ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
We operate in a rapidly changing environment that involves a number of risks that could materially affect our business, financial condition or future results, some of which are beyond our control. The occurrence of any of these risks could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or growth prospects or cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements we have made in this report and those we may make from time to time. In evaluating the Company and its business, you should carefully consider the information included under Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.
Risk Factors Summary
The following is a summary of the risk factors that could materially affect our business, financial condition or future results, all of which are more fully described below. This summary should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” described below and should not be relied upon as a complete summary of the material risks facing our business.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Financial Condition
● The COVID-19 pandemic or other public health crises.
● Securities class action litigation or derivative litigation.
● Sufficiency of our internal and external sources of liquidity.
● We manufacture and store our products at a single facility in Florida.
● Our inability to collect on our accounts receivables held by customers.
● Failure to maintain relationships with Group Purchasing Organizations.
● Cost-containment efforts of our customers and purchasing groups.
● The lengthy sales cycle for medical devices could delay our sales.
● Our reliance on distributors to sell our products outside of the U.S.
● Failure to attract and retain the talent required for our business.
● Inability to scale our operations.
● Our engagement in related party transactions.
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● Difficulties associated with accurately forecasting our business performance.
● We are subject to various privacy and consumer protection laws.
Risks Related to Our Industry
● Risks associated with doing business outside of the U.S.
● Impact of U.S. healthcare policy and changes thereto.
● Our operations are subject to environmental laws and regulations.
Risks Relating to our Intellectual Property
● Protection of our intellectual property.
● Uncertainties associated with timely patent reviews and approvals.
● Disclosure of confidential or proprietary information.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
● Significant fluctuations and volatility of our common stock.
● Use of capital to repurchase shares of our common stock.
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● Our need or choice to raise additional capital in the future.
● Payment of dividends.
● Impact from our involvement in securities class action litigation.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Financial Condition
Our business, financial condition and operations may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or other public health crises.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting restrictions intended to slow the spread of COVID-19, including stay-at-home orders, business shut downs and other restrictions, has and will likely continue to adversely affect our business in a number of ways. To respond to the demands of managing COVID-19 and the resulting economic uncertainties, healthcare organizations may be forced to adjust spending priorities by increased spending related to COVID-19, which may have a significant effect on the demand and available budget for our products and related services. The financial strains on healthcare systems may also lead to an increased risk of delays in customer payments. In addition, a recession resulting from the spread of COVID-19 could materially affect our business, especially if a recession results in higher unemployment causing potential patients to not have access to health insurance. Our ability to generate sales may be further disrupted by hospitals restricting access to hospital workers only. A decline in operating results has limited and could further limit our generation of capital resources and cause financial stress if we are unable to increase revenues or adjust our costs appropriately to changes in revenue. We believe that COVID-19’s adverse impact on our operating results, cash flows and financial condition will be primarily driven by the severity and duration of the pandemic and its impact on the U.S. and global economy.
In addition to adversely impacting demand for our products, COVID-19 or other public health crises could have an adverse impact on our manufacturing capacity, supply chains, and distribution systems as we and other businesses and governments take preventative and precautionary measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. We could experience other negative impacts of COVID-19 relating to lack of availability of our key personnel or temporary closures of our office or the facilities of our suppliers or third-party service providers.
The future progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting impacts on our customers, sales activity, supply chain and distribution networks are highly uncertain at this time. However, the foregoing and other disruptions as a result of COVID-19 could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition, especially to the extent these impacts persist or exacerbate over an extended period of time.
Our financial performance is significantly dependent on a limited number of products, and disruptions in our ability to sell these products may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our current revenue and profitability are significantly dependent on the sale of the MRidium 3860+ MRI compatible IV infusion pump system, the 3880 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system (both Class II medical devices) and the ongoing sale of related disposables and services.
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In the past, the FDA issued us a warning letter that impacted our ability to commercially distribute our MRidium 3860+ MRI compatible IV infusion pump system. Although we have resolved this warning letter and resumed commercial distribution of the MRidium 3860+ MRI compatible IV infusion pump system, there can be no guarantee that the FDA will not take similar action in the future. The FDA could require us to cease shipment of our products, notify health professionals and others that the devices present unreasonable risk or substantial harm to public health, order a recall, repair, replacement, or refund of the devices, detain or seize adulterated or misbranded medical devices, or ban the medical devices. The FDA may also issue further warning letters or untitled letters, refuse future requests for 510(k) submission or premarket approval, revoke existing 510(k) clearances or premarket approvals previously granted, impose operating restrictions, enjoin and restrain certain violations of applicable law pertaining to medical devices and assess civil or criminal penalties against our officers, employees, or us.
Our products could be rendered obsolete or economically impractical by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to:
● entrance of new competitors into our markets;
● technological advancements of MRI scanners;
● manufacturing or supply interruptions;
● product liability claims;
● our reputation and product market acceptance;
● product recalls or safety alerts.
Any major factor adversely affecting the sale of our products or services would cause our revenues to decline and have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and our common stock.
We have significant international sales as well as international supply chain links and we face risks related to health epidemics that could adversely affect our revenue.
Our business could be adversely impacted by the effects of COVID-19 or other epidemics. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted our revenues and may continue to do so in the future. With respect to our sales, some customers that are implementing heightened security policies have inhibited the ability of our domestic sales force and international distributors to access hospitals for purposes of selling our products. This has caused delays of orders for our products and negatively affected our revenues. These heightened security policies and delays of orders may continue into the future.
Our materials suppliers could also be disrupted by conditions related to COVID-19, or other epidemics, possibly resulting in disruption to our supply chain. If our suppliers are unable or fail to fulfill their obligations to us for any reason, we may not be able to manufacture our products and satisfy customer demand or our obligations under sales agreements in a timely manner, and our business could be harmed as a result.
At this point in time, there is uncertainty relating to the potential effect of COVID-19 on our business. Infections may become more widespread or may recur at a later time, there may be variations in the global response to future outbreaks, and inefficiencies of testing and vaccination programs, and, should any one of these limit our ability to timely sell and distribute our products or cause supply disruptions, it would have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, a significant health epidemic could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could affect demand for our products which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
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We have been subject to securities class action litigation and derivative litigation and we may be subject to similar or other litigation in the future.
In the past, following adverse action by the FDA or volatility in our stock price, securities class action litigation has been brought against us. There can be no assurance that we will not face other securities litigation in the future. With respect to any litigation, our insurance may not reimburse us or may not be sufficient to reimburse us for the expenses or losses we may suffer in contesting and concluding such lawsuits. A decision adverse to our interests on these actions or resulting from these matters could result in the payment of substantial damages and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and our common stock. Regardless of the outcome, these claims may result in injury to our reputation, significant costs, diversion of management’s attention and resources, and loss of revenue.
There is no assurance that our internal and external sources of liquidity will at all times be sufficient for our cash requirements.
We must have sufficient sources of liquidity to fund our working capital requirements, our capital improvement plans, and execute on our strategic initiatives. A decline in operating results could limit our generation of capital resources and cause financial stresses if we are unable to increase revenues or adjust our costs appropriately to changes in revenue. Further, future new product launches or investments in other growth initiatives may demand increased working capital before any long-term return is realized from increased revenue. Our ability to achieve our business and cash flow plans is based on a number of assumptions which involve significant judgments and estimates of future performance, borrowing capacity and credit availability, which cannot at all times be assured. Accordingly, there is no assurance that cash flows from operations and other internal and external sources of liquidity will at all times be sufficient for our cash requirements. If necessary, we may need to consider actions and steps to improve our cash position and mitigate any potential liquidity shortfall, such as modifying our business plan, pursuing additional financing to the extent available, reducing capital expenditures, pursuing and evaluating other alternatives and opportunities to obtain additional sources of liquidity and other potential actions to reduce costs. There can be no assurance that any of these actions would be successful, sufficient or available on favorable terms. Any inability to generate or obtain sufficient levels of liquidity to meet our cash requirements at the level and times needed could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial position.
Our continued success depends on the integrity of our supply chain, including multiple single-source suppliers, the disruption of which could negatively impact our business.
Many of the component parts of our products are obtained through supply agreements with third parties. Some of these parts require our partners to engage in complex manufacturing processes and involve long lead times or delivery periods. Considering our dependence on third-party suppliers, several of which are single-source suppliers, we are subject to inherent uncertainties and risks related to their ability to produce or deliver parts on a timely basis, to comply with product safety and other regulatory requirements and to provide quality parts to us at a reasonable price.
For example, we are dependent upon a single vendor for the ultrasonic motor at the core of our devices. If this vendor fails to meet our volume requirements, which we anticipate will increase over time, or if the vendor becomes unable or unwilling to continue supplying motors to us, this would impact our ability to supply our devices to customers until a replacement source is secured. Our executed agreement with this vendor provides that the price at which we purchase products from the vendor is determined by agreement from time to time or should material costs change. Although we have had a long history of stable pricing with this supplier, this provision may make it difficult for us to continue to receive motors from this vendor on favorable terms or at all if we do not agree on pricing in the future. In such event, it could materially and adversely affect our commercial activities, operating results and financial condition.
In the near term, we do not anticipate finding alternative sources for our primary suppliers, including single source suppliers. Therefore, if our primary suppliers become unable or unwilling to manufacture or deliver materials, or manufacture or deliver such materials later than anticipated, we could experience protracted delays or interruptions in the supply of materials which would ultimately delay our manufacture of products for commercial sale, which could materially and adversely affect our development programs, commercial activities, operating results and financial condition.
Additionally, any failure by us to forecast demand for, or to maintain an adequate supply of raw materials, parts, or finished products, could result in an interruption in the supply of certain products and a decline in our sales.
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We rely on third-party suppliers for certain of our raw materials and components.
We rely on unaffiliated third-party suppliers for certain raw materials and components necessary for the manufacturing and operation of our products. Certain of those raw materials and components are proprietary products of those unaffiliated third-party suppliers and are specifically cited in our applications with regulatory agencies so that they must be obtained from that specific sole source or sources and could not be obtained from another supplier unless and until an appropriate application amendment is approved by the regulatory agency.
Among the reasons we may be unable to obtain these raw materials and components include, but are not limited to:
● unexpected demand for or shortage of raw materials or components;
These events could negatively impact our ability to satisfy demand for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our products’ use and sales and our business and results of operations. We may experience these or other shortages in the future resulting in delayed shipments, supply constraints, contract disputes and/or stock-outs of our products.
The manufacture of our products requires strict adherence to regulatory requirements governing medical devices and if we or our suppliers encounter problems our business could suffer.
The manufacture of our products must comply with strict regulatory requirements governing Class II medical devices in the U.S. and other regulatory requirements in foreign locations. Problems may arise during manufacturing, quality control, storage or distribution of our products for a variety of reasons, including equipment malfunction, failure to follow specific protocols and procedures, manufacturing quality concerns, or problems with raw materials, electromechanical, software and other components, supplier issues, and natural disasters. If problems arise during production, the affected products may have to be discarded. Manufacturing problems or delays could also lead to increased costs, lost sales, damage to customer relations, failure to supply penalties, time and expense spent investigating the cause and, depending on the cause, similar losses with respect to other batches of products. If problems are not discovered before the product is released to the market, voluntary recalls, corrective actions or product liability related costs may also be incurred. Should we encounter difficulties in the manufacture of our products or be subject to a product recall, our business could suffer materially.
Our markets are very competitive and we sell certain of our products in a mature market.
The market for our 3880 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system is well-developed and sales growth for our monitor could be slower than we anticipate. Our vital signs monitoring system could face difficult competition, including competitors offering lower prices, which could have an adverse effect on our revenue and margins. Our competitors may have certain advantages, which include the ability to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their products. Consequently, we may need to increase our efforts, and related expenses for research and development, marketing, and selling to maintain or improve our position. We may not realize
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the per unit revenue we have planned for and expect. Continued sales to our existing customers are expected to be significant to our revenue in the future, and if our existing customers do not continue to purchase from us, our revenue may decline.
We manufacture and store our products at a single facility in Florida.
We manufacture and store our products at a single facility in Winter Springs, Florida. If by reason of fire, hurricane or other natural disaster, or for any other reason, the facility is destroyed or seriously damaged or our access to it is limited, our ability to provide products to our customers would be seriously interrupted or impaired completely and our operating results and financial condition would be materially and negatively affected.
Our inability to collect on our accounts receivables held by customers may have an adverse effect on our business operations and financial condition.
We market our products to end users in the United States and to distributors internationally. Sales to end users in the United States are generally made on open credit terms. Management maintains an allowance for potential credit losses. From time to time, we have had, and may in the future have, accounts receivables from one or more customers that accounted for 10 percent or more of our gross accounts receivable. As a result, we may be exposed to a certain level of concentration of credit risk. If a major customer experiences financial difficulties, the effect on us could be material and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, COVID-19 may cause delays in payments from customers, which may adversely impact our future results of operations and liquidity.
If we fail to maintain relationships with Group Purchasing Organizations, sales of our products could decline.
Our ability to sell our products to U.S. hospitals, acute care facilities and outpatient imaging centers depends in part on our relationships with Group Purchasing Organizations (“GPOs”). Many existing and potential customers for our products are members of GPOs. GPOs negotiate pricing arrangements and contracts, which are sometimes exclusive, with medical supply manufacturers and distributors, and these negotiated prices are made available to a GPO’s affiliated hospitals and other members. We pay the GPOs an administrative fee in the form of a percentage of the volume of products sold to their affiliated hospitals and other members. If we are not an approved provider selected by a GPO, affiliated hospitals and other members may be less likely to purchase our products. Should a GPO negotiate a sole source or bundling contract covering a future or current competitor’s products, we may be precluded from making sales of our competing products to members of that GPO for the duration of the contractual arrangement. For example, even if we have an existing contract with a GPO for sales of our MRidium 3860+ MRI compatible IV infusion pump, we may encounter difficulties in selling, or be unable to sell, our 3880 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system to that GPO’s affiliated hospitals and other members, which may result in a longer sales cycle or an inability to sell. Our failure to renew contracts with GPOs may cause us to lose market share and could have a material adverse effect on our sales, financial condition and results of operations. In the future, if another competitive supplier emerges, and we fail to keep our relationships and develop new relationships with GPOs, our competitive position would likely suffer.
Cost-containment efforts of our customers and purchasing groups could adversely affect our sales and profitability.
Our MRI compatible medical devices are considered capital equipment by many potential customers, and hence changes in the budgets of healthcare organizations and the timing of spending under these budgets and conflicting spending priorities, such as spending related to COVID-19, may have a significant effect on the demand for our products and related services. Any decrease in expenditures by these healthcare facilities could decrease demand for our products
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and related services and reduce our revenue. Additionally, changes to reimbursement policies by third-party payors could also decrease demand for our products and related services and reduce our revenue.
Any failure in our efforts to access and educate clinicians, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and hospital administrators regarding the advantages of our products could significantly limit our product sales.
We believe our future success will require us to educate a sufficient number of clinicians, anesthesiologists, radiologists, hospital administrators and other purchasing decision-makers about our products and the costs and benefits of our products. If we fail to demonstrate the safety, reliability and economic benefits of our products to hospitals and acute medical facilities, our products may not be adopted and our expected and actual sales would suffer.
The lengthy sales cycle for medical devices could delay our sales.
The decision-making process of customers is often complex and time-consuming. Based on our experience, we believe the period between initial discussions with customers regarding our products and a customer’s purchase of our products have varied widely and have historically ranged between three and six months in duration, with more recent cycles lengthening beyond this historical range due to COVID-19. Sales cycles can also be delayed because of capital budgeting procedures. Moreover, even if one or two units are sold to a hospital, we believe that it will take additional time and experience with our products before other medical professionals routinely use them for other procedures and in other departments of the hospital. Such time would delay potential sales of additional units and disposable products or additional optional accessories to that medical facility or hospital. These delays could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Because we rely on distributors to sell our products outside of the U.S., our revenues could decline if our existing distributors do not continue to purchase products from us or if our relationship with any of these distributors is terminated.
We rely on distributors for all our sales outside the U.S. and hence do not have direct control over foreign sales activities. These distributors also assist us with regulatory approvals and the education of physicians and government agencies. Our revenues outside the U.S. have recently represented approximately one-fifth of our net revenues. If our existing international distributors fail to sell our products or sell at lower levels than we anticipate, we could experience a decline in revenues or fail to meet our forecasts. We cannot be certain that we will be able to attract new international distributors nor retain existing ones that market our products effectively or provide timely and cost-effective customer support and service. None of our existing distributors are obligated to continue selling our products.
If we do not successfully develop and commercialize enhanced products or new products that remain competitive, we could lose revenue opportunities and customers, and our ability to achieve growth would be impaired.
The medical device industry is characterized by rapid product development and technological advances, which places our products at risk of obsolescence. Our long-term success depends upon the development and successful commercialization of new products, new or improved technologies and additional applications for MRI compatible infusion, therapeutic, diagnostic and safety products and services. The research and development process is time-consuming and costly and may not result in products or applications that we can successfully commercialize. If we do not successfully adapt our technology, products and applications, we could lose revenue opportunities and customers. In addition, we may not be able to improve our products or develop new products or technologies quickly enough to maintain a competitive position in our markets and continue to grow our business.
We are highly dependent on our founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Roger Susi.
We believe that Mr. Susi will play a significant role in the development of new products. Our current and future operations could be adversely impacted if we were to lose his services. Accordingly, our success will be dependent on appropriately managing the risks related to maintaining his continued services.
If we fail to attract and retain the talent required for our business, our business could be materially harmed.
Competition for highly skilled personnel is often intense in the medical device industry, including in the MRI compatible medical device segment. If our current employees with experience in the MRI compatible device industry leave our company, we may have difficulty finding replacements with an equivalent amount of experience and skill,
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which could harm our operations. Our future success will also depend in part on our ability to identify, hire and retain additional personnel, including executives, skilled engineers to develop new products and sales and production staff. We may not be successful in attracting, integrating or retaining qualified personnel to meet our current growth plans or future needs. Our productivity may be adversely affected if we do not integrate and train our new employees quickly and effectively.
Any one of our executive officers or other key employees could terminate his or her relationship with us at any time. The loss of one or more of our executive officers or key employees, and any failure to have in place and execute an effective succession plan for key executive officers, could significantly delay or prevent us from achieving our business and/or development objectives and could materially harm our business. Changes in our executive management team may also cause disruptions in, and harm to, our business.
We may also have difficulty finding and retaining qualified Board members. Any failure to do so could be perceived negatively and could adversely affect our business.
Also, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that we have improperly solicited, or that they have divulged proprietary or other confidential information, or that their former employers own their inventions or work product.
We may be unable to scale our operations successfully.
We are working to expand our size and scale via more penetration of existing markets and the launch of new complementary products and updates to existing products. This growth, if it occurs as planned, will place significant demands on our management and manufacturing capacity, as well as our financial, administrative and other resources. We cannot guarantee that any of the personnel, systems, procedures and controls we put in place will be adequate to support the manufacture and distribution of our products. Our operating results will depend substantially on the ability of our officers and key employees to manage changing business conditions and to implement and improve our financial and administrative systems and manage other resources. If we are unable to respond to and manage changing business conditions, or the scale of our products, services and operations, then the quality of our services, our ability to retain key personnel and our business could be harmed.
We engage in related party transactions, which result in a conflict of interest involving our management.
We have engaged in the past, and continue to engage, in related party transactions, particularly between our company and Roger Susi and his affiliates. The only significant ongoing related party transaction is the lease agreement between our company and Susi, LLC, an affiliate of Roger Susi, with respect to our sole production and headquarters facility in Winter Springs, Florida. Related party transactions present difficult conflicts of interest, could result in disadvantages to our company and may impair investor confidence, which could materially and adversely affect us. Related party transactions could also cause us to become materially dependent on related parties in the ongoing conduct of our business, and related parties may be motivated by personal interests to pursue courses of action that are not necessarily in the best interests of our company and our stockholders.
Any acquisitions of technologies, products and businesses, may be difficult to integrate, could adversely affect our relationships with key customers, and/or could result in significant charges to earnings.
We plan to periodically review potential acquisitions of technologies, products and businesses that are complementary to our products and that could accelerate our growth. However, our company has never completed an acquisition and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in finding any acquisitions in the future. The process of identifying, executing and realizing attractive returns on acquisitions involves a high degree of uncertainty. Acquisitions typically entail many risks and could result in difficulties in integrating operations, personnel, technologies and products. If we are not able to successfully integrate our acquisitions, we may not obtain the advantages and synergies that the acquisitions were intended to create, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results
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of operations, financial condition and cash flows, our ability to develop and introduce new products and the market price of our stock.
The environment in which we operate makes it increasingly difficult to accurately forecast our business performance.
Significant changes and volatility in most aspects of the current business environment, including financial markets, consumer behavior, speed of technological, regulatory and competitive changes, and the continued impact of COVID-19, make it increasingly difficult for us to predict our revenues and earnings into the future. Our quarterly sales and profits depend substantially on the volume and timing of orders fulfilled during the quarter, and such orders are difficult to forecast. Product demand is dependent upon the capital spending budgets of our customers and prospects as well as government funding policies and matters of public policy as well as product and economic cycles that can affect the spending decisions of these entities. As a result, any revenue, earnings or financial guidance or outlook which we have given or might give may turn out to be inaccurate. Though we endeavor to give reasonable estimates of future revenues, earnings and financial information at the time we give such guidance, based on then-current conditions, there is a significant risk that such guidance or outlook will turn out to be incorrect. Historically, companies that have overstated their operating guidance have suffered significant declines in their stock price when such results are announced to the public.
There are inherent uncertainties involved in estimates, judgments and assumptions used in the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Furthermore, portions of GAAP require the use of fair value models which are variable in application and methodology from appraiser to appraiser. Any changes in estimates, judgments and assumptions used could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and operating results.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Such assumptions and estimates include those related to revenue recognition, accruals for product returns, allowances for doubtful accounts, valuation of inventory, impairment of intangibles and long-lived assets, accounting for leases, accounting for income taxes and stock-based compensation and allowances for uncertainties. These factors are also influenced by regular changes to GAAP, some of which are material to most companies. These changes introduce risk to our financial reporting processes due to implementation and internal control implications.
We base the aforementioned estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as discussed in greater detail in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our actual operating results may differ and fall below our assumptions and the financial forecasts of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a significant decline in our stock price.
Changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our results.
We are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, and other tax authorities. It is possible that tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken, and any adverse outcome of such a review or audit could have a negative effect on our financial position and operating results. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, but the determination of our provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities requires significant judgment by management, and there are transactions where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Although we believe that our estimates are reasonable, the ultimate tax outcome may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements and may materially affect our financial results in the period or periods for which such determination is made. There can be no assurance that the outcomes from continuous examinations will not have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We are subject to various privacy and consumer protection laws.
Our privacy policy is posted on our website, and any failure by us or our vendor or other business partners to comply with it or with federal, state or international privacy, data protection or security laws or regulations could result in regulatory or litigation-related actions against us, legal liability, fines, damages and other costs. Substantial expenses and operational changes may be required in connection with maintaining compliance with such laws, and in particular
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certain emerging privacy laws are still subject to a high degree of uncertainty as to their interpretation and application. For example, in May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) began to fully apply to the processing of personal information collected from individuals located in the European Union. The GDPR has created new compliance obligations and has significantly increased fines for noncompliance. Although we take steps to protect the security of our customers’ personal information, we may be required to expend significant resources to comply with data breach requirements if third parties improperly obtain and use the personal information of our customers or we otherwise experience a data loss with respect to customers’ personal information. A breach of our network security and systems could have negative consequences for our business and future prospects, including possible fines, penalties and damages, reduced customer demand for our products, and harm to our reputation and brand.
Risks Related to Our Industry
We are subject to substantial government regulation that is subject to change and could force us to make modifications to how we develop, manufacture, market and price our products.
The medical device industry is regulated extensively by governmental authorities, principally the FDA in the U.S. and corresponding state and foreign regulatory agencies. The majority of our manufacturing processes are required to comply with quality systems regulations, including current good manufacturing practice requirements that cover the methods and documentation of the design, testing, production, control, quality assurance, labeling, packaging and shipping of our products. Failure to comply with applicable medical device regulatory requirements could result in, among other things, warning letters, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, repairs, replacements, refunds, recalls or seizures of products, total or partial suspensions of production, refusal of the FDA or other regulatory agencies to grant pre-market clearances or approvals for our products, withdrawals or suspensions of future or current clearances or approvals and criminal prosecution.
In addition, our products are subject to pre-clearance requirements by the FDA and similar international agencies that govern a wide variety of product activities from design and development to labeling, manufacturing, promotion, sales and distribution. Compliance with these regulations may be time consuming, burdensome and expensive for us. The failure to obtain, or the loss or suspension of any such pre-approval, would negatively affect our ability to sell our products and harm our anticipated revenues.
Foreign governmental authorities that regulate the manufacture and sale of medical devices have become increasingly stringent and, to the extent we sell our products in foreign countries, we may be subject to rigorous regulation in the future. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated revenue.
If we fail to obtain, or experience significant delays in obtaining, FDA clearances or other necessary approvals to commercially distribute new products, our ability to maintain profitability or grow will suffer.
Our current products are Class II medical devices and hence require regulatory pre-market approval by the FDA and other federal and state authorities prior to their sale in the U.S. Similar approvals are required by foreign governmental authorities for sale of our products outside of the U.S., including the EU. We are responsible for obtaining the applicable regulatory approval for the commercial distribution of our products. As part of our strategy, we plan to seek approvals for new MRI compatible products. The process of obtaining approvals is costly and time consuming, and there can be no assurance that we will obtain the required approvals on a timely basis, or at all. Failure to receive approvals for new products will hurt our ability to grow.
We are subject to risks associated with doing business outside of the U.S.
Sales to customers outside of the U.S. have historically comprised of approximately one-fifth of our net revenues and we expect that non-U.S. sales will contribute to future growth. A majority of our international sales originate from Europe and Japan, and we also make sales in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Mexico and certain parts of the Middle East. The risks associated with operations outside the U.S. include:
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● difficulty in establishing, staffing and managing non-U.S. operations;
● changes in labor, environmental, health and safety laws;
● healthcare crises or epidemics;
● uncertainties regarding judicial systems and procedures; and
● minimal or diminished protection of intellectual property.
These risks, individually or in the aggregate, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We may incur product liability losses, or become subject to other lawsuits related to our products, business, and insurance coverage could be inadequate or unavailable to cover these losses.
Our business is subject to potential product liability risks that are inherent in the design, development, manufacture and marketing of our medical devices and consumable products. We carry third-party product liability insurance coverage to protect against such risks, but there can be no assurance that our policy is adequate. In the ordinary course of business, we may become the subject of product liability claims and lawsuits alleging that our products have resulted or could result in an unsafe condition or injury to patients. Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could be costly to defend and could result in settlement payments and adjustments not covered by or in excess of our product liability insurance. We currently have third-party product liability insurance with maximum coverage of $5,000,000; however, such coverage requires a substantial deductible that we must pay before becoming eligible to receive any insurance proceeds. The deductible amount is currently equal to $50,000 per occurrence and $150,000 in the aggregate. We will have to pay for defending product liability or other claims that are not covered by our insurance. These payments could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and financial condition. Product liability claims and lawsuits, safety alerts, recalls or corrective actions, regardless of their ultimate
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outcome, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, reputation and on our ability to attract and retain customers. In addition, we may not be able to obtain insurance in the future on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Defects or failures associated with our products and/or our quality control systems could lead to the filing of adverse event reports, recalls or safety alerts and negative publicity and could subject us to regulatory actions.
Safety problems associated with our products could lead to a product recall or the issuance of a safety alert relating to such products and result in significant costs and negative publicity. An adverse event involving one of our products could require us to file an adverse event report with the FDA. Such disclosure could result in reduced market acceptance and demand for all our products, and could harm our reputation and our ability to market our products in the future. In some circumstances, adverse events arising from or associated with the design, manufacture or marketing of our products could result in the suspension or delay of regulatory reviews of our applications for new product approvals or clearances.
We may also voluntarily undertake a recall of our products or temporarily shut down production lines based on internal safety, quality monitoring and testing data. To avoid future product recalls we have made and continue to invest in our quality systems, processes and procedures. We will continue to make improvements to our products and systems to further reduce issues related to patient safety.
However, there can be no assurance our efforts or systems will be sufficient. Future quality concerns, whether real or perceived, could adversely affect our operating results.
Our products or product types, or MR imaging could be subject to negative publicity, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
The market’s perception of our products could be harmed if any of our products or similar products offered by others in our industry become the subject of negative publicity due to a product safety issue, withdrawal, recall, or are proven or are claimed to be harmful to patients. The harm to market perception may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
Our products are designed for use around MRI scanners. MRI has been an important imaging diagnostic for some time now, however, should traditional MRI technology change materially or decline in usage due to new technologies or concerns about costs or efficacy of MR imaging, our products would suffer as MRI usage and installations declined. Such a matter may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
U.S. healthcare policy and changes thereto, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
In 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted. While the provisions of the ACA are intended to expand access to health insurance coverage and improve the quality of healthcare over time, other provisions of the legislation, including Medicare provisions aimed at decreasing costs, comparative effectiveness research, an independent payment advisory board and pilot programs to evaluate alternative payment methodologies, are having a meaningful effect on the way healthcare is developed and delivered and could have a significant effect on our business. There had been ongoing litigation and congressional efforts to modify or repeal all or certain provisions of the ACA. We face uncertainties that might result from modification or repeal of any of the provisions of the ACA, or reimposision of any original provisions since removed or relaxed, including as a result of current and future executive orders and legislative actions. We cannot predict what other healthcare programs and regulations will ultimately be implemented at the federal or state level or the effect of any future legislation or regulation in the United States may have on our business.
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We are subject to healthcare fraud and abuse regulations that could result in significant liability, require us to change our business practices and restrict our operations in the future.
We and our customers are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local laws targeting fraud and abuse in the healthcare industry, including anti-kickback and false claims laws. Violations of these laws are punishable by criminal or civil sanctions, including substantial fines, imprisonment and exclusion from participation in healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and Veterans’ Administration health programs and health programs outside the U.S. These laws and regulations are broad in scope and are subject to evolving interpretations, which could require us to alter one or more of our sales or marketing practices. In addition, violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our sales, profitability and financial condition. Furthermore, since many of our customers rely on reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid and other governmental programs to cover a substantial portion of their expenditures, if we or our customers are excluded from such programs as a result of a violation of these laws, it could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We have developed and implemented business practices and processes to train our personnel to perform their duties in compliance with healthcare fraud and abuse laws and conduct informal oversight to detect and prevent these types of fraud and abuse. However, we lack formal written policies and procedures at this time. If we are unable to formally document and implement the controls and procedures required in a timely manner or we are otherwise found to be in violation of such laws, we might suffer adverse regulatory consequences or face criminal sanctions, which could harm our operations, financial reporting or financial results.
We could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws.
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We intend to adopt policies for compliance with these anti-bribery laws, which often carry substantial penalties.
We cannot assure you that our internal control policies and procedures always will protect us from reckless or other inappropriate acts committed by our affiliates, employees or agents. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
We and our suppliers and customers are required to obtain regulatory approvals to comply with regulations applicable to medical devices and infusion pumps, and these approvals could result in delays or increased costs in developing new products.
In December 2014, the FDA issued guidance entitled “Infusion Pumps Total Product Life Cycle.” This guidance established substantial additional pre-market requirements for new and modified infusion pumps. Through this guidance, the FDA indicated more data demonstrating product safety will be required for future 510(k) submissions for infusion pumps, including the potential for more clinical and human factors data. The process for obtaining regulatory approvals to market infusion pumps and related accessories have become more costly and time consuming. The impact of this guidance is likely to result in a more time consuming and costly process to obtain regulatory clearance to market infusion pumps. In addition, new requirements could result in longer delays for the clearance of new products, modification of existing infusion pump products or remediation of existing products in the market. Future delays in the receipt of, or failure to obtain, approvals could result in delayed or no realization of product revenues.
We and our suppliers and customers are required to maintain compliance with regulations applicable to medical devices and infusion pumps, and it could be costly to comply with these regulations and to develop compliant products and processes. Failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to sanctions and could adversely affect our business.
Even if we are able to obtain approval for introducing new products to the market, we and our suppliers may not be able to remain in compliance with applicable FDA and other material regulatory requirements once clearance or approval has been obtained for a product. These requirements include, among other things, regulations regarding manufacturing practices, product labeling, off-label marketing, advertising and post-marketing reporting, adverse event reports and field alerts. Compliance with these FDA requirements is subject to continual review and is monitored
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through periodic inspections by the FDA. For example, the FDA conducted routine inspections of our facility in Winter Springs, Florida in July 2016. The FDA issued a Form 483 on July 18, 2016 resulting from an inspection of our facility between July 11 and July 18, 2016 that identified three observations. These observations were related to procedural and documentation issues associated with the CAPA system, vendor requirements and complaint investigation.
We submitted responses to the Form 483 in August 2016 and October 2016 in which we described our proposed corrective and preventative actions to address each of the observations. As part of our response, on October 13, 2016 we initiated a customer follow up to our August 2012 Safety Alert and made available an updated instruction card for customers. This Safety Alert was closed in August 2019.
In addition, manufacturing flaws, component failures, design defects, off-label uses or inadequate disclosure of product related information could result in an unsafe condition or the injury or death of a patient. All of these events could harm our sales, margins and profitability in the affected periods and may have a material adverse effect on our business. Any adverse regulatory action or action taken by us to maintain appropriate regulatory compliance, with respect to these laws and regulations could disrupt our business and have a material adverse effect on our sales, profitability and financial condition. Furthermore, an adverse regulatory action with respect to any of our products or operating procedures or to our suppliers’ manufacturing facilities could materially harm our reputation in the marketplace.
Our operations are subject to environmental laws and regulations, with which compliance is costly and which exposes us to penalties for non-compliance.
Our business, products, and product candidates are subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, worker health and safety and the use, management, storage, and disposal of hazardous substances, waste, and other regulated materials. These environmental laws and regulations could require us to pay for environmental remediation and response costs at third-party locations where we dispose of or recycle hazardous substances. The costs of complying with these various environmental requirements, as they now exist or as may be altered in the future, could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Relating to our Intellectual Property
Our success depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property.
We intend to rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, license agreements and contractual provisions to establish and protect our proprietary rights to our technologies and products. We cannot guarantee that the steps we have taken or will take to protect our intellectual property rights will be adequate or that they will deter infringement, misappropriation or violation of our intellectual property. We may fail to secure patents that are important to our business, and we cannot guarantee that any pending U.S. trademark or patent application, if ultimately issued, will provide us some relative competitive advantage. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights and to determine the validity and scope of our proprietary rights.
Any litigation could result in substantial expenses and may not adequately protect our intellectual property rights. In addition, the laws of some of the countries in which our products may in the future be sold may not protect our products and intellectual property to the same extent as U.S. laws, or at all. We may be unable to protect our rights in trade secrets and unpatented proprietary technology in these countries. If our trade secrets become known, we may lose our competitive advantages.
Even if we are able to secure necessary patents in the U.S., we may not be able to secure necessary patents and trademarks in foreign countries in which we sell our products or plan to sell our products. In 2013, the U.S. transitioned to a “first inventor to file” system for patents in which, assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application is entitled to a patent. We may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter parties review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third party patent rights.
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Our unpatented trade secrets, know-how, confidential and proprietary information, and technology may be inadequately protected.
We rely on unpatented trade secrets, know-how and technology. This intellectual property is difficult to protect, especially in the medical device industry, where much of the information about a product must be submitted to regulatory authorities during the regulatory approval process. We seek to protect trade secrets, confidential information and proprietary information, in part, by entering into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with employees, consultants, and others. These parties may breach or terminate these agreements, and we may not have adequate remedies for such breaches. Furthermore, these agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information or result in the effective assignment to us of intellectual property, and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information or other breaches of the agreements. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets and our other confidential and proprietary information, we or our collaboration partners, board members, employees, consultants, contractors, or scientific and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our proprietary information to competitors.
There is a risk that our trade secrets and other confidential and proprietary information could have been, or could, in the future, be shared by any of our former employees with, and be used to the benefit of, any company that competes with us.
If we fail to maintain trade secret protection or fail to protect the confidentiality of our other confidential and proprietary information, our competitive position may be adversely affected. Competitors may also independently discover our trade secrets. Enforcement of claims that a third party has illegally obtained and is using trade secrets is expensive, time consuming and uncertain. If our competitors independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how, we would not be able to effectively assert our trade secret protections against them, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
There can be no assurance of timely patent review and approval to minimize competition and generate sufficient revenues.
There can be no assurance that the Patent and Trademark Office will have sufficient resources to review our patent applications in a timely manner. Consequently, even if our patent applications are ultimately successful, our patent applications may be delayed, which would prevent intellectual property protection for our products. If we fail to successfully commercialize our products due to the lack of intellectual property protection, we may be unable to generate sufficient revenues to meet or grow our business according to our expected goals and this may have a materially adverse effect on our profitability, financial condition, and operations.
We may become involved in patent litigation or other intellectual property proceedings relating to our future product approvals, which could result in liability for damages or delay or stop our development and commercialization efforts.
The medical device industry has been characterized by significant litigation and other proceedings regarding patents, patent applications, and other intellectual property rights. The situations in which we may become parties to such litigation or proceedings may include any third parties (which may have substantially greater resources than we have) initiating litigation claiming that our products infringe their patent or other intellectual property rights; in such case, we will need to defend against such proceedings.
The large number of patents, the rapid rate of new patent applications and issuances, the complexities of the technologies involved and the uncertainty of litigation significantly increase the risks related to any patent litigation. Any potential intellectual property litigation also could force us to do one or more of the following:
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If any of the foregoing events occur, we may have to withdraw existing products from the market or may be unable to commercialize one or more of our products, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. As the number of participants in our industry grows, the possibility of intellectual property infringement claims against us increases.
Furthermore, the costs of resolving any patent litigation or other intellectual property proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other intellectual property proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace. Patent litigation and other intellectual property proceedings may also consume significant management time.
In the event that a competitor infringes upon our patent or other intellectual property rights, enforcing those rights may be costly, difficult, and time-consuming. Even if successful, litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend our patents against challenge could be expensive and time-consuming and could divert our management’s attention. We may not have sufficient resources to enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend our patent or other intellectual property rights against a challenge. If we are unsuccessful in enforcing and protecting our intellectual property rights and protecting our products, it could materially harm our business.
There may also be situations where we use our business judgment and decide to market and sell products, notwithstanding the fact that allegations of patent infringement(s) have not been finally resolved by the courts (i.e., an “at-risk launch”). The risk involved in doing so can be substantial because the remedies available to the owner of a patent for infringement may include, among other things, damages measured by the profits lost by the patent owner and not necessarily by the profits earned by the infringer. In the case of a willful infringement, the definition of which is subjective, such damages may be increased up to three times. An adverse decision could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
In addition, we may indemnify our customers and distributors with respect to infringement by our products of the proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may assert infringement claims against our customers or distributors. These claims may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of our customers or distributors, regardless of the merits of these claims. If any of these claims succeed, we may be forced to pay damages on behalf of our customers or distributors or may be required to obtain licenses for the products they use. If we cannot obtain all necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our customers may be forced to stop using our products.
We may be subject to claims that we, our board members, employees or consultants have used or disclosed alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information belonging to third parties and any such individuals who are currently affiliated with one of our competitors may disclose our proprietary technology or information.
As is commonplace in the medical device industry, some of our board members, employees and consultants are or have been associated with other medical device companies that compete with us. For example, Mr. Susi and a number of our other employees are former employees of Invivo Corporation and/or other medical device firms. While associated with such other companies, these individuals may have been exposed to research and technology similar to the areas of research, technology, sales methodology, pricing models and other such matters in which we are engaged. We may become subject to future claims that we, our employees, board members, or consultants have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information of those companies. Litigation may be necessary to defend against such claims.
We have entered into confidentiality agreements with our executives and key consultants. However, we do not have, and are not planning to enter into, any confidentiality agreements with our non-executive directors because they have a fiduciary duty of confidentiality as directors.
There is the possibility that any of our former board members, employees, or consultants who are currently or who may be employed at, or associated with, one of our competitors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our proprietary technology or information.
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Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our common stock price has been and will likely continue to be subject to significant fluctuations and volatility, and you may be unable to sell your shares at a fair price, or at all.
Our stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in price in response to various factors, including the following:
● a lack of liquidity in the public trading of our common stock;
● the commercial success or failure of our key products;
● delayed or reduced orders from our customers;
● manufacturing or supply interruptions;
● introduction of competitive products or technologies;
● actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
● varying economic and market conditions in the U.S.;
● negative developments concerning our sources of manufacturing supply;
● litigation or investigations involving us, our industry, or both;
● major catastrophic events;
● sales of large blocks of our stock;
● changes in our Board of Directors, management or key personnel; or
● the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
Any one of the factors above, or the cumulative effect of some of the factors referred to above, may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly or annual operating results, fluctuations in our share price and investors’ perception of our business. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations, our business and stock price could be materially adversely affected.
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Any use of capital to repurchase shares of our common stock could have a material adverse effect on our stock price and our business.
Our Board of Directors has historically authorized stock repurchase programs and, pursuant to these authorizations, we have used a significant amount of cash to repurchase shares of common stock of our company. Historically, we have opportunistically repurchased additional shares of common stock from time to time at prices that we believe are attractive. While our stock repurchase program has expired, should our Board of Directors authorize another stock repurchase program, there can be no assurance that we will be able to repurchase shares on favorable terms or, if we do repurchase shares, that such repurchases will increase shareholder value. Additionally, if we use a significant portion of our capital to repurchase shares, our financial flexibility will be reduced, and we may not be able to execute on other strategic initiatives or tolerate periods of operating losses. If we repurchase shares on unfavorable terms or if our use of capital to repurchase shares inhibits our ability to pursue other strategic initiatives or tolerate periods of operating losses, it could have a material adverse effect on our stock price and our business.
We may need or choose to raise additional capital in the future, which could result in dilution to our stockholders and adversely affect stock price.
While we believe that our cash and investment balances and prospective cash flow from our operations will provide us with adequate capital to fund operations for at least the next 12 months from the date of the issuance of the financial statements included herein, we may need or choose to raise additional funds prior to that time. We may seek to sell additional equity or debt securities or to obtain a credit facility, which we may not be able to do on favorable terms, or at all. The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities could result in additional dilution to our stockholders. If additional funds are raised through the issuance of debt securities or preferred stock, these securities could have rights that are senior to holders of common stock and any debt securities could contain covenants that would restrict our operations. The sale of such securities could hurt demand for our common stock and lead our share price to decline.
Roger Susi, who serves as our Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer, owns a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant influence over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Mr. Susi, our founder, who serves as our Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer, and his affiliates, beneficially own a significant percentage of our outstanding common stock. Mr. Susi may be able to significantly influence matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions or other extraordinary transactions. He may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or deterring a change of control of our company.
At this time, we do not intend to pay dividends.
At this time, we do not anticipate that we will pay any cash dividends on shares of our common stock. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our Board of Directors deems relevant. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our common stock.
Accordingly, if you purchase shares, realization of a gain on your investment will depend solely on the appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur.
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The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain executive management and qualified board members.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants to monitor and advise us regarding compliance, which will increase our costs and expenses.
In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We may need to invest in additional resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us, and our business may be adversely affected.
We believe that being a public company and compliant with these rules and regulations has made it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board of Directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.
As a result of being a public company, we are obligated to establish and maintain adequate internal controls. Failure to develop and maintain adequate internal controls or to implement new or improved controls could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place so that we can produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort. Our internal controls over financial reporting are designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective.
We are required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis. Our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Our remediation efforts may not enable us to avoid a material weakness in the future.
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Our business practices have become more visible as a public company, and this could impact our competitive environment and our risk of potential litigation.
As a result of disclosure of information in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition have become more visible potentially exposing us to new competition and threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. New competition could result in reduced sales of our products and adversely impact our profitability. If lawsuits prevail against us, our business and operating results could be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business and operating results.
We may and have become involved in securities class action litigation that could divert management’s attention from our business and adversely affect our business and could subject us to significant liabilities.
The stock markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have affected the market prices of small capitalization medical device companies. These broad market fluctuations as well a broad range of other factors, including the realization of any of the risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. We have become, and may in the future, become involved in this type of litigation. Litigation is expensive and could divert management’s attention and resources from our primary business, which could adversely affect our operating results. Any adverse determination in any such litigation or any amounts paid to settle any such actual or threatened litigation could require us to make significant payments. Such payment could have a material impact on how investors view our company and result in a decline in our stock price.
If securities or industry analysts fail to initiate research coverage of our stock, downgrade our stock, or discontinue coverage, our trading volume might be reduced and our stock price could decline.
The trading market for our common stock depends, in part, on the research reports that securities or industry analysts publish about our business. If securities or industry analysts do not commence or continue coverage of our company, the trading market for our stock may not be robust and the price of our stock could likely be negatively impacted. In the event securities or industry analysts initiate coverage, and later downgrade our stock or discontinue such coverage, our stock price could decline.
Our charter documents and Delaware law have provisions that may discourage an acquisition of us by others and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.
Provisions in our charter documents, as well as provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), could depress the trading price of our common stock by making it more difficult for a third party to acquire us at a price favorable to our shareholders. These provisions include:
In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our Board of Directors. We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with an interested stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless such transactions are approved by our Board of Directors. This provision could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control, whether or not it is desired by or beneficial to our stockholders, which could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.
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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal offices are currently located in a leased facility of approximately 23,100 square feet located in Winter Springs, Florida. This facility has been leased from an entity controlled by our founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Roger Susi. Pursuant to the terms of our lease, the current monthly base rent is $34,133, adjusted annually for changes in the consumer price index. Prior to May 31, 2019, the expiration date of the initial lease term, and pursuant to the terms of the lease contract, we renewed the lease for an additional five years, resulting in a new lease expiration date of May 31, 2024. Unless advance written notice of termination is timely provided, the lease will automatically renew for one additional successive term of five years beginning in 2024, and thereafter will be renewed for successive terms of one year each.
We do not own any real property.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time we are involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. We believe that adequate reserves for these liabilities have been made and that there is no litigation pending that could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, access to capital markets or ability to conduct our daily operations.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON STOCK, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market for Common Stock
Our common stock has been publicly traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the stock symbol “IRMD” since July 16, 2014. Prior to that date, there was no public market for our common stock. There were no dividends declared during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019 and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
The stock market in general has experienced significant stock price fluctuations in the past few years. In some cases, these fluctuations have been unrelated to the operating performance of the affected companies. Therefore, many companies have experienced dramatic volatility in the market prices of their common stock. We believe that a number of factors, both within and outside our control, could cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate, perhaps substantially. Factors such as the following could have a significant adverse impact on the market price of our common stock:
● Our financial position and results of operations;
● Announcements of innovations or new products by us or our competitors;
● The development of litigation against us;
● Period-to-period fluctuations in our operating results;
● Changes in estimates of our performance by any securities analysts;
● Changes in interest rates;
● Sales of large blocks of our stock;
● Investor perceptions of our company; and
● General economic and other national and international conditions.
Stockholders
As of February 28, 2021, we had 3 stockholders of record. This number is significantly less than and does not include “street name” or beneficial holders, whose shares are held by banks, brokers, financial institutions and other nominees.
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Dividends
At this time, we do not expect to declare or pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, and we currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business. The decision whether to pay cash dividends on our common stock will be made by our board of directors, at its discretion, and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements and other factors that the board of directors considers significant.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock.
Unregistered Sales of Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
None.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
The following table provides information regarding repurchases of common stock for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Total Number Maximum
of Shares Dollar Value of
Purchased as Shares that
Total Part of May Yet
Number of Publicly Be Purchased
Shares Average Price Announced Under the
Purchased Paid per Share Plans or Plans or
(1) (2) Programs Programs
Total 52,317 $ — — $ —
Transfer Agent
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is EQ by Equiniti.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
Our equity compensation plan information is provided as set forth in Part III, Item 11 herein.
Additional Information
Copies of our annual reports, quarterly reports, current reports, and any amendments to those reports, are available free of charge on the Internet at www.sec.gov. All statements made in any of our filings, including all forward-
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looking statements, are made as of the date of the document, in which the statement is included, and we do not assume or undertake any obligation to update any of those statements or documents unless we are required to do so by law.
Stock Performance Graph
The following information of Part II Item 5 is being furnished and shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section, nor will it be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate such information by reference thereto.
The following graph shows a comparison, from December 31, 2015 through December 31, 2020, of cumulative total return for our common stock, the Russell 2000 Index and the Nasdaq Medical Equipment Index. Such returns are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance. Data for the Russell 2000 Index and the Nasdaq Medical Equipment Index assumes reinvestment of dividends.
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following tables set forth certain selected financial data for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2020, and is derived from the audited Financial Statements of IRADIMED CORPORATION. The
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statements of operations data for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2020 are included elsewhere in this report. The statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 and balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 are derived from our audited financial statements not included in this report. The selected financial data set forth below is qualified in its entirety by, and should be read in conjunction with, the Financial Statements and Notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this report.
Years ended December 31,
Statements of Operations Data:
Operating expenses:
Net income per share:
Weighted-average shares outstanding:
As of December 31,
Balance Sheets Data:
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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read this discussion and analysis together with our audited financial statements, the notes to such statements and the other financial information included in this Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. See “CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS” for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements.
Our Business
We develop, manufacture, market and distribute Magnetic Resonance Imaging (“MRI”) compatible medical devices and accessories and services relating to them.
We are a leader in the development of innovative magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) compatible medical devices. We are the only known provider of a non-magnetic intravenous (“IV”) infusion pump system that is specifically designed to be safe for use during MRI procedures. We were the first to develop an infusion delivery system that largely eliminates many of the dangers and problems present during MRI procedures. Standard infusion pumps contain magnetic and electronic components which can create radio frequency interference and are dangerous to operate in the presence of the powerful magnet that drives an MRI system. Our patented MRidium® MRI compatible IV infusion pump system has been designed with a non-magnetic ultrasonic motor, uniquely designed non-ferrous parts and other special features to safely and predictably deliver anesthesia and other IV fluids during various MRI procedures. Our pump solution provides a seamless approach that enables accurate, safe and dependable fluid delivery before, during and after an MRI scan, which is important to critically-ill patients who cannot be removed from their vital medications, and children and infants who must generally be sedated to remain immobile during an MRI scan.
Each IV infusion pump system consists of an MRidium® MRI compatible IV infusion pump, non-magnetic mobile stand, proprietary disposable IV tubing sets and many of these systems contain additional optional upgrade accessories.
Our 3880 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system has been designed with non-magnetic components and other special features to safely and accurately monitor a patient’s vital signs during various MRI procedures. The IRADIMED 3880 system operates dependably in magnetic fields up to 30,000 gauss, which means it can operate virtually anywhere in the MRI scanner room. The IRADIMED 3880 has a compact, lightweight design allowing it to travel with the patient from their critical care unit, to the MRI and back, resulting in increased patient safety through uninterrupted vital signs monitoring and decreasing the amount of time critically ill patients are away from critical care units. The features of the IRADIMED 3880 include: wireless ECG with dynamic gradient filtering; wireless SpO2 using Masimo® algorithms; non-magnetic respiratory CO2; invasive and non-invasive blood pressure; patient temperature, and; optional advanced multi-gas anesthetic agent unit featuring continuous Minimum Alveolar Concentration measurements. The IRADIMED 3880 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system has an easy-to-use design and allows for the effective communication of patient vital signs information to clinicians.
We generate revenue from the sale of MRI compatible medical devices and accessories, extended warranty agreements, services related to maintaining our products and the sale of disposable products used with our devices. The principal customers for our MRI compatible products include hospitals and acute care facilities, both in the United States and internationally. As of December 31, 2020, our direct U.S. sales force consisted of 22 field sales representatives, 4 regional sales directors and supplemented by 5 clinical application specialists. Internationally, we have distribution agreements with independent distributors selling our products.
Selling cycles for our devices have varied widely and have historically ranged between three and six months in duration with more recent trends lengthening beyond this historical range due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also enter into agreements with healthcare supply contracting companies in the U.S., which enable us to sell and distribute our MRidium MRI compatible IV infusion pump system to their member hospitals. Under these agreements, we are required to pay these group purchasing organizations (“GPOs”) a fee of three percent of the sales of our products to their member hospitals.
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Financial Highlights and Outlook
Our revenue was $31.7 million in 2020, $38.5 million in 2019 and $30.4 million in 2018. Our diluted earnings per share was $0.11 in 2020, $0.78 in 2019 and $0.52 in 2018. Our cash provided by operations was $5.8 million in 2020, $10.2 million in 2019 and $7.4 million in 2018.
Our estimated installed base of medical devices is as follows:
Years Ended December 31,
Patient Vital Signs Monitoring Systems 794 539 261
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 global pandemic caused disruption in global supply and distribution channels and dramatically changed the way companies do business. From the beginning of this global health crisis, our first priority has been the safety and well-being of our employees.
We continue to monitor the developments associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on our employees, customers, supply chain and distribution channels. The ongoing impact of the pandemic depends on a number of factors including the severity and duration of the pandemic and the extent and severity of the impact on our customers, which is uncertain and unpredictable. Our future results of operations and cash flows may suffer adverse effects from delays in payments on outstanding accounts receivable, potential manufacturing, distribution and supply chain disruptions and uncertain demand, and effects of any actions we may take to address financial and operational challenges our customers may face. Other risks and uncertainties that we face include, but are not limited to:
● the health of our employees and ability to meet staffing needs;
● volatility in economic conditions and the financial markets, and
● other unanticipated effects that remain unknown.
We are actively managing our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and work with our customers, distributors, vendors, and suppliers and assessing the potential effects to our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. As of the date of the issuance of these financial statements, the extent to which COVID-19 may materially impact our financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations in future periods remains uncertain. For further information regarding the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our company, see “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this report.
The CARES Act
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was enacted on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act allows for the carryback of net operating losses, which were expected to be used in future years, to prior years resulting in a $0.8 million benefit that was recognized in the year ended December 31, 2020. Consequently, we recorded an income tax receivable of approximately $1.4 million as of December 31, 2020.
Application of Critical Accounting Policies
We prepare our financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and use assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and
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related disclosures at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 1 to the Financial Statements. However, we believe that the following critical accounting policies require the use of significant estimates, assumptions and judgments. The use of different estimates, assumptions and judgments could have a material effect on the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and related disclosures as of the date of the financial statements and revenue and expenses during the reporting period.
The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our business and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors including, but not limited to: the magnitude and duration of COVID-19, the extent to which it will impact worldwide macroeconomic conditions, the speed of the anticipated recovery, access to capital markets, and governmental and business reactions to the pandemic. We assessed certain accounting matters that generally require consideration of forecasted financial information in context with the information reasonably available to the Company and the unknown future impacts of COVID-19 as of December 31, 2020 and through the date of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accounting matters assessed included, but were not limited to estimates related to revenue, the accounting for potential liabilities and accrued expenses, the assumptions utilized in valuing stock-based compensation, the realization of deferred tax assets, and assessments of impairment related to long-lived assets and intangibles. Our future assessment of the magnitude and duration of COVID-19, as well as other factors, could result in additional material impacts to our financial statements in future reporting periods.
Despite our efforts, the ultimate impact of COVID-19 depends on factors beyond our knowledge or control, including the duration and severity of the outbreak, as well as third-party actions taken to contain its spread and mitigate its public health effects. As a result, we are unable to estimate the full extent to which COVID-19 will negatively impact our financial results or liquidity.
Revenue Recognition
We generate revenue from the sale of MRI compatible medical devices and accessories, extended warranty agreements, services related to maintaining our products and the sale of disposable products used with our devices. The principal customers for our MRI compatible products include hospitals and acute care facilities, both in the U.S. and internationally. In the U.S. we sell our products through our direct sales force and outside of the U.S. we sell our products through third-party distributors who resell our products to end users.
For most domestic sales, we enter into agreements with healthcare supply contracting companies, commonly referred to as Group Purchasing Organizations (“GPOs”), which enable us to sell and distribute our products to their member hospitals. Our agreements with GPOs typically include negotiated pricing for all group members established at time of GPO contract execution.
We do not sell to GPOs. Hospitals, group practices and other acute care facilities that are members of a GPO, purchase products directly from us under the terms of our GPO agreements.
We recognize revenue when all of the following criteria are met: we have a contract with a customer that creates enforceable rights and obligations; promised products or services are identified; the transaction price, or the amount we expect to receive, is determinable and we have transferred control of the promised products or services to the customer. We consider transfer of control evidenced upon the passage of title and risks and rewards of ownership to the customer, which is typically at a point in time, except for our extended warranty agreements. We allocate the transaction price using the relative standalone selling price method. Customer sale prices for our MRI compatible IV infusion pump systems and related disposables and services are contractually fixed over the GPO contract term. We recognize a receivable at the point in time we have an unconditional right to payment. Payment terms are typically within 45 days after transferring control to U.S. customers. Most international distributors are required to pay a portion of the transaction price in advance and the remaining amount within 30 days of receiving the related products. Accordingly, we have elected to use the practical expedient that allows us to ignore the possible existence of a significant financing component within the contract.
We have elected to account for shipping and handling charges billed to customers as revenue and shipping and handling related expenses as cost of revenue.
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In certain U.S. states we are required to collect sales taxes from our customers. We have elected to exclude the amounts collected for these taxes from revenue and record them as a liability until remitted to the taxing authority.
Contract Liabilities
We record contract liabilities, or deferred revenue, when we have an obligation to provide a product or service to the customer and payment is received in advance of our performance. When we sell a product or service with a future performance obligation, we defer revenue allocated to the unfulfilled performance obligation and recognize this revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied.
Our deferred revenue consists of advance payments received from customers prior to the transfer of products or services, shipments that are in-transit at the end of a period and sales of extended warranty agreements. Advance payments received from customers and shipments in-transit are recognized in revenue at the time control of the related products has been transferred to the customer or services have been delivered. Amounts related to extended warranty agreements are deferred and recognized in revenue ratably over the agreement period, which is typically one to four years after control of the related products is transferred to the customer, as we believe this recognition pattern best depicts the transfer of services being provided.
Deferred revenue is classified as current or long-term deferred revenue in our Balance Sheets, depending on the expected timing of satisfying the related performance obligations.
Capitalized Contract Costs
We capitalize commissions paid to our sales managers related to contracts with customers when the associated revenue is expected to be earned over a period of time. Deferred commissions are primarily related to the sale of extended warranty agreements. Capitalized commissions are included in Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets in our Balance Sheets when the associated expense is expected to be recognized in one year or less, or in Other Assets when the associated expense is expected to be recognized in greater than one year. The associated expense is included in Sales and Marketing expenses in our Statements of Operations.
Variable Consideration
Most of our sales are subject to 30 to 60-day customer-specified acceptance provisions primarily for purposes of ensuring products were not damaged during the shipping process. Historically, we have experienced immaterial product returns and, when experienced, we typically exchange the affected products with new products. Accordingly, variable consideration from contracts with customers is immaterial to our financial statements.
Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Accounts receivable is recorded at the transaction price of the related products and services. We regularly assess the sufficiency of the allowance for estimated uncollectible accounts receivable. Estimates are based on historical collection experience and other customer-specific information, such as bankruptcy filings or known liquidity problems of our customers. When it is determined that an account receivable is uncollectible, it is written off and relieved from the allowance. Any future determination that the allowance for estimated uncollectible accounts receivable is not properly stated could result in changes in operating expense and results of operations.
Inventory
Inventory is stated at the lower of standard cost, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis, or net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. We may be exposed to a number of factors that could result in portions of our inventory becoming either obsolete or in excess of anticipated usage. These factors include, but are not limited to, technological changes, competitive pressures in products and prices, and the introduction of new product lines. We regularly evaluate our ability to realize the value of inventory based on a combination of factors, including historical usage rates, forecasted sales, product life cycles, and market acceptance of new products.
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When inventory that is obsolete or in excess of anticipated usage is identified, it is written down to net realizable value or an inventory valuation allowance is established.
The estimates we use in projecting future product demand may prove to be incorrect. Any future determination that our inventory is overvalued could result in increases to our cost of sales and decreases to our operating margins and results of operations.
Warranty
We provide for the estimated cost of product warranties at the time revenue is recognized. While we engage in product quality programs and processes, including actively monitoring and evaluating the quality of our suppliers, the estimated warranty obligation is affected by ongoing product failure rates, material usage costs and direct labor incurred in correcting a product failure. Actual product failure rates, material usage costs and the amount of labor required to repair products that differ from estimates result in revisions to the estimated liability. We warrant for a limited period of time that our products will be free from defects in materials and workmanship. We estimate warranty allowances based on historical warranty experience. The estimates we use in projecting future product warranty costs may prove to be incorrect. Any future determination that our provision for product warranty is understated could result in increases to our cost of revenue and a reduction in our operating profits and results of operations. Historically, warranty expenses have not been material to our financial statements.
Stock-based Compensation
We apply the fair value recognition provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation — Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”). Determining the amount of stock-based compensation to be recorded for stock options that we grant requires us to develop estimates of the fair value as of the grant date. Calculating the fair value of stock option awards requires that we make highly subjective assumptions. We use the Black-Scholes option pricing model to value our stock option awards. Use of this valuation methodology requires that we make assumptions as to the volatility of our common stock, the expected term of our stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of our stock options and our expected dividend yield. Estimated volatility is based on the historical volatility of our share price. We use the simplified method as prescribed by ASC 718 to calculate the expected term of stock options granted to employees as we do not have sufficient historical exercise data to provide a reasonable basis upon which to estimate the expected term of our stock option awards. The risk-free interest rate used for each grant is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the grant for instruments with a similar expected life. We utilize a dividend yield of zero as we have no current intention to pay cash dividends. We elect to recognize forfeitures as they occur.
As stock-based compensation is an important part of our employee compensation reward strategy, we expect the future impact of stock-based compensation expense on our financial results to grow due to additional stock grants and increased headcount.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.
We record net deferred tax assets to the extent we believe these assets will more likely than not be realized. In making such determination, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies and recent financial operations. A valuation allowance is recorded to offset net deferred tax assets if, based upon the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.
We recognize the tax benefit of uncertain tax positions in the financial statements based on the technical merits of the position. When the tax position is deemed more likely than not of being sustained, we recognize the largest amount of tax benefit that is greater than 50 percent likely of being ultimately realized upon settlement.
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Results of Operations
The following table sets forth for the periods indicated selected statements of operations data as a percentage of total revenue. Our historical operating results are not necessarily indicative of the results for any future period.
Percent of Revenue
Years Ended December 31,
Operating expenses:
Research and development 6.0 3.7 5.0
(Loss) income from operations (2.4) 22.5 19.7
Other income, net 0.4 1.0 0.6
(Loss) income before provision for income taxes (1.9) 23.5 20.4
Provision for income tax benefit (6.3) (1.5) (0.3)
Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Revenue by Geographic Region
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except percent change) 2020 2019 Change
International 7.2 7.6 (5.3) %
Revenue by Type
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except percent change) 2020 2019 Change
Devices:
MRI compatible IV infusion pump system $ 9.3 $ 18.1 (48.1) %
MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system 9.8 9.7 0.6 %
Disposables, service and other 10.7 8.9 20.3 %
Amortization of extended warranty agreements 1.9 1.8 1.6 %
Revenue decreased $(6.8) million, or (17.7) percent, to $31.7 million from $38.5 million for the same period in 2019. This decrease is primarily due to a decrease in the number of our MRI compatible medical devices that we recognized in revenue, partially offset by higher revenue from our disposables, service and other.
Revenue from sales in the U.S. decreased $(6.4) million, or (20.7) percent, to $24.5 million from $30.9 million for the same period in 2019. Revenue from sales internationally decreased $(0.4) million, or (5.3) percent, to $7.2 million from $7.6 million for the same period in 2019. Domestic sales accounted for 77.4 percent of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to 80.3 percent for the same period in 2019.
Revenue from sales of devices decreased $(8.7) million, or (31.1) percent, to $19.1 million from $27.8 million for the same period in 2019. This decrease was the result of lower revenue from sales of our MRI compatible IV infusion pump systems.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized revenue on 279 MRI compatible IV infusion pumps compared to 519 pumps in 2019. The average selling price for our MRI compatible IV infusion pump systems recognized in
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revenue during the year ended December 31, 2020 was approximately $33,600, compared to $34,800 for the same period in 2019. The decrease in average selling price is the result of higher international unit sales and an unfavorable product sales mix during 2020 when compared to 2019.
We recognized revenue on 255 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring systems during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to 278 systems for the same period in 2019. The average selling price for our MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring systems recognized in revenue was approximately $36,300 during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $34,700 for the same period in 2019. The increase in average selling price is due to higher domestic unit sales, partially offset by an unfavorable product sales mix in 2020 when compared to 2019.
Revenue from sales of our disposables, service and other increased $1.8 million, or 20.3 percent, to $10.7 million from $8.9 million for the same period in 2020. Revenue from the amortization of our extended warranty agreements increased $0.1 million, or 1.6 percent, to $1.9 million from $1.8 million for the same period in 2019.
Cost of Revenue and Gross Profit
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except gross profit percentage) 2020 2019
Cost of revenue 8.1 8.8
Gross profit $ 23.6 $ 29.7
Gross profit percentage 74.3 % 77.1 %
Cost of revenue decreased approximately $(0.7) million, or (7.6) percent, to $8.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, from $8.8 million for the same period in 2019. Gross profit decreased approximately $(6.1) million, or (20.6) percent, to $23.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 from $29.7 million for the same period in 2019. The decrease in cost of revenue and gross profit is primarily due to lower revenue during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
Gross profit margin was 74.3 percent and 77.1 percent for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The decrease in gross profit margin is the result of unfavorable overhead variance adjustments, partially offset by favorable pricing adjustments in 2020 compared to 2019.
Operating Expenses
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except percentage of revenue) 2020 2019
General and administrative $ 12.3 $ 10.5
Percentage of revenue 38.7 % 27.1 %
Sales and marketing $ 10.2 $ 9.2
Percentage of revenue 32.0 % 23.8 %
Research and development $ 1.9 $ 1.4
Percentage of revenue 6.0 % 3.7 %
General and Administrative
General and administrative expense increased approximately $1.8 million, or 17.4 percent, to $12.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, from $10.5 million for the same period last year. This increase is primarily due to higher expenses for stock compensation, and payroll and benefits, partially offset by lower employee recruiting costs, GPO administrative fees and regulatory approval and certification costs. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the
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Company recognized total general and administrative expense of $3.2 million related to our former Chief Executive Officer, of which $2.7 million relates to the separation.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expense increased approximately $1.0 million, or 10.8 percent, to $10.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, from $9.2 million for the same period in 2019. This increase is primarily the result of higher expenses for payroll and benefits, and sales commissions, partially offset by lower sales activities expenses and tradeshow costs during 2020 when compared to 2019.
Research and Development
Research and development expense increased approximately $0.5 million, or 32.8 percent, to $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, from $1.4 million for the same period in 2019. This increase is primarily due to higher payroll and benefits expenses and employee recruiting fees, partially offset by lower consulting expenses during 2020 when compared to 2019.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net consists of interest income, foreign currency transactional gains and losses, and other miscellaneous income. We reported other income of approximately $0.1 million and $0.4 for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. This decrease is primarily the result of lower interest income during the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
Income Taxes
We recorded a provision for income tax benefit of approximately $(2.0) million and $(0.6) million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2020 was 321.9 percent compared to (6.5) percent for the same period in 2019. The increase in our effective tax rate is primarily the result of a loss before the provision for income taxes, discrete items related to tax benefits associated with the exercise and sale of employee options and vesting of restricted stock units, and the carryback of net operating losses to years prior to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as allowable under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. These were partially offset by a statutory limitation on the deductibility of certain executive compensation associated with the separation of our former Chief Executive Officer.
Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2019 and 2018
Revenue by Geographic Region
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except percent change) 2019 2018 Change
Revenue by Type
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except percent change) 2019 2018 Change
Devices:
MRI compatible IV infusion pump system $ 18.1 $ 14.5 24.2 %
MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring system 9.7 6.7 45.9 %
Disposables, service and other 8.9 7.7 15.3 %
Amortization of extended warranty agreements 1.8 1.5 21.3 %
Revenue increased $8.1 million, or 26.5 percent, to $38.5 million from $30.4 million for the same period in 2018. This increase is primarily due to an increase in the number of our MRI compatible medical devices that we
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recognized in revenue, higher revenue from our disposables, services and other, and a higher average selling price for our infusion pump system.
Revenue from sales in the U.S. increased $6.4 million, or 26.2 percent, to $30.9 million from $24.5 million for the same period in 2018. Revenue from sales internationally increased $1.7 million, or 27.9 percent, to $7.6 million from $5.9 million for the same period in 2018. Domestic sales accounted for 80.3 percent of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to 80.5 percent for the same period in 2018.
Revenue from sales of devices increased $6.6 million, or 31.0 percent, to $27.8 million from $21.2 million for the same period in 2018.
During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recognized revenue on 519 MRI compatible IV infusion pumps compared to 451 pumps in 2018. The average selling price for our MRI compatible IV infusion pump systems recognized in revenue during the year ended December 31, 2019 was approximately $34,800, compared to $32,200 for the same period in 2018. The increase in average selling price is the result of higher domestic unit sales and a favorable product sales mix during 2019 when compared to 2018.
We recognized revenue on 278 MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring systems during the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to 186 systems for the same period in 2018. The average selling price for our MRI compatible patient vital signs monitoring systems recognized in revenue was approximately $34,700 during the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to $35,100 for the same period in 2018. The decrease in average selling price is due to higher international unit sales in 2019 when compared to 2018.
Revenue from sales of our disposables, services and other increased $1.2 million, or 15.3 percent, to $8.9 million from $7.7 million for the same period in 2018. Revenue from the amortization of our extended warranty agreements increased $0.3 million, or 21.3 percent, to $1.8 million from $1.5 million for the same period in 2018.
Cost of Revenue and Gross Profit
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except gross profit percentage) 2019 2018
Cost of revenue 8.8 7.2
Gross profit $ 29.7 $ 23.2
Gross profit percentage 77.1 % 76.3 %
Cost of revenue increased approximately $1.6 million, or 22.2 percent, to $8.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $7.2 million for the same period in 2018. Gross profit increased approximately $6.5 million, or 27.9 percent, to $29.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $23.2 million for the same period in 2018. The increase in cost of revenue and gross profit is due to higher sales during the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. Gross profit margin was 77.1 percent and 76.3 percent for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The increase in gross profit margin is the result of favorable overhead variance adjustments, partially offset by unfavorable pricing adjustments in 2019 compared to 2018.
Operating Expenses
Years Ended December 31,
(In millions, except percentage of revenue) 2019 2018
General and administrative $ 10.5 $ 8.7
Percentage of revenue 27.1 % 28.6 %
Sales and marketing $ 9.2 $ 7.0
Percentage of revenue 23.8 % 23.0 %
Research and development $ 1.4 $ 1.5
Percentage of revenue 3.7 % 5.0 %
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General and Administrative
General and administrative expense increased approximately $1.8 million, or 20.0 percent, to $10.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $8.7 million for the same period last year. This increase is primarily due to higher expenses for payroll and benefits, legal and professional costs, employee relocation and recruiting costs, regulatory approval and certification costs, GPO administrative fees due to higher sales and stock compensation expense.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expense increased approximately $2.2 million, or 31.1 percent, to $9.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $7.0 million for the same period in 2018. This is primarily the result of higher salary and commissions expenses resulting from the increased size of our sales team and higher sales during 2019 when compared to 2018.
Research and Development
Research and development expense decreased approximately $(0.1) million, or (5.6) percent, to $1.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $1.5 million for the same period in 2018. This is primarily due to lower expenses for payroll and stock compensation expense.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net consists of interest income, foreign currency transactional gains and losses, and other miscellaneous income. We reported other income of approximately $0.4 million and $0.2 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. This increase is primarily the result of higher interest income and gains on maturities of investments during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.
Income Taxes
We recorded a provision for income tax benefit of approximately $(0.6) million and $(0.1) million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2019 was (6.5) percent compared to (1.7) percent for the same period in 2018. The decrease in our provision for income taxes and effective tax rate is primarily the result of discrete items related to tax benefits associated with the exercise and sale of employee options and vesting of restricted stock units.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal sources of liquidity have historically been our cash and cash equivalents balances, our investments, cash flow from operations and access to the financial markets. Our principal uses of cash are operating expenses, working capital requirements and capital expenditures.
As of December 31, 2020, we had cash and investments of $52.0 million, stockholders’ equity of $61.4 million, and working capital of $58.8 million, compared to cash and cash equivalents and investments of $46.3 million, stockholders’ equity of $55.5 million, and working capital of $53.1 million as of December 31, 2019.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 5.8 $ 10.2 $ 7.4
Net cash provided by investing activities $ 0.2 $ 3.2 $ 1.5
Net cash provided by financing activities $ 0.5 $ 2.0 $ 0.9
Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018
Operating Activities
For the year ended December 31, 2020, cash provided by operations decreased $(4.4) million to $5.8 million, from $10.2 million in 2019. During 2020, cash provided by operations was negatively impacted by lower net income, prepaid expenses and other current assets, income taxes, other accrued taxes, accrued payroll and benefits, and accounts
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payable. Cash provided by operations was positively impacted by stock-based compensation, accounts receivable, depreciation and amortization and deferred income taxes.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, cash provided by operations increased $2.8 million to $10.2 million, from $7.4 million in 2018. During 2019, cash provided by operations was positively impacted by higher net income, deferred revenue, other accrued taxes and accounts payable, partially offset by negative impacts from accounts receivable and other assets.
Investing Activities
For the year ended December 31, 2020, cash provided by investing activities decreased $(3.0) million to $0.2 million, from $3.2 million in 2019. During 2020, cash provided by investing activities was positively impacted by maturities of investments, partially offset by negative impacts from purchases of property and equipment, and capitalized intangible assets.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, cash provided by investing activities increased $1.7 million to $3.2 million, from $1.5 million in 2018. During 2019, cash provided by investing activities was positively impacted by maturities of investments, partially offset by negative impacts from purchases of property and equipment, and capitalized intangible assets.
Financing Activities
For the year ended December 31, 2020, cash provided by financing activities decreased $(1.5) million to $0.5, from $2.0 million in 2019. During 2020, cash provided by financing activities was positively impacted by proceeds from the exercise of stock options, partially offset by taxes paid for the net share settlement of restricted stock units.
For the year ended December 31, 2019, cash provided by financing activities increased $1.1 million to $2.0, from $0.9 million in 2018. During 2019, cash provided by financing activities was positively impacted by proceeds from the exercise of stock options and warrants, partially offset by taxes paid for the net share settlement of restricted stock units.
Sales to end users in the United States are generally made on open credit terms. Management maintains an allowance for potential credit losses.
Our manufacturing operations and headquarters facility is approximately 23,100 square feet located in Winter Springs, Florida. This facility has been leased from Susi, LLC, an entity controlled by our President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman, Roger Susi. Pursuant to the terms of our lease, the monthly base rent is $34,133, adjusted annually for changes in the consumer price index.
We believe our sources of liquidity, including cash flow from operations, existing cash, investments, and available financing sources will be sufficient to meet our projected cash requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date the financial statements are issued. Any equity financing may be dilutive to stockholders, and debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants that increase our costs. We monitor our capital requirements to ensure our needs are in line with available capital resources. From time to time, we may explore additional financing sources to meet our working capital requirements, make continued investment in research and development, expand our business and acquire products or businesses that complement our current business. These actions would likely affect our future capital requirements and the adequacy of our available funds. Our future liquidity and capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including the:
● Amount and timing of revenue and expenses;
· Extent to which our existing and new products gain market acceptance;
· Extent to which we make acquisitions;
· Cost and timing of selling and marketing activities; and
· Availability of borrowings or other means of financing.
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Contractual Obligations
In the normal course of business, we enter into obligations and commitments that require future contractual payments. The commitments result primarily from purchase orders with vendors that supply components used in our medical devices and related disposables and commitments for our building and office equipment leases. The following table summarizes our contractual obligations and commercial commitments as of December 31, 2020:
Payments due by Period
Less than More than
Total 1 Year 1-3 Years 3-5 Years 5 Years
Purchase obligations are defined as agreements to purchase goods or services that are enforceable and legally binding. Included in the purchase obligations category above are obligations related to purchase orders for inventory purchases under our standard terms and conditions and under negotiated agreements with vendors. We expect to receive consideration (products or services) for these purchase obligations. The purchase obligation amounts do not represent all anticipated purchases in the future, but represent only those items for which we are contractually obligated. The table above does not include obligations under employment agreements for services rendered in the ordinary course of business.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
During the periods presented, we did not have and we do not currently have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under SEC rules.
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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We develop our products in the U.S. and sell those products into more than 77 countries throughout the world. We also purchase certain components for our products from foreign vendors. Most of our sale and purchase transactions are denominated in the U.S. Dollar. As a result, our financial results could be affected by factors such as foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. Dollar or weak economic conditions in foreign markets. In addition, changes in exchange rates may also affect the end-user prices of our products compared to those of our competitors, who may be selling their products in local currencies, making our products less competitive in some countries.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
We have foreign currency risks related to our revenue and cost of revenue denominated in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, principally the Japanese yen (“Yen”). The volatility of the Yen depends on many factors that we cannot forecast with reliable accuracy. We have experienced and will continue to experience fluctuations in our net income as a result of transaction gains and losses related to revaluing Yen denominated accounts payable balances. In the event our Yen denominated accounts payable or expenses increase, our operating results may be affected by fluctuations in the Yen exchange rate. If the U.S. Dollar uniformly increased or decreased in strength by 10 percent relative to the Yen, our net income would have correspondingly increased or decreased by an immaterial amount for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Interest Rate Risk