identified weaknesses in our internal controls, and we cannot provide assurances that these weaknesses will be effectively remediated or that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future; and
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We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make the Common Stock less attractive to investors.
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RISK FACTORS
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the financial statements and related notes, before deciding whether to purchase our securities. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the price of our Common Stock or IPO Warrants could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements
We have a limited operating history and we have incurred significant operating losses since our inception, and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future.
We are a development-stage medical device company with a limited operating history. In addition, we have limited experience and have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields, particularly in the medical device industry. To date, we have generated limited revenue from the sale of the MyoVista during its development stage. We have incurred losses in each year since our inception, including net losses of approximately $6.4 million and $4.8 million for Fiscal 2023 and Fiscal 2022, respectively. As of April 30, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $60.8 million and stockholder’s equity of approximately $0.23 million. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Results of Operations” for additional information.
Even if we obtain regulatory approval for sales launch of the MyoVista into the U.S., our future revenue will depend upon the size of the market in which the device or any future product receives approval as well as our ability to achieve sufficient market acceptance, pricing, and reimbursement from third-party payors, which we may never achieve.
We also anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:
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continue research and development;
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are granted regulatory and marketing approvals;
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establish a sales, marketing, and distribution infrastructure;
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seek to identify, assess, acquire, license, and/or develop subsequent generations of the MyoVista and any new products;
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seek to maintain, protect, and expand our intellectual property portfolio;
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seek to attract and retain skilled personnel;
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create additional infrastructure to support our operations as a public company as well as our device development and planned future marketing efforts; and
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experience any delays or encounter issues with respect to any of the above, including, but not limited to, failed studies, complex results, safety issues or other regulatory challenges that require longer follow-up of existing studies or additional supportive studies in order to pursue marketing approval.
We expect to continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future. As a result of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing a medical device, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses or whether we will ever achieve and maintain profitability. Further, the operating losses that we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance. Other unanticipated costs may also arise.
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We have been notified by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC of our failure to comply with certain continued listing requirements and, if we are unable to regain compliance with all applicable continued listing requirements and standards of Nasdaq, our Common Stock could be delisted from Nasdaq.
Our Common Stock and IPO Warrants are currently listed on Nasdaq. In order to maintain that listing, we must satisfy minimum financial and other continued listing requirements and standards, including those regarding director independence and independent committee requirements, minimum stockholders’ equity, minimum share price, and certain corporate governance requirements.
On December 21, 2022, we received notice from the Listing Qualifications Staff of Nasdaq indicating that we were not in compliance with the Minimum Stockholders’ Equity Requirement, because our stockholders’ equity of $1,082,676 as reported in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended October 31, 2022 was below the required minimum of $2.5 million, and because, as of October 31, 2022, we did not meet the alternative compliance standards, relating to the market value of listed securities of $35 million or net income from continuing operations of $500,000 in the most recently completed fiscal year or in two of the last three most recently completed fiscal years.
On February 3, 2023, we submitted to Nasdaq a plan to regain compliance with the Minimum Stockholders’ Equity Requirement. On February 8, 2023, Nasdaq notified us that they have granted us an extension of up to 180 calendar days from December 21, 2022, or through June 19, 2023, to regain compliance. On June 20, 2023, we received a delist determination letter from Nasdaq advising us that Nasdaq determined that we did not meet the terms of the extension by the June 19, 2023 deadline.
On June 27, 2023, we submitted a hearing request to the Nasdaq Hearing Panel (the "Panel") to appeal the delisting determination. In response to our request for a hearing, on June 27, 2023, we received a letter from Nasdaq stating that its delisting action has been stayed, pending a final decision by the Panel and a hearing will be held on August 17, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. via video conference. At the Panel hearing, we intend to present a plan to regain compliance with the Rule. In the interim, our Common Stock and IPO Warrants will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “HSCS” and “HSCSW” at least pending the ultimate conclusion of the hearing process. The Panel may, in its discretion, grant us up to an additional 180-day compliance period to regain compliance and maintain our Nasdaq listing; however, there can be no assurance that the Panel will grant such additional time, that our plan to regain compliance will be accepted by the Panel or that, if it is, we will be able to regain compliance with the applicable Nasdaq listing requirements.
There can be no assurances that we will be able to regain compliance with the Minimum Stockholders’ Equity Requirement or, if we do regain compliance with the Minimum Stockholders’ Equity Requirement, that we will be able to continue to comply with all applicable Nasdaq listing requirements in the future. If we are unable to maintain compliance with these Nasdaq requirements, our Common Stock and IPO Warrants will be delisted from Nasdaq.
In the event that our Common Stock and IPO Warrants are delisted from Nasdaq, as a result of our failure to comply with the Minimum Stockholders’ Equity Requirement, or due to our failure to continue to comply with any other requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq, and is not eligible for listing on another exchange, trading in the shares of our Common Stock could be conducted in the over-the-counter market or on an electronic bulletin board established for unlisted securities such as the Pink Sheets or the OTC Bulletin Board. In such event, it could become more difficult to dispose of, or obtain accurate price quotations for, our Common Stock, and it would likely be more difficult to obtain coverage by securities analysts and the news media, which could cause the price of our Common Stock to decline further. Also, it may be difficult for us to raise additional capital if we are not listed on a national exchange.
Our future operating results are dependent on regulatory approval for the MyoVista, which we have not received as of the date of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The MyoVista is our only current product candidate. As a result, the success of our business plan is entirely dependent on our ability to obtain regulatory approval and to subsequently develop, manufacture and launch sales of the MyoVista into the U.S. Our failure to do so would likely cause our business to fail. Successful marketing of medical devices is a complex, lengthy, costly and uncertain process, dependent on the efforts of management, manufacturers, local operators, integrators, medical professionals, third-party payors, as well as general economic
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conditions, among other factors. For more information, see “—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Our future success depends on our ability to develop, receive regulatory clearance or approval for, and introduce the MyoVista to the market in a timely manner. If we do not obtain and maintain the regulatory registrations and clearances for our device, we will be unable to market and sell the MyoVista in the United States, Europe or other regions.” Any factor that adversely impacts the approval, development and sales launch of the MyoVista into the U.S. will have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may face several challenges with respect to launching sales of the MyoVista into the U.S. including, among others, that:
•
we may fail to obtain regulatory clearance or approvals or, even if regulatory approval is obtained, we may face adverse regulatory and/or legal actions;
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we may not have adequate financial or other resources to properly market the MyoVista or sell it in economically viable quantities;
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we may not be able to manufacture in commercial quantities, at an adequate quality or at an acceptable cost;
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we may not be able to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution channels;
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healthcare professionals and patients may not accept the MyoVista;
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we may not be able to compete with existing solutions for cardiac screening;
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technological breakthroughs in heart disease screening solutions may reduce the potential demand for the MyoVista;
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third-party payors may not agree to reimburse patients for any or all of the charges related to testing the MyoVista, which may adversely affect physicians’ adoption and use of the device; and
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we may face third-party claims of intellectual property infringement.
If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval and accomplish any one or more of the challenges listed above, our ability to effectively launch sales of the MyoVista into the U.S. could be limited, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For additional information regarding risks related to our ability to successfully develop, market and sell the MyoVista, see “—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—Our success will be dependent upon physician acceptance.”
We will need to raise substantial additional funding, which may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to obtain funding on acceptable terms and on a timely basis may require us to curtail, delay or discontinue our development efforts and other operations.
If we are unable to obtain funding on a timely basis, we may (i) not be able to complete the process of FDA clearance, (ii) need to significantly curtail, delay or discontinue our efforts to launch sales of the MyoVista into the U.S. if FDA clearance is achieved or (iii) be unable to continue operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, as desired, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even if we achieve FDA clearance with the proceeds of the IPO, we expect that we will require substantial additional capital for sales launch and marketing of the MyoVista. In addition, our planned expenses and operations may change as a result of many factors that could be currently unknown to us and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned. Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors including:
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the progress, results and costs of our ongoing and planned studies and, if applicable, clinical trials of the MyoVista as well as any future products and services;
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the cost, timing and outcomes of regulatory review of current and any future products and services;
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the scope, progress, results and costs of product development, testing, manufacturing, pre-clinical development and, if applicable, clinical trials for any other product that we may develop or otherwise obtain in the future;
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the cost of our future activities, including establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for the MyoVista, in any particular geography, where we receive marketing and/or regulatory approval;
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•
the terms and timing of any collaborative, licensing, payment plan and/or other arrangements that we may establish;
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the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending any intellectual property-related claims; and
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the level of revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of the MyoVista if we receive approval for sales launch of the MyoVista into the U.S.
We could also be required to seek additional funds at an earlier stage than would otherwise be desirable and, as a result, we may be required to relinquish rights to some of our intellectual property, our device, or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us or our shareholders, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans, we may seek additional capital if market conditions are favorable or if we have specific strategic objectives such as acquiring IP, partnering with a vendor or other worthwhile business endeavors.
Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and launch sales of the MyoVista and any future product into the U.S. In addition, we cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
All of our assets are subject to security interests.
Our ability to service our indebtedness will depend upon, among other things, further funding. A breach of the terms and conditions of our indebtedness would likely result in an event of default. If an event of default occurs (after any applicable notice and cure periods), the lenders would be entitled to accelerate the repayment of amounts outstanding (including accrued and unpaid interest and fees). Upon such a default, the lenders could also foreclose against any collateral securing such obligations, which consists of all of our assets. In addition to the assets securing our indebtedness, our obligation to pay certain royalties to the inventor of certain specified MyoVista technology and proprietary and intellectual property rights thereto (including patents, copyright, trademarks, trade secrets and know-how) is secured by a first lien security interest. If we fail to pay those royalties, the inventor could foreclose on the technology. For more information, please see “Business—Intellectual Property.” If any such foreclosure occurred, we would likely not be able to continue to operate as a going concern.
There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which could prevent us from obtaining new financing either on reasonable terms or at all.
Our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an opinion on our audited financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that contains an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern because we have experienced recurring losses, negative cash flows from operations, and limited capital resources. These events and conditions indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on our ability to continue as a going concern. The perception that we may not be able to continue as a going concern may have a material adverse effect on our share price and our ability to raise new capital (whether it is through the issuance of equity or debt securities or otherwise), enter into critical contractual relations with third parties and otherwise execute our business objectives. Until we can generate significant recurring revenues, we expect to satisfy our future cash needs through debt or equity financing. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
If we are unable to continue as a going concern, we may have to liquidate our assets, and the values we receive for our assets in liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements.
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Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Our future success depends on our ability to develop, receive regulatory clearance or approval for, and introduce the MyoVista to the market in a timely manner. If we do not obtain and maintain the regulatory registrations and clearances for our device, we will be unable to market and sell the MyoVista in the United States, Europe or other regions.
In the United States, before we can market a new medical device, or a new use of, new claim for or significant modification to, an existing product, we must first receive either approval of a Premarket Approval Application, or PMA, clearance under Section 510(k), or be granted a De Novo classification, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or the FDCA. For additional information on the PMA or the De Novo classification processes, see “Business—FDA and Other Government Regulation.”
The FDA can delay, limit or deny clearance or approval of a medical device for many reasons, including:
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we may not be able to demonstrate to the FDA’s satisfaction that the MyoVista is safe and effective for its intended use;
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the data from our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may be insufficient to support clearance or approval, where required;
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the manufacturing process or facilities we use or contract to use may not meet applicable requirements; and
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disruptions at the FDA caused by funding shortages or global health concerns, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
We previously submitted a De Novo application in late 2019. The FDA determined that the Company would need to undertake a new algorithm validation clinical study using patients gathered from institutions that were not part of the studies used for algorithm development. Due to the time of completion of the study, submission of the new validation study results requires a new De Novo submission. The new validation study is currently underway and we intend to submit a new De Novo application for the MyoVista later in the fiscal year ending April 30, 2023. Additional clinical studies are being conducted as part of the outcome of the previous application process. The De Novo process can be expensive, lengthy and unpredictable. De Novo classification requests require the performance of at least one clinical trial. Despite the time, effort and cost, we may not ultimately be successful in completing the review process and our De Novo application may not be granted by the FDA in a timely manner or at all. Any delay or failure to obtain necessary regulatory clearances or approvals could harm our business. Furthermore, even if we are granted regulatory clearances or approvals, they may include significant limitations on the indicated uses for the MyoVista, which may limit the market for the device in the United States.
In order to sell the device in member countries of the European Economic Area, or EEA, our device must comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745, or EU MDR. Compliance with these requirements is a prerequisite to be able to affix the Conformité Européene, or CE, mark to our device, without which it cannot be sold or marketed in the EEA. For additional information on the PMA or the De Novo classification processes, see “Business—FDA and Other Government Regulation.”
The Company previously achieved a CE Mark under the EU Medical Devices Directive or the MDD in February 2017. The Medical Device Directive was established on June 14, 1993 but the EU Medical Devices Directive, or the MDD regulatory framework, has since been replaced by EU MDR. In order to sell in member countries of the European Economic Area, or EEA, our device must now comply with the essential requirements of the newer, updated regulatory framework or EU MDR. Our CE Mark issued under the MDD lapsed in February 2022 and we will need to establish compliance under EU MDR. An updated CE mark certificate under EU MDR, which we have not yet obtained, would entitle the Company to market the MyoVista in the European Economic Area as well as other countries for which CE Mark represents an appropriate regulatory standard.
Sales of our device outside of the United States and the EEA are also subject to foreign regulatory requirements that vary widely from country to country. Approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional testing. Complying with foreign regulatory requirements, including obtaining registrations, clearances or approvals,
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can be expensive and time-consuming, and we may not receive regulatory clearances or approvals in each country in which we plan to market our device or we may be unable to do so on a timely basis. If we modify our device, we may need to apply for additional regulatory clearances or approvals before we are permitted to sell the modified device. In addition, we may not continue to meet the quality and safety standards required to maintain the authorizations that we have received. If we are unable to maintain our authorizations in a particular country, we will no longer be able to sell the applicable device in that country.
Regulatory clearance or approval by the FDA does not ensure registration, clearance or approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and registration, clearance or approval by one or more foreign regulatory authorities does not ensure registration, clearance or approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or by the FDA. However, a failure or delay in obtaining registration or regulatory clearance or approval in one country may have a negative effect on the regulatory process in others.
Our success will be dependent upon physician acceptance.
Our future growth and profitability largely depend on our ability to increase physician awareness of the MyoVista and on the willingness of hospitals, physicians, patients and/or third-party payors to use it. These parties may not use our device unless they are able to determine, based on experience, clinical data, medical society recommendations and other analyses, that our device is safe, effective and cost-effective, on a stand-alone basis and relative to our competitors’ products. If we fail to deliver a device that physicians want to use, our revenue potential, financial results and business may be significantly harmed. Even if we are able to deliver a superior device and are able to raise physician awareness of our device through effective marketing, physicians tend to be slow in making changes to their medical treatment practices and may be hesitant to select our device as their preferred diagnostic device for a variety of reasons, including:
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long-standing relationships with competing companies and distributors that sell competing devices;
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lack of experience with the MyoVista and concerns that we are new to market;
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lack or perceived lack of sufficient clinical evidence, including long-term data, supporting safety or clinical benefits; and
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time commitment and skill development that may be required to gain familiarity and proficiency with the MyoVista.
Physicians play a significant role in determining the course of a patient’s treatment and, as a result, the type of treatment that will be utilized and provided to a patient. We intend to focus our sales, marketing and education efforts on educating cardiologists and any other potential referring physicians. However, if physicians do not perceive the MyoVista to be useful and reliable, we may not be able to attract or retain customers.
If third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement for the use of the MyoVista, our revenue will be negatively impacted.
The MyoVista does not currently have coverage and reimbursement approved for third-party payor coverage or reimbursement. Such reimbursement, if and when approved, will vary based on the identity of the third-party.
Our ability to successfully launch sales of the MyoVista into the U.S. and achieve market acceptance of the MyoVista depends, in significant part, on the availability of adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors, including governmental payors (such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs in the U.S.), managed care organizations and private health insurers. Third-party payors decide which treatments they will cover and then establish reimbursement rates for those treatments. If approved and successfully marketed, we expect that the MyoVista may be purchased by hospitals and other providers who will then seek reimbursement from third-party payors for the use of the MyoVista and, in many cases, the decision whether or not to purchase the MyoVista will be dependent upon whether or not such purchaser will be able to seek reimbursement.
Increasingly, third-party payors are also examining the cost effectiveness of products, in addition to their safety and efficacy, when making coverage and payment decisions. Third-party payors have also instituted initiatives to limit
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the growth of healthcare costs using, for example, price regulation or controls and competitive pricing programs. Some third-party payors also require demonstrated superiority, on the basis of randomized clinical trials, or pre-approval of coverage, for new or innovative devices before they will reimburse healthcare providers who use such devices. Additionally, there is no uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement in the U.S., and coverage and reimbursement can differ significantly from payor to payor. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates, but also have their own methods and approval process apart from the Medicare coverage determination process. It is uncertain whether the MyoVista will be viewed as sufficiently cost effective to warrant coverage and adequate reimbursement levels for use in any given jurisdiction.
We expect to engage with the American Medical Association, or AMA, and American College of Cardiology to gain approval for use of the standard ECG reimbursement coding for the conventional ECG functions of the MyoVista. We will also seek to have private third-party payors provide reimbursement for the wavECG proprietary algorithm, or the MyoVista Algorithm. We cannot assure you that these efforts will be successful to our obtaining third-party payor reimbursement. The lack of reimbursement from third-party payors would have an adverse effect on our revenues, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Reimbursement systems in international markets vary significantly by country and, within some countries, by region and reimbursement approvals must be obtained on a country-by-country or a region-by-region basis. In certain international markets, a product must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that country. Furthermore, many international markets have government-managed healthcare systems that control reimbursement for new devices. In most markets, there are private insurance systems as well as government-managed systems. For more information regarding the process of receiving reimbursement approval, please see “Business—Market Strategy—Reimbursement.”
We will be dependent upon third-party manufacturers and suppliers, making us vulnerable to supply shortages and problems, increased costs and quality or compliance issues, any of which could harm our business.
The MyoVista consists mostly of off-the-shelf components and once we are able to sell the MyoVista, we will need to rely on third parties to supply components and assemble the components into a completed device. Any third-party supplier that we work with, and may eventually depend on, could encounter problems during sourcing and manufacturing that could delay or impede such supplier’s ability to meet our requirements. Any reliance on these third-party suppliers will also subjects us to other risks that could harm our business, including:
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we are not currently a major customer of any of our suppliers, and these suppliers may therefore give other customers’ needs higher priority than ours;
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we may not be able to obtain an adequate supply in a timely manner or on commercially reasonable terms;
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our suppliers may make errors in manufacturing that could negatively affect the efficacy or safety of our device or cause delays in shipment;
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we may have difficulty locating and qualifying alternative suppliers;
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switching components or suppliers may require product redesign and possibly additional future submission(s) to the FDA or other similar foreign regulatory agencies, which could impede or delay our commercial activities;
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one or more of our suppliers may be unwilling or unable to supply components of our device;
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the occurrence of a fire, natural disaster or other catastrophe impacting one or more of our suppliers may affect their ability to deliver products to us in a timely manner; and
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our suppliers may encounter financial or other business hardships unrelated to our demand, which could inhibit their ability to fulfill our orders and meet our requirements.
We may not be able to quickly establish additional or alternative suppliers if necessary, in part because we may need to undertake additional activities and incur additional expenses to establish such suppliers as required by the regulatory approval process. Any interruption or delay in obtaining products from our third-party suppliers, or our inability to obtain products from qualified alternate sources at acceptable prices in a timely manner, could impair our
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ability to meet the demand of our customers and cause them to switch to competing products. Given our reliance on certain suppliers, we may be susceptible to supply shortages while looking for alternate suppliers.
Medical device development is costly and involves continual technological change in order to remain competitive which may render the MyoVista obsolete.
Even if we are successful in obtaining regulatory clearance or approval for the MyoVista and are able to launch sales of the MyoVista into the U.S., our future success will depend on our ability to enhance the MyoVista as well as develop or acquire new technologies to keep pace with technological developments, evolving industry standards, as well as responses to changes in customer needs and expectations. The market for medical devices is unique due to factors such as: rapid technological change, medical advances, short device lifecycles, changing regulatory requirements and evolving industry standards.
Any one of these factors could either reduce potential demand for the MyoVista or require substantial resources and expenditures for, among other things, research, design and development, to avoid technological or market obsolescence. A failure to adequately develop enhancements and improvements to the MyoVista or acquire new devices that will address changing technologies and customer requirements adequately, or to introduce such devices on a timely basis, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We might have insufficient financial resources to improve the MyoVista at a competitive rate, if at all. Technological advances by one or more competitors or future entrants into the field may result in the MyoVista becoming non-competitive or obsolete, which may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We face intense competition in the market and, as a result, we may be unable to effectively compete in our industry.
Many of our competitors, such as GE Healthcare, Philips and Baxter, have long histories and strong reputations within the industry. These competitors have significantly greater brand recognition, and financial and human resources than we do. They also have more experience and capabilities in researching and developing diagnostic devices, obtaining and maintaining regulatory clearances and other requirements, manufacturing and marketing those products than we do. There is a significant risk that we may be unable to overcome the advantages held by our competition, and our inability to do so could lead to the failure of our business and the loss of your investment. In addition, we may be unable to develop additional products in the future or to keep pace with developments and innovations in the market and lose market share to our competitors.
Medical device markets, and more specifically ECG technologies and solutions markets, are competitive, which can lead to, among other things, price reductions, longer selling cycles, lower product margins, loss of market share and additional working capital requirements. To succeed, we must, among other critical matters, gain consumer acceptance for our device as compared to other solutions currently available in the cardiac screening market or advanced cardiac screening offering. For more information regarding risks related to our dependence on physician acceptance, see “— Our success will be dependent upon physician acceptance.”
If our competitors offer significant discounts on certain products and solutions, we may need to lower our prices or offer other favorable terms in order to compete successfully. Any broad-based changes to our prices and pricing policies could make it difficult to generate revenues or cause our revenues to decline. Moreover, if our competitors develop and market products and solutions that are more effective or desirable than products and solutions than we may develop, we may not convince our customers to use our products and solutions. Any such changes would likely reduce our commercial opportunity and revenue potential and could materially adversely impact our operating results.
If we are not able to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, scientific, technical and marketing personnel, we may not be able to implement our business model successfully.
Our success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified management as well as clinical and scientific personnel to implement our business strategy. We are highly dependent upon our senior management, our employees, consultants and scientific and medical collaborators. Our management team must be able to act decisively to apply and adapt our business model in the rapidly changing markets in which we will
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compete. In addition, we rely upon technical and scientific employees or third-party contractors to effectively establish, manage and grow our business. In order to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, sales, scientific and technical personnel, we may need to pay them higher compensation or fees than currently expected and such higher compensation may have a negative effect on our operating results. Competition for experienced, high-quality personnel in the medical device field is intense. Our failure to hire and retain quality personnel on acceptable terms could impair our ability to develop new products and services and manage our business effectively.
We may need to expand our organization and we may experience difficulties in recruiting additional employees and consultants, which could disrupt our operations.
As our development and marketing plans and strategies develop, we will likely need additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing, financial, legal and other resources. The competition for qualified personnel in the medical device industry is intense. Due to this intense competition, we may be unable to attract and retain qualified personnel necessary for the development of our business or to recruit suitable replacement personnel.
Our management may need to divert its attention away from our day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional medical device products. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to market and sell medical device products and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth.
Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.
Some members of our management team have limited experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies in the United States. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our recent transition to being a public company due to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. These new obligations and constituents will require significant attention from our senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board of Directors, any committees of our Board of Directors, or as executive officers and/or adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We manage our business through a small number of employees and key consultants.
As of July 17, 2023, we had 12 full-time employees and several independent consultants. Our future growth and success depend, to a large extent, on the continued service of members of our current management. Any of our employees and contractors may leave our Company or discontinue services at any time. Our operational success will substantially depend on the continued employment of our management, including our executive officers, technical staff and other key personnel. We do not currently maintain key person life insurance policies on any of our employees. The loss of key personnel may have an adverse effect on our operations and financial performance and adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan.
We expect to conduct business outside of the U.S. and doing so exposes us to additional business, regulatory, political, operational, financial and economic risks.
We plan to conduct business outside of the U.S. which will therefore subject us to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, conflicting and changing laws and regulations such as privacy regulations, tax laws, export and import restrictions, employment laws, regulatory requirements and other governmental approvals, permits and licenses.
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Since we anticipate conducting business outside of the U.S., we anticipate that we will be subject to rules and regulations in non-U.S. jurisdictions. In some countries, pricing may be subject to governmental control under certain circumstances. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental agencies can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a medical device. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost- effectiveness of the MyoVista to other available products. If reimbursement of our device is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.
We are subject to certain U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions and other trade laws and regulations. We could face serious consequences for any violations of such laws and regulations.
Among other matters, U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions and other trade laws and regulations, which are collectively referred to as Trade Laws, prohibit companies and their employees, agents, clinical research organizations, legal counsel, accountants, consultants, contractors and other partners from authorizing, promising, offering, providing, soliciting or receiving, directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to or from recipients in the public or private sector. Violations of Trade Laws can result in substantial criminal fines and civil penalties, imprisonment, the loss of trade privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm, and other consequences. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities and other organizations. We also expect our non-U.S. activities to increase over time. We plan to engage third parties for clinical trials and/or to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations and other regulatory approvals, and we can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our personnel, agents or partners, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have prior knowledge of such activities.
We could become subject to product liability, warranty or similar claims and product recalls that could be expensive, divert management’s attention and harm our business reputation and financial results.
Our business exposes us to an inherent risk of potential product liability, warranty or similar claims and product recalls. The medical device industry has historically been litigious, and we face financial exposure to product liability, warranty or similar claims if the use of the MyoVista were to cause or contribute to injury or death. There is also the possibility that defects in the design or manufacture of the MyoVista may necessitate a product recall. Although we plan to maintain product liability insurance, the coverage limits of these policies may not be adequate to cover future claims. In the future, we may be unable to maintain product liability insurance on acceptable terms or at reasonable costs and such insurance may not provide us with adequate coverage against potential liabilities. A product liability claim, regardless of merit or ultimate outcome, or any product recall could result in substantial costs to us, damage to our reputation, customer dissatisfaction and frustration and a substantial diversion of management attention. A successful claim brought against us in excess of, or outside of, our insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business and operations would suffer in the event of computer system failures, cyber-attacks or a deficiency in our cybersecurity.
Despite the implementation of security measures and safeguards intended to secure our data against impermissible access and to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, our internal computer systems, and those of third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, malware, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the Internet, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. To the extent that any disruption or security breach was to result in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur material legal claims and liability, including under data privacy and protection laws, damage to our reputation, disruption to our operations, and the further development of the MyoVista. Although we take measures to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access or disclosure, our information technology, or IT, and infrastructure, we may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks by hackers or viruses or breached due to employee
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error, malfeasance or other disruptions. We rely extensively on IT systems, networks and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools, physical security systems and other hardware, software and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed, hosted, provided and/or used by third parties or their vendors, to assist in conducting our business. A significant breakdown, invasion, corruption, destruction or interruption of critical information technology systems or infrastructure, by our workforce, others with authorized access to our systems or unauthorized persons could negatively impact operations. The ever- increasing use and evolution of technology, including cloud-based computing, creates opportunities for the unintentional dissemination or intentional destruction of confidential information stored in our or our third-party providers’ systems, portable media or storage devices. We could also experience a business interruption, theft of confidential information or reputational damage from industrial espionage attacks, malware or other cyber- attacks, which may compromise our system infrastructure or lead to data leakage, either internally or at our third- party providers. Although the aggregate impact on our operations and financial condition has not been material to date, we may become the target of events of this nature and expect them to continue as cybersecurity threats have been rapidly evolving in sophistication and becoming more prevalent in the industry. There can be no assurance, however, that our efforts will prevent breakdowns or breaches to our or our third-party providers’ databases or systems that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business may be impacted by changes in general economic conditions.
Our business is subject to risks arising from changes in domestic and global economic conditions, including adverse economic conditions in markets in which we operate, which may harm our business. If our future customers significantly reduce spending in areas in which our technology and products are utilized, or prioritize other expenditures over our technology and products, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be materially adversely affected.
Disruption to the global economy could also result in a number of follow-on effects on our business, including a possible slow-down resulting from lower customer expenditures; inability of customers to pay for products on time, if at all; more restrictive export regulations which could limit our potential customer base; negative impact on our liquidity, financial condition and share price, which may impact our ability to raise capital in the market, obtain financing and secure other sources of funding in the future on terms favorable to us.
In addition, the occurrence of catastrophic events, such as war, hurricanes, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, medical epidemics and other catastrophes that adversely affect the business climate in any of our markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Some of our operations are located in areas that may be in the future, susceptible to such occurrences.
The outbreak of COVID-19, or a similar pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease in the United States or elsewhere, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The outbreak of COVID-19 evolved into a global pandemic as COVID-19 spread to many regions of the world. The pandemic caused states of emergency to be declared in various countries, travel restrictions to be imposed globally and quarantines established in certain jurisdictions. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our business and operating results may continue to depend on future developments that are uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning COVID-19, including variants, and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others.
The spread of an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, may also result in the inability of our manufacturers to deliver components or finished products on a timely basis and may also result in the inability of our suppliers to deliver the parts required by our manufacturers to complete manufacturing of components or finished products. In addition, governments may divert spending from other budgeted resources as they seek to reduce and/or stop the spread of COVID-19. Such events may result in a period of business and manufacturing disruption, and in reduced operations, any of which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. While the potential economic impact brought by the pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, it has already caused, and is likely to result in further, significant disruption of global financial markets which may reduce our ability to access capital either
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at all or on favorable terms. In addition, a recession, depression or other sustained adverse market event resulting from COVID-19 could materially and adversely affect our business and the value of our Common Stock.
Risks Related to Product Development and Regulatory Approval
Our device and operations are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight both in the U.S. and abroad, and our failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business.
The MyoVista is subject to extensive regulation in the U.S. and elsewhere, including by the FDA and its foreign counterparts, the U.S. Department of Justice, or the DOJ, and the HHS. The FDA and foreign regulatory agencies regulate, among other things, with respect to our device: design, development and manufacturing; non-clinical and clinical testing, safety, efficacy, labeling, content and language of instructions for use and storage; clinical trials; product safety; establishment registration and device listing; marketing, sales and distribution; pre-market clearance and approval; conformity assessment procedures; record keeping procedures; advertising and promotion; recalls and field safety corrective actions; post-market surveillance, including reporting of deaths or serious injuries and malfunctions that, if they were to occur, could lead to death or serious injury; post-market approval studies; and product import and export.
The regulations our product is subject to are complex and have tended to become more stringent over time. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales for any approved, cleared or authorized product. FDA enforces these regulatory requirements through, among other means, periodic unannounced inspections. We do not know whether we will be found compliant in connection with any future regulatory inspections. Moreover, the FDA and state authorities have broad enforcement powers. Failure to comply with applicable regulations could jeopardize our ability to sell our future products, if cleared or approved, and result in enforcement actions such as: adverse publicity; warning, untitled letters, or it has come to our attention letters; fines; injunctions; consent decrees; civil penalties; customer notifications; repair, replacement, or refunds; termination of distribution; recalls or seizures of products; administrative detention of medical devices believed to be adulterated or misbranded; delays in the introduction of products into the market; operating restrictions; total or partial suspension of production; refusal to grant future clearances or approvals for new products, new intended uses or modifications to our device; withdrawals or suspensions of regulatory clearances or approvals in place, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our device; and in the most serious cases, criminal prosecution or penalties. The occurrence of any of these events would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could result in shareholders losing their entire investment.
If and when our products are ready for sales launch into the U.S., modifications to our marketed products may require new 510(k) clearances, or may require us to cease marketing or recall the modified products until clearances or approvals are obtained.
If a De Novo classification is granted, any future modifications to the device may require us to submit a 510(k) premarket notification or obtain FDA approval prior to implementing the change. The FDA requires every manufacturer to initially make and document a determination of whether or not a modification requires a new approval, supplement or clearance. A manufacturer may determine that a modification could not significantly affect safety or efficacy and does not represent a major change in its intended use, so that no new clearance or approval is necessary. The FDA may review any manufacturer’s decision. The FDA may not agree with our decisions regarding whether new clearances or approvals are necessary. We may make modifications or add additional features in the future that we believe, based on FDA’s regulatory framework, do not require a new 510(k) clearance or PMA. If the FDA disagrees with our determination and requires us to submit new 510(k) notifications or even a PMA for modifications to our previously cleared products for which we have concluded that new clearances or approvals are unnecessary, we may be required to cease marketing or to recall the modified product until we obtain clearance or approval, and we may be subject to significant enforcement actions. If the FDA requires us to go through a lengthier, more rigorous examination for future products or modifications to existing products than we had expected, product introductions or modifications could be delayed or cancelled, which could adversely affect our ability to grow our business.
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Clinical studies may be necessary to support future product submissions to the FDA. The clinical trial process is lengthy and expensive with uncertain outcomes, and often requires the enrollment of large numbers of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit. Delays or failures in our clinical studies will prevent us from launching sales of modified or new products into the U.S. and will adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
Initiating and completing clinical studies necessary to support any future PMA or De Novo applications, and additional safety and efficacy data beyond that typically required for a 510(k) clearance, for our possible future product candidates, will be time-consuming and expensive and the outcome uncertain. Moreover, the results of early clinical studies are not necessarily predictive of future results, and any product we advance into clinical studies may not have favorable results in later clinical studies. The results of preclinical studies and clinical studies of our device conducted to date and ongoing or future studies and studies of our current, planned or future products may not be predictive of the results of later clinical studies, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Our interpretation of data and results from our clinical studies do not ensure that we will achieve similar results in future clinical studies. In addition, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to various interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their products performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and earlier clinical studies have nonetheless failed to replicate results in later clinical studies. Products in later stages of clinical studies may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy despite having progressed through nonclinical studies and earlier clinical studies. Failure can occur at any stage of clinical testing. Our clinical studies may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical and non-clinical testing in addition to those we have planned.
The initiation and completion of any of clinical studies may be prevented, delayed, or halted for numerous reasons. We may experience delays in our ongoing clinical studies for a number of reasons, which could adversely affect the costs, timing or successful completion of our clinical studies, including related to the following:
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we may be required to submit an IDE application to the FDA, which must become effective prior to commencing certain human clinical studies of medical devices, and the FDA may reject our IDE application and notify us that we may not begin clinical studies;
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regulators and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree as to the design or implementation of our clinical studies;
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regulators and/or an Institutional Review Board, or IRB, or other reviewing bodies may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial, or to conduct or continue a clinical trial at a prospective or specific trial site;
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we may not reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;
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clinical studies may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical studies or abandon product development programs;
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the number of subjects or patients required for clinical studies may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical studies may be insufficient or slower than we anticipate, and the number of clinical studies being conducted at any given time may be high and result in fewer available patients for any given clinical trial, or patients may drop out of these clinical studies at a higher rate than we anticipate;
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our third-party contractors, including those manufacturing products or conducting clinical studies on our behalf, may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
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we might have to suspend or terminate clinical studies for various reasons, including a finding that the subjects are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
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we may have to amend clinical trial protocols or conduct additional studies to reflect changes in regulatory requirements or guidance, which we may be required to submit to an IRB and/or regulatory authorities for re-examination;
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regulators, IRBs, or other parties may require or recommend that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including safety signals or noncompliance with regulatory requirements;
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the cost of clinical studies may be greater than we anticipate;
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clinical sites may not adhere to the clinical protocol or may drop out of a clinical trial;
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we may be unable to recruit a sufficient number of clinical trial sites;
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regulators, IRBs, or other reviewing bodies may fail to approve or subsequently find fault with our manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we enter into agreement for clinical and commercial supplies, the supply of devices or other materials necessary to conduct clinical studies may be insufficient, inadequate or not available at an acceptable cost, or we may experience interruptions in supply;
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approval policies or regulations of the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agencies may change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval; and
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our current or future products may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics.
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 studies may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.
Clinical studies must be conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations of the FDA and other applicable regulatory authorities’ legal requirements, regulations or guidelines, and are subject to oversight by these governmental agencies and IRBs at the medical institutions where the clinical studies are conducted. Conducting successful clinical studies will require the enrollment of large numbers of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit. Patient enrollment in clinical studies and completion of patient participation and follow-up depends on many factors, including the size of the patient population, the nature of the trial protocol, the attractiveness of, or the discomforts and risks associated with, the treatments received by enrolled subjects, the availability of appropriate clinical trial investigators, support staff, and proximity of patients to clinical sites and able to comply with the eligibility and exclusion criteria for participation in the clinical trial and patient compliance. For example, patients may be discouraged from enrolling in our clinical studies if the trial protocol requires them to undergo extensive post-treatment procedures or follow-up to assess the safety and effectiveness of our device or if they determine that the treatments received under the trial protocols are not attractive or involve unacceptable risks or discomforts.
We depend on our collaborators and on medical institutions and CROs to conduct our clinical studies in compliance with good clinical practice, or GCP, requirements. To the extent our collaborators or the CROs fail to enroll participants for our clinical studies, fail to conduct the study to GCP standards or are delayed for a significant time in the execution of studies, including achieving full enrollment, we may be affected by increased costs, program delays or both. In addition, clinical studies that are conducted in countries outside the United States may subject us to further delays and expenses as a result of increased shipment costs, additional regulatory requirements and the engagement of non-U.S. CROs, as well as expose us to risks associated with clinical investigators who are unknown to the FDA, and different standards of diagnosis, screening and medical care.
Development of sufficient and appropriate clinical protocols to demonstrate safety and efficacy are required and we may not adequately develop such protocols to support clearance and approval. Further, the FDA may require us to submit data on a greater number of patients than we originally anticipated and/or for a longer follow-up period or change the data collection requirements or data analysis applicable to our clinical studies. Delays in patient enrollment or failure of patients to continue to participate in a clinical trial may cause an increase in costs and delays in the approval and attempted sales launch of our device in the U.S. or result in the failure of the clinical trial. In addition, despite considerable time and expense invested in our clinical studies, the FDA may not consider our data adequate to demonstrate safety and efficacy. Such increased costs and delays or failures could adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
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Medical device development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies may not be predictive of future study results.
Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical study process. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical studies of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical studies. Product candidates that have shown promising results in early-stage clinical studies may still suffer significant setbacks in subsequent advanced clinical studies. There is a high failure rate for medical devices proceeding through clinical studies, and product candidates in later stages of clinical studies may fail to show the desired sensitivity and specificity parameters despite having progressed satisfactorily through preclinical studies and initial clinical studies. A number of companies in the medical device industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical studies due to insufficient sensitivity and specificity or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier studies. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. We do not know whether any pivotal studies we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate sensitivity and specificity sufficient to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates.
If the third parties on which we rely to conduct our clinical studies and to assist us with pre-clinical development do not perform as required or expected, we may be delayed or unable to obtain regulatory clearance or approval for sales launch of our device in the U.S.
We may not have the ability to independently conduct our pre-clinical and clinical studies for our future products and we may need to rely on third parties, such as CROs, medical institutions, clinical investigators and contract laboratories to conduct such studies. We would depend on our collaborators and on medical institutions and CROs to conduct our clinical studies in compliance with GCP requirements and other regulatory requirements. To the extent our collaborators or the CROs fail to enroll participants for our clinical studies, fail to conduct the study to GCP standards or are delayed for a significant time in the execution of studies, including achieving full enrollment, including on account of the outbreak of infectious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or otherwise, we may be affected by increased costs, program delays or both, any resulting data may be unreliable or unusable for regulatory purposes, and we may be subject to enforcement action.
If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or regulatory obligations or meet expected deadlines, if these third parties need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our pre-clinical development activities or clinical studies may be extended, delayed, suspended or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully launch sales of, our device on a timely basis, if at all, and our business, operating results and prospects may be adversely affected.
We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical studies, or we may fail to demonstrate specificity and sensitivity to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities.
Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for sales launch of the MyoVista into the U.S., we must conduct extensive clinical studies to demonstrate its specificity and sensitivity. Clinical testing is expensive, time consuming and uncertain as to outcome. We cannot guarantee that any clinical studies will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. Our clinical studies involve adults and, before we are permitted to enroll them in clinical studies, we must demonstrate that although the research may pose a risk to the subjects, there is a prospect of direct benefit to each patient. We must do so to the satisfaction of each research site’s IRB. If we fail to adequately demonstrate this to the satisfaction of the relevant IRB, it will decline to approve the research, which could have significant adverse consequences for us.
A failure of one or more clinical studies can occur at any stage of testing, and our future clinical studies may not be successful. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include but are not limited to:
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delays in reaching a consensus with regulatory agencies on study design;
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delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, and clinical study sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and clinical study sites;
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delays in obtaining required IRB approval at each clinical study site;
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imposition of a clinical hold by regulatory agencies, after review of an IDE application, or equivalent application, or an inspection of our clinical study operations or study sites;
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delays in recruiting suitable patients to participate in our clinical studies;
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difficulty collaborating with patient groups and investigators;
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failure by our CROs, other third parties or us to adhere to clinical study requirements;
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failure to perform in accordance with the FDA’s GCP requirements, or applicable regulatory guidelines in other countries;
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delays in having patients complete participation in a study;
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patients dropping out of a study;
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occurrence of serious adverse events associated with the product candidate that are viewed to outweigh its potential benefits;
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changes in regulatory requirements and guidance that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols;
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the cost of clinical studies of our product candidates being greater than we anticipate;
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