10-K
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2026
OR
Commission File Number: 001-42549
Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
Bermuda Not Applicable
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (425) 279-8002
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class TradingSymbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Shares, par value $1.00 per share KMTS The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES☒No☐
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes☐No☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES ☐ NO ☒
The aggregate market value of the Registrant's Common Shares held by non-affiliates, based upon the closing price of the Common Shares on October 31, 2025, as reported by the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, was approximately $618.7 million. Common Shares held by each executive officer and director and by each person who is deemed to be an affiliate of the Registrant have been excluded from such computation. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.
The number of shares of the Registrant’s Common Shares outstanding as of July 9, 2026 was 58,602,497.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The information required by Part III of this Annual Report, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated herein by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to the Annual Meeting to be held in 2026, which definitive proxy statement shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this Annual Report relates (the “Proxy Statement”).
Table of Contents
Page
PART I
Item 1. Business 3
Item 1A. Risk Factors 23
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 72
Item 1C. Cybersecurity 73
Item 2. Properties 74
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 74
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 74
PART II
Item 6. [Reserved] 75
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 89
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 89
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 89
Item 9B. Other Information 91
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 91
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 92
Item 11. Executive Compensation 92
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 92
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 93
Explanatory Note
On March 7, 2025, Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd. completed its initial public offering of its Common Shares, par value $1.00 per share (the “Common Shares”). Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd. was formed solely for the purpose of completing the initial public offering and prior to the consummation of the initial public offering, did not engage in any business or activities other than those incidental to its formation, the organizational transactions consummated in connection with the initial public offering and the preparation of the prospectus and registration statement in connection with the initial public offering. Prior to the consummation of the initial public offering, the Company’s business was conducted through West Affum Intermediate Holdings Corp. In connection with the initial public offering, certain organizational transactions were completed, pursuant to which West Affum Intermediate Holdings Corp. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd. West Affum Intermediate Holdings Corp. is the predecessor to Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd. for financial reporting purposes.
Except as otherwise indicated or the context requires, “Kestra,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “us” and other similar terms refer collectively to West Affum Intermediate Holdings Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries for periods prior to the consummation of the initial public offering, and to Kestra Medical Technologies, Ltd. and its consolidated subsidiaries for periods following the consummation of the initial public offering.
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in the section captioned “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, technology developments, financing and investment plans, dividend policy, competitive position, industry and regulatory environment, potential growth opportunities and the effects of competition. Forward looking statements include statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will” and “would,” or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology intended to identify statements about the future. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We caution you that the foregoing list does not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report.
Important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from our expectations are described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report, and include, but are not limited to, the following:
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our ability to continue to expand the commercialization of our ASSURE WCD, including associated products and services as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform, or to commercialize any future product candidates and begin generating revenue;
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our ability to maintain regulatory approvals for our ASSURE WCD and to obtain new regulatory approvals necessary to distribute our ASSURE WCD in new markets or to distribute additional products we develop in the future;
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the rate and degree of market acceptance of our ASSURE WCD or any future product candidates that receive the necessary marketing and other regulatory approvals;
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the availability of reimbursement for our products;
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our ability to scale the manufacturing of our ASSURE WCD, obtain sufficient and timely supplies of components necessary to manufacture our ASSURE WCD and effectively manage inventory and distribution;
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our ability to hire and retain qualified personnel, including senior management and sales professionals;
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estimates of our total addressable market and near-term achievable market for our products;
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the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals or clearances;
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our growth plans, including our plans to enter into new markets;
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our ability to establish and maintain intellectual property protection for our products or defend ourselves against claims of infringement;
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the progress, timing, costs and results of our clinical trials;
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changes and developments relating to our regulatory landscape;
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our financial performance and changes in market trends;
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the increased expenses associated with being a public company; and
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changes and developments relating to our competitors and our industry.
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These risks are not exhaustive. Investors should also carefully read the factors described under Part I. Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report for a description of certain other risks that could, among other things, harm our business and financial performance and cause our actual results to differ from those expressed in forward-looking statements. We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment where new risk factors may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements.
You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and operating results. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments. We intend the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report. While we believe that information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, that information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.
You should read this Annual Report and the documents that we reference in this Annual Report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report by these cautionary statements.
Trademarks and Service Marks
ASSURE, CARDIAC RECOVERY SYSTEM, KESTRA, KESTRA CARESTATION and ASSURE ASSIST and other trademarks and service marks appearing in this Annual Report are the property of the Company. This Annual Report also contains trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names.
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Industry and Market Data
Certain industry data and market data included in this Annual Report were obtained from independent third-party surveys, market research, publicly available information, reports of governmental agencies and industry publications and surveys. Management’s estimates presented herein are based upon management’s analysis of internally compiled data, independent third-party surveys and industry publications prepared by a number of sources and other publicly available information. We obtained the industry and market data set forth in this Annual Report from our own internal estimates and research, as well as from academic and industry publications, research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. Internal estimates are derived from publicly available information released by industry analysts and third-party sources, our internal research and our industry experience, and are based on assumptions made by us based on our knowledge of the industry and market, which we believe to be reasonable. We believe that the information from academic and industry publications, research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties included in this Annual Report is reliable.
Additionally, our estimated total addressable market is based on epidemiology data regarding cardiac patient populations with low ejection fractions, payor data on WCD reimbursement rates, the average initial prescription duration for our ASSURE WCD and our estimates of the industry average initial prescription duration for WCDs generally. Our total addressable market in the United States is based on epidemiology data from third-party sources including the American Heart Association and the Heart Failure Society of America and the Medicare reimbursement rate for WCDs as of January 2026 as published in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services DMEPOS Fee Schedule. Our estimated total addressable market outside the United States is based on estimated average reimbursement rates and initial prescription durations for WCDs derived from internally collected data from industry sources and market participants and our internal estimates based on such data, as well as epidemiology data from third-party sources including PubMed, UptoDate, Statistica and the European Society of Cardiology in the following select international markets: Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Poland, Australia, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and Denmark. These international markets were selected because they have already adopted WCD therapy or have a history of ICD utilization.
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SUMMARY RISK FACTORS
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I. Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. You should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties when investing in our common shares. The principal risks and uncertainties affecting our business include the following:
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we have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our current business and its likelihood of success and viability. If we are unable to manage our business and any fluctuations in our business effectively, our business and growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected;
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we have a history of net losses, and there is no assurance as to when we will achieve profitability, if at all, even as we continue to grow and scale our business. As part of such continued growth, we may need to raise equity or debt financing in the future. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we may be forced to delay or scale back our growth plans, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and prospects;
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we generate revenue primarily from the lease of our ASSURE WCD as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform, and we are therefore highly dependent on our ASSURE WCD for our continued success;
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our business is dependent upon healthcare providers, hospitals and patients adopting our solutions, and if we fail to obtain and maintain broad adoption, our business would be adversely affected;
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our commercial success depends in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers provide coverage and adequate reimbursement levels. Failure to obtain and maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement for our products could limit our ability to market those products and make it difficult for us to operate profitably;
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we are actively expanding our sales force and customer service resources, and if we are unable to effectively manage this growth, including hiring, training and retaining qualified personnel and scaling our commercial operations, our business, operating results and prospects could be adversely affected;
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we have limited experience supplying our ASSURE WCD in quantities and providing services on a broad scale that is both commercially successful and meets clinical needs, and production or service delays or shortfalls may occur, which could adversely affect our business;
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we depend on a limited number of third-party suppliers and contract manufacturers to manufacture and recondition our ASSURE WCD and its components, which could make us vulnerable to supply shortages and price fluctuations that could harm our business;
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our clinical study initiatives may be complex, lengthy, expensive and carry uncertain outcomes; future trials and studies by us or others may fail to replicate positive results observed to date;
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billing for our products is complex, and we must dedicate substantial time and resources to the billing process;
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if our competitors are able to develop or market products and services that are more effective, or gain greater acceptance in the marketplace, than any products and services we develop, our commercial opportunities will be reduced or eliminated;
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we have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and may identify additional material weaknesses. If our remediation of material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, or we fail to develop and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements could be impaired, which could harm our business and negatively impact the value of our common shares;
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third parties may assert that we are employing their intellectual property and other proprietary technology without authorization, and we may become a party to litigation or administrative proceedings related to intellectual property that could be costly, time-consuming, or unsuccessful and could hinder our ability to commercialize our existing or future products;
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our efforts to obtain intellectual property protection and the intellectual property rights we obtain may be inadequate, and our business may be adversely affected as a result;
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we may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our patents and other intellectual property
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changes in the regulatory environment may make it more difficult and costly for us to manufacture, market or distribute our products, or to obtain approval for any future products;
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if we fail to comply with healthcare and other governmental regulations, we could face substantial penalties and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected; and
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Bain Capital has significant influence over us, and its interests may conflict with ours or yours.
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage wearable medical device and digital healthcare company focused on transforming patient outcomes in cardiovascular disease through connected monitoring, therapeutic intervention, and data-driven clinical insights. We have developed and are commercializing the Cardiac Recovery System platform, an integrated cardiac recovery ecosystem designed to support patients at elevated risk of sudden cardiac arrest (“SCA”) during vulnerable periods of recovery.
Our Cardiac Recovery System platform is anchored by the ASSURE® Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator (“WCD”), which continuously monitors patient heart rhythms and automatically delivers defibrillation therapy when life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias are detected. The platform also includes digital patient engagement and clinical workflow solutions designed to improve patient adherence, support care coordination, and provide actionable clinical insights throughout the recovery process.
We believe the ASSURE WCD is differentiated by its patient-centered design, including comfort, wearability, and low false alarm rates, which are intended to improve patient compliance during extended wear periods. In addition, our integrated platform generates continuous cardiac rhythm data and clinically actionable insights that may assist healthcare providers in managing patients during vulnerable recovery periods. We believe these capabilities position Kestra to participate in the growing cardiac recovery market and support future platform expansion opportunities. As of April 30, 2026, our ASSURE WCD has protected nearly 40,000 patients since commercial launch.
Market Overview and Opportunity
There are three primary types of defibrillators used to treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias: implantable cardioverter defibrillators (“ICDs”), external defibrillators, and wearable cardioverter defibrillators (“WCDs”). ICDs are permanently implanted devices intended for long-term protection, while external defibrillators are typically used in acute emergency settings and require intervention by another individual. WCDs provide continuous, non-invasive protection during temporary periods of elevated sudden cardiac arrest risk.
Many patients recovering from recent myocardial infarction, newly diagnosed cardiomyopathy, or other cardiac events are not immediate candidates for ICD implantation due to clinical guidelines, reimbursement requirements, or the need for optimization of guideline-directed medical therapy. During this recovery period, patients may remain at meaningful risk for life-threatening arrhythmias.
We believe WCD therapy plays an important role during this vulnerable interval by providing continuous protection while supporting clinical decision-making throughout the recovery process. We further believe the combination of therapy delivery, patient engagement, and clinically actionable cardiac insights positions our Cardiac Recovery System platform to address an important unmet need in cardiac recovery management. The expected wear duration of the WCD varies based on the patient indication, with most patients being prescribed the WCD for three months or longer.
Limitations of Other Commercially Available WCDs
The WCD is indicated for use in patients who are at risk for SCA and are not candidates for, or refuse, an ICD. However, limitations of other commercially available WCDs, such as patient comfort and false alarm rate, as well as gaps in awareness by healthcare providers of its broader diagnostic utility have led to underutilization of the therapy. Many indicated patients do not receive a prescription and some choose not to wear a WCD. Patients who choose not to wear a WCD are often left reliant on first responders or EMS in the event of a SCA. This reliance poses a significant risk, as only 16% of sudden cardiac events occur in public places where an automated external defibrillator might be available according to the American Heart Association. Based on data from the American Medical Association, the average time for EMS arrival is 7 minutes from the time of a 911 call, and often longer in rural communities. During this critical time, survival rates decline by 7% to 10% for every minute that passes.
Our Market Opportunity
Since the approval of the first WCD in 2001, global WCD revenues have grown significantly, reaching approximately $1.1 billion in 2025, with over 80% of the revenues coming from the United States. Based on our commercial results and publicly reported financial data from our competitor, we estimate the WCD market grew in the low to mid-teens in 2025, an acceleration from high single digit growth in recent years. We expect that growth to continue, driven by increased awareness and education about WCD
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therapy, a growing body of clinical evidence, and the rapidly growing heart failure population. Despite being available for over 25 years and proven effective in treating dangerous cardiac rhythms when worn by patients, WCD therapy reached just 16% of eligible U.S. patients in 2025, highlighting a significant opportunity for growth. We attribute this low penetration to poor patient compliance, driven by the limitations of our leading competitor’s device. The ASSURE WCD, as part of our broader Cardiac Recovery System platform, is designed to prioritize patient comfort and compliance, addressing common barriers to acceptance experienced by other commercially available WCDs.
The WCD is indicated for use in patients who are at risk for SCA and are not candidates for, or refuse, an ICD. Medical guidelines recommend WCD use in those patients with a low left ventricular ejection fraction ("LVEF") and a recent myocardial infarction (MI), recent revascularization procedure or newly diagnosed nonischemic cardiomyopathy with heart failure symptoms. In addition, patients with documented ventricular tachycardia ("VT") or ventricular fibrillation ("VF") or an inherited genetic condition that places them at high risk for SCA, or patients who have had their ICD temporarily explanted are also indicated for WCDs. According to the Americal Heart Association ("AHA"), approximately 1.8 million people in the U.S. each year experience a serious cardiac event, such as an MI, or are diagnosed with heart failure. Among these patients, around 800,000 patients have low LVEF, placing them at an elevated risk of SCA. Additionally, approximately 50,000 patients each year either have documented VT or VF, an inherited genetic condition, or have had their ICD temporarily explanted. Based on the foregoing annual incidences, the current Medicare reimbursement rate of $3,589 per patient per month, and our average initial WCD prescription length of 3.4 months, we believe the total, annual addressable market in the U.S. for the ASSURE WCD is approximately $10 billion.
While our current commercial focus is on the U.S., 18% of global WCD revenues in 2025 were generated internationally, representing approximately $200 million, and that has primarily been concentrated in Western Europe where the market has been most developed, as well as in Japan. In select international markets, we estimate based on patient population data collected by various third-party industry sources that there are approximately 3.7 million people each year who experience an MI, are diagnosed with heart failure, have documented VT or VF, have an inherited genetic condition, or have had their ICD temporarily explanted. Among these patients, based on the same third-party industry sources, we estimate that approximately 1.8 million patients meet the indications for WCD therapy. Based on estimated average WCD wear prescription length in these international markets of 2.5 months per patient and estimated average reimbursement rate of $3,000 per patient per month derived from industry data and internal estimates, we believe this represents an approximately $14 billion total annual market opportunity outside the U.S. as of 2025. We have not received any regulatory approvals to commercialize our products outside of the U.S. and have not submitted any applications to obtain such regulatory approvals. However, we are currently planning to pursue CE Mark approval in Europe and, in the future, intend to strategically commercialize in selected international countries. We anticipate Western Europe to be our initial focus due to favorable market dynamics and our goal is to obtain regulatory approvals to begin distributing our ASSURE WCD in certain markets in Western Europe within the next three years.
Our Solution
Our Product
The ASSURE WCD serves as the foundation our Cardiac Recovery System platform, which pairs proven protection with clinically informed insights to support patients throughout the recovery journey. The ASSURE WCD automatically monitors elevated risk patients and, if needed, delivers a defibrillation shock to return the patient’s heart to normal rhythm. It was purpose-built to enhance patient comfort and compliance and directly address the key barriers to adoption associated with the other commercially available WCDs. The ASSURE WCD received FDA approval on July 27, 2021 for adult patients at elevated risk of SCA who are not candidates for, or decline, an ICD.
Our Platform
Building on this foundation, the Cardiac Recovery System platform includes a suite of digital and clinical support solutions designed to provide a more connected approach to patient management. Integrated solutions—including the ASSURE patient application, Kestra CareStation® remote patient management platform, Heart Alert Services, and ASSURE Assist®—provide clinicians with greater visibility into patient status and support informed care decisions.
The ASSURE patient application engages patients through real-time mobile connectivity and facilitates communication between patients and healthcare providers. The Kestra CareStation remote patient management platform equips providers with alert-based notifications and patient data that may support timely clinical decision-making. Heart Alert Services and ASSURE Assist work together to enhance patient safety by notifying healthcare providers of significant arrhythmias and facilitating emergency response when therapy is delivered. ASSURE Assist is designed to notify emergency services when a therapeutic shock is administered, helping to support timely post-event care.
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In April 2026, we announced the release of the Enhanced ASSURE Detection Algorithm, a software enhancement to the ASSURE WCD that incorporates insights derived from the ASSURE WCD Clinical Evaluation Post-Approval Study ("ACE-PAS") registry dataset. The Enhanced ASSURE Detection Algorithm was designed to further improve rhythm discrimination and reduce unnecessary alarms while maintaining the device's ability to identify and treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. The graphic below provides an overview of the integrated components of our Cardiac Recovery System platform and how they support patients and healthcare providers:
Key Benefits of Our Solution
We believe our Cardiac Recovery System platform offers notable benefits and an improved user-experience that differentiates it from the only other commercially available WCD. These benefits include:
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Modern and advanced design to improve comfort, performance and maximize wearability. The Sensorfit garments were developed with an athletic and sportswear designer and are tailored for body inclusivity, offering two styles and a wide range of sizes. We believe that having separate, gender-specific designs is particularly important given women make up approximately 40% of SCA patients. Overall wearability is further supported by the results of our post-approval study (“ACE-PAS”) which demonstrate a median wear time of greater than 23 hours per day. In addition to improving comfort and wearability, our unique Sensorfit garment design incorporates cushioned electrodes that are embedded in the fabric to improve electrode contact and, ultimately, improve electrocardiogram (“ECG”) signal quality.
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High fidelity ECG leading to fewer false alarms. The ASSURE WCD is designed to minimize false alarms. Reduction in false alarms may lead to lower patient anxiety, improved patient satisfaction and increased patient compliance. The overall level of noise is reduced through use of resistive ECG electrodes that are cushioned and securely bonded to the fabric, custom shielded cables, and isolation circuitry. The ASSURE WCD also utilizes four channels of high-quality ECG, combined with
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Adaptive Patient Intelligence (“API”), a proprietary technology that adapts to the patient heart rhythm to filter out artifacts and improve performance even in a noisy environment. Primary results from ACE-PAS, announced in November 2025, which enrolled 21,612 patients across the United States, reported a low false alarm rate with only 6% of our patients experiencing a false alarm. The latest updates to the ASSURE WCD include the Enhanced ASSURE Detection Algorithm, whose projected impact is estimated to result in only 3% of ASSURE patients experiencing a false alarm. This compares to 46% of patients experiencing a false alarm for the leading competitor’s device, as reported in the Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology Study.
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Product innovations and integrated digital solutions and services supporting the patient throughout the cardiac care continuum. Our Cardiac Recovery System platform is a comprehensive suite of proprietary wearable and fully integrated digital solutions and services for monitoring, diagnosing, and protecting patients through their cardiac recovery journey. We believe our Cardiac Recovery System platform represents a competitive advantage, with the goal of ultimately improving the prescriber and patient experience, maximizing patient comfort and compliance, and increasing adoption of our system. In addition, our Cardiac Recovery System platform’s capabilities allow healthcare providers to identify other clinically significant arrhythmias.
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Improved energy delivery to enhance efficacy and safety. The ASSURE WCD delivers a 170-joule shock to better serve patients with higher defibrillation thresholds, compared to the leading competitor device which delivers a 150-joule shock. In addition, our system has a minimum defibrillation capacity of 25 shocks, providing a significant safety buffer for patients who experience multiple cardiac events within a short period of time, such as a VT storm—a condition characterized by repeated episodes of sustained VT requiring intervention.
Our Product Portfolio
In addition to our commercialized products, we continue to invest in expanding our offerings and product portfolio. For example, in January 2026, we announced a strategic collaboration with Biobeat Technologies (“Biobeat”), which has developed the only clinically validated, FDA-cleared cuffless, patch-worn ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (“ABPM”) device. The device leverages photoplethysmography-based sensing to deliver continuous, noninvasive blood pressure measurement over a 24-hour period for hypertension diagnosis and management in the outpatient cardiac recovery setting. We intend to integrate Biobeat’s technology into its product portfolio to make ABPM data available for patients prescribed the ASSURE WCD.
Our Strategy
We believe the continued growth of our company will be driven by the following success factors:
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Large, growing, and underpenetrated WCD market;
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Highly innovative Cardiac Recovery System platform designed to protect patients from SCA and improve patient compliance and healthcare provider adoption;
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Comprehensive and fully integrated suite of mission critical digital solutions and services for driving patient and healthcare provider engagement;
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Material investments in infrastructure to support rapid growth and scale;
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Established reimbursement and favorable payor coverage;
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Strong and compelling body of clinical evidence;
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Broad research and development capabilities and a robust intellectual property portfolio; and
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Highly experienced management team and board with proven commercial growth success.
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To fully achieve our mission of providing innovative, intuitive medical technologies to protect and support at-risk patients, we intend to pursue the following growth strategies:
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Continue to capture share of the current WCD prescriptions in the U.S.;
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Expand adoption of our Cardiac Recovery System platform in the U.S. to increase the penetration of the U.S. total addressable WCD market;
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Build upon our strong base of clinical evidence;
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Continue our payor engagement to broaden coverage and increase reimbursement;
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Innovate our system and bolster our digital healthcare platform and data management capabilities;
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Drive gross profit expansion and operating leverage;
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Pursue expansion in international markets; and
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Strategically pursue adjacent markets with new products offerings and differentiated services.
Clinical Trials
We are committed to building upon our strong foundation of clinical evidence demonstrating the efficacy of our ASSURE WCD and our broader Cardiac Recovery System platform, with 10 publications completed to date. We believe our ongoing clinical initiatives will further validate the benefits of our system and may support stronger guideline recommendations for WCD therapy.
Preclinical and human clinical safety and effectiveness data provided the basis for PMA approval of the ASSURE WCD in July 2021. That evidence included an extensive series of engineering verification tests and statistically robust animal studies, followed by two investigational device exemption (“IDE”) human trials, ACE-DETECT and ACE-CONVERT. Our ASSURE Patient Registry continues to serve as a cornerstone for generating real-world evidence on our ASSURE WCD’s performance. All patients prescribed the ASSURE WCD in the U.S. after August 5, 2022 are included in the Registry. As of April 30, 2026, our ongoing registry has enrolled approximately 40,000 patients.
Most recently, we announced the primary results of primary results from the ASSURE WCD Clinical Evaluation Post-Approval Study (“ACE-PAS”) in November 2025, which underscored the ASSURE WCD’s competitive advantages in wearability, usability, and patient compliance, providing strong support for continued adoption. ACE-PAS has been the largest prospective real-world study of wearable defibrillators to date. Key outcomes from ACE-PAS include 100% successful conversion rate for VT and VF events and an inappropriate-shock rate of 0.0065 per patient-month, with only 6% of our patients experiencing a false alarm, compared to 46% for our leading competitor’s device. Among 16,441 patients who completed wear at data cut-off, median daily use was more than 23 hours per day, with one third of patients in the study continuing use beyond 90 days. The study also revealed that 2.6% of patients experienced at least one life-threatening VT or VF event within only a few months of being prescribed the ASSURE WCD, highlighting the need for the product. The ASSURE system facilitated the detection of high-rate atrial fibrillation in 4.2% of patients (35% previously undiagnosed) and severe bradycardia or asystole in 0.3% of patients, enabling the potential for more timely intervention.
Third Party Coverage, Reimbursement and Payor Relations
We derive nearly all our revenue from the direct billing of various third-party payors, including Medicare, Medicaid, private payors and other healthcare-related organizations, for the lease of our ASSURE WCD to patients as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform. Additionally, any costs associated with our solution that are not covered by third-party payors, such as co-payments, are billed directly to the patient by our team.
We have strong, established payor relationships, including some of the largest private payors in the U.S. Based on our estimates, we are contracted or enrolled as an in-network healthcare provider with payors currently covering over 290 million lives as of April 30, 2026. These contracts allow us to be an in-network healthcare provider for patients, enabling them to access our system at
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a competitive rate and copay. These established payor relationships reduce our administrative burden in authorization and billing for our ASSURE WCD. Our payor relationships are supported by our revenue cycle management platform, which streamlines reimbursement processes by ensuring claims are accurately prepared and submitted according to individual payor requirements, facilitating timely collections. These capabilities are an important element in our strategy to increase operational efficiency and support both patient and healthcare provider satisfaction.
WCDs are reimbursed as Durable Medical Equipment under the DMEPOS Fee Schedule and our ASSURE WCD is eligible for payment under the existing HCPCS code K0606. Code K0606 falls under the Capped Rental monthly reimbursement rate for lease payments. K0606 is an active 2026 HCPCS code defined as an automated external defibrillator, with integrated ECG analysis, garment type. The Medicare allowable for code K0606 is approximately $3,589 per month for months one to three and reduces 25% to $2,692 for months four to thirteen published in the CMS DMEPOS Fee Schedule in January 2026, while the maximum Medicare allowable over the course of their lease is approximately $37,683. The standard patient co-insurance is 20%. We have been issued a Medicare Provider Number by the CMS, which enables us to bill Medicare for reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD. Reimbursement rates for WCDs have shown consistent, favorable trends, with published Medicare reimbursement rates having increased at a CAGR of over 2.5% from 2016 to 2026.
Private payor reimbursement rates are generally in line with Medicare rates and vary based on several factors, including but are not limited to, the payor, geographic location, and contract terms. Most large, national payors have established coverage policies in place to cover WCD therapy.
Outside the U.S., reimbursement levels vary by country and by region. Some countries or regions may require us to gather additional clinical data before granting coverage and reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD. We intend to work with payors to obtain coverage and reimbursement approval in countries and regions we intend to enter in the future, including select countries in Western Europe such as Germany and France. We estimate that these two countries include approximately 600,000 WCD-indicated patients, representing a sizeable opportunity for future international expansion.
Sales and Marketing
Our commercial strategy and our direct sales force primarily target general cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, cardiac electrophysiologists, and advanced practice providers within hospitals and clinics in the U.S., as these represent the primary healthcare providers managing the care of patients at elevated risk of SCA and who typically make decisions regarding WCD prescriptions. Our sales, marketing and product education efforts are focused on capturing market share and driving adoption by offering healthcare providers an innovative, safe and effective WCD alternative.
Our commercial team is comprised of approximately 130 direct sales representatives as well as more than 40 sales and clinical support professionals as of April 30, 2026. This team is responsible for developing sales territory business plans, targeting and opening new accounts, and driving adoption of our Cardiac Recovery System platform. Once a healthcare provider prescribes our ASSURE WCD to a patient, our direct sales team is supported by a contracted team of over 500 Assure Patient Specialists ("APS") who assist patients with fitting and training. These specialists assist with fitting patients with the appropriate size and gender-specific option of the ASSURE WCD and provide training on its proper wear and use. At fitting, we deliver our ASSURE WCD from our distribution network to the patient. When a patient’s wear time has concluded, the device is returned for reprocessing and reintroduction into the distribution network.
We have initially focused on establishing key customer accounts and expansion into high WCD-volume areas. Our commercial team has been successful at driving adoption of the ASSURE WCD with hospitals ranging from top academic medical centers to community hospitals, and we plan to continue to further scale our commercial team to reach a wider range of healthcare providers across the entire U.S. Long term, we plan to expand internationally, and we believe the prevalence of single payor health systems outside of the U.S. provides an opportunity to efficiently penetrate large pools of net new eligible lives. As of April 30, 2026, we have not received any regulatory approvals to commercialize our products outside of the U.S. and have not submitted any applications to obtain such regulatory approvals. However, we are currently planning to pursue CE Mark approval in Europe and, in the future, intend to strategically commercialize in select international countries. We anticipate Western Europe to be our initial focus due to favorable market dynamics and our goal is to obtain regulatory approvals to begin distributing our ASSURE WCD in certain markets in Western Europe within the next three years.
Research & Development
We are committed to investing in research and development activities to advance our Cardiac Recovery System platform as well as develop and commercialize next-generation products. Over a decade of investment in our research and development capabilities has resulted in a highly experienced and capable innovation engine. Designed as a scalable platform, our Cardiac
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Recovery System platform supports future extensions and enhancements, enabling the integration of new therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities to support our existing fleet of ASSURE WCDs. The platform also enables data collection from patients that will support training of automated algorithms to detect and predict clinically relevant events. We also intend to leverage the Class I nature of our broader suite of digital solutions to continually enhance the digital capabilities of our Cardiac Recovery System platform, offering greater data transparency, diagnostic flexibility, and workflow efficiency.
Through the ASSURE Patient Registry, we are maximizing the utility of this system to collect and leverage aggregated, de-identified data to build clinical evidence and support innovations in prediction, prevention, and therapy. For example, we aim to develop advanced capabilities to deliver personalized clinical decision support. Our efforts to continuously innovate reflect our vision of leveraging our unique capabilities to deliver smarter, more effective solutions for cardiac patients.
In addition to serving high-acuity patient populations, we believe we are positioned to expand our offerings to a broader range of cardiac patients, including those with previously undiagnosed atrial fibrillation, advanced hypertension, and other cardiac conditions. Our long-term vision is to deliver a comprehensive and cohesive ecosystem of monitoring, diagnostics, and therapy that seamlessly supports patients as their health conditions evolve. In addition, in January 2026, we announced a strategic collaboration with Biobeat Technologies, which has developed the only clinically validated, FDA-cleared cuffless, patch-worn ABPM device. The device leverages photoplethysmography-based sensing to deliver continuous, noninvasive blood pressure measurement over a 24-hour period for hypertension diagnosis and management in the outpatient cardiac recovery setting. We intend to integrate Biobeat’s technology into its product portfolio to make ABPM data available for patients prescribed the ASSURE WCD.
We have established a tenured and dedicated research and development team comprised of highly skilled engineers and program managers with extensive experience in external and implantable defibrillation, as well as more than a decade of experience creating our next generation wearable medical device. In addition, we have strong software development resources capable of innovating advanced algorithms, user interfaces, and connectivity solutions to enhance the functionality and user experience of our Cardiac Recovery System platform.
Manufacturing and Supply
We utilize third-party manufacturing and supply partners to manufacture our ASSURE WCD and its components. We believe outsourcing the manufacture of our ASSURE WCD provides the expertise and capacity required to effectively and efficiently scale production based on the demand. We select our third-party partners to ensure that our ASSURE WCD and its components are of the highest quality and adhere to all applicable regulations. We employ a rigorous manufacturing and supplier partner assessment, qualification, and selection process to target partners that meet the requirements of the FDA and the International Organization for Standardization, as well as quality standards supported by internal policies and procedures. Our quality assurance program monitors and maintains manufacturing and supplier partner performance through qualification and periodic reviews and audits. Our tier-one third-party manufacturing and supplier partners, which supply our SensorFit Garment and assemble our ASSURE WCD, are also independently audited by the FDA. We rely on a single or limited number of suppliers for certain components of our ASSURE WCD. We seek to manage single-source supplier risk by regularly assessing the quality and capacity of our partners, as well as by qualifying alternative partners and developing contingency plans for responding to disruptions.
Our third-party manufacturing and supplier partners inspect, test, and assemble our ASSURE WCD and its components under strict manufacturing processes supported by internal policies and procedures. Our third-party partners are all in compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations applicable to our ASSURE WCD. Both of our tier-one third-party manufacturing and supplier partners are headquartered in the U.S. and provide products from their facilities based in the U.S.
We utilize a lease business model where certain components of our ASSURE WCD are reused for multiple patients. At the end of a prescription, the patient ships our ASSURE WCD back to our third-party manufacturing partner, who disposes of the single-use items, such as our SensorFit Garment, and then inspects, tests, and recertifies the other components for use by another patient. The reusable nature of our ASSURE WCD allows each device to be deployed multiple times, thereby reducing the ongoing demand for new inventory. These reconditioning processes are validated and FDA approved. We also have preventative maintenance and repair processes that can further extend the life of each ASSURE WCD.
We utilize an inventory distribution strategy where we pre-emptively deploy our ASSURE WCD and its components to a central distribution location, as well as 20 additional strategically located third-party warehouses across the U.S. This is done to ensure our ASSURE WCD is available for immediate use no matter where a patient is located. Inventory stock is allocated based on historical ASSURE WCD utilization in that territory, as well as sales forecasting to account for growing demand. Using this strategy, ASSURE WCD components are typically replenished within a 24-hour window. We believe this distribution model optimizes the availability of our ASSURE WCD inventory, supports growth, and minimizes the impact of localized weather, transportation delays, or other disruptions.
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Our tier-one third-party manufacturing and supplier partners also operate facilities in Asia and Europe, equipped with localized manufacturing and reconditioning capabilities. These facilities can leverage our proven systems and processes in the U.S. to support our future international needs.
Competition
Our currently marketed products and any future products we commercialize will be subject to competition. The WCD market has historically been served by a single incumbent commercial product, the LifeVest WCD, which is marketed by ZOLL Medical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Corporation. In May 2025, a new market entrant received FDA approval for an adhesive-based external defibrillator.
We believe that the primary factors in developing a competitive WCD include:
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product safety and effectiveness;
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detection algorithm sensitivity, specificity and false alarm rate;
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patient physical and psychological comfort and ease of use;
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ability to integrate within the patient monitoring ecosystem;
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quality, breadth and ongoing generation of clinical evidence;
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technological innovation, product enhancements and speed of innovation;
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capital required to achieve PMA approval as well as to facilitate post-commercial initial inventory; and
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regulatory status and speed to market.
Additionally, we believe that the following factors are required to commercially compete in the WCD market:
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patient and healthcare provider connectivity and engagement;
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post-event monitoring and emergency support;
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effective marketing to and education of patients, physicians, other healthcare providers and hospitals;
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company, product and brand recognition;
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device reusability and durability;
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reimbursement and payor coverage;
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complexity in building up the remote cardiac monitoring (“RCM”) capabilities and logistics to support broad-based commercialization and service levels; and
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recruitment and retention of a qualified and experienced sales force.
We believe that our Cardiac Recovery System platform will continue to be advantaged in the market due to our differentiated and integrated features enabling superior patient comfort, compliance, connectivity and support. However, our competitors, current and future, may have greater financial and personnel resources than we have and may have advantages over us in any of the aforementioned factors. For a discussion of risks related to our competition, see ‘Item 1A. Risk Factors – If our competitors are able to develop or market products and services that are more effective, or gain greater acceptance in the marketplace, than any products and services we develop, our commercial opportunities will be reduced or eliminated.”
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Intellectual Property
In order to remain competitive, we must develop and maintain protection for the proprietary aspects of our technologies. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, and confidentiality and invention assignment agreements to protect our intellectual property rights. The protection of intellectual property has been and remains a priority for us.
We rely on utility patent, design patent or other similar protection and registration mechanisms through various jurisdictions that relate to our ASSURE WCD. As of April 30, 2026, we have rights to 264 issued U.S. and foreign patents, consisting of 229 issued patents in the U.S., 17 issued patents in the European Union, 8 issued patents in Japan, 5 issued patents in Australia and 5 issued patents in China. Additionally, as of April 30, 2026, we had 125 pending published and unpublished U.S. and foreign patent applications, consisting of 114 pending published and unpublished patent applications in the U.S., 5 pending published patent applications in the European Union, 2 pending published patent applications in Japan, 1 pending published patent applications in Australia and 3 pending published patent applications in China. Assuming all required fees and other charges are paid, the earliest expiry date for issued patents owned or used by us is in February 2031.
We rely on trademarks, service marks, trade names and brand names, such as our registered or applied for trademarks for the marks ASSURE, CARDIAC RECOVERY SYSTEM, KESTRA, KESTRA CARESTATION and ASSURE ASSIST to distinguish our products from the products of our competitors. We have registered or applied for each of these marks in the United States and, for certain markets, in selected locations internationally, but we may be unable to obtain, maintain, protect or enforce our trademarks in the markets where we currently or may in the future operate.
We also rely upon trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovation, and licensing opportunities, to develop and maintain our competitive position. However, trade secrets and know how may be difficult to protect. We protect our proprietary rights through a variety of methods, including confidentiality agreements and proprietary information agreements with third party contract manufacturers, suppliers, employees, consultants and others who may have access to proprietary information that we own or license for use.
There is no active litigation involving any of our patents or other intellectual property rights and we have not received any notices of patent infringement. We may be required to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights against third parties in the future. For additional information regarding these and other risks related to our intellectual property portfolio and their potential effect on us, see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
Government Regulation
Our products and our operations are subject to extensive and ongoing regulation by the FDA, the CMS and other federal and state authorities in the United States. Regulations cover virtually every critical aspect of a medical device company’s business operations, including research activities, product development, quality and risk management, contracting, reimbursement, medical communications, and sales and marketing. In addition, we are subject to regulation by CMS, state law, and private payor requirements as a DME supplier with respect to our product leasing and payor billing operations. In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”) and the implementing regulations of the FDA govern, among other things, product design and development, pre-clinical and clinical testing, premarket notifications and clearance or approval, investigational device exemption, establishment registration and device listing, product manufacturing, quality systems, import and export, product labeling, product storage, medical device reporting, recalls and field safety corrective actions, advertising and promotion, revenues and distribution, and post-market surveillance (including complaint handling and adverse event reporting). Our business is subject to various federal, state and local regulations, including, but not limited to, ISO 13485, ISO 14971 and the FDA’s Quality System Regulation (“QSR”) contained in 21 CFR Parts 801, 803, 807, 812, 814, and 820.
FDA Premarket Clearance and Approval Requirements
Unless an exemption applies, each medical device commercially distributed in the United States requires either FDA clearance of a premarket notification (“510(k)”) under Section 510(k) of the FDCA or approval of a premarket approval application (“PMA”).
Under the FDCA, medical devices are classified into one of three classes—Class I, Class II or Class III—depending on the degree of risk associated with each medical device and the extent of manufacturer and regulatory control needed to ensure its safety and effectiveness. Class I includes devices with the lowest risk to the patient and are those for which safety and effectiveness can be assured by adherence to the FDA’s General Controls for medical devices, which include compliance with the applicable portions of the QSR, establishment registration and product listing, reporting of adverse events, and truthful and non-misleading labeling, advertising and promotional materials. Class II devices are subject to the FDA’s General Controls, and special controls
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as deemed necessary by the FDA to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device. These special controls can include performance standards, special labeling requirements, post-market surveillance, patient registries and FDA product-specific guidance documents.
While most Class I devices are exempt from the 510(k) premarket notification requirement, manufacturers of most Class II devices are required to submit to the FDA a premarket notification under Section 510(k) of the FDCA requesting clearance to commercially distribute the device.
Devices deemed by the FDA to pose the greatest risks, such as life-sustaining or life-supporting devices, those that are of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health, or which present a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury, are placed in Class III, requiring approval of PMA. The PMA process is more stringent, time-consuming and expensive than the 510(k) clearance process. Some pre-amendment devices are unclassified but are subject to the FDA’s premarket notification and clearance process in order to be commercially distributed.
Our ASSURE WCD is a Class III device that has received a PMA. For the purpose of our PMA, our digital health platform is separate from our ASSURE WCD and is treated as an FDA Class I 510(k)-exempt device.
510(k) Clearance Marketing Pathway
The FDA’s permission to commercially distribute a device subject to a 510(k) premarket notification is generally known as 510(k) clearance. Under the 510(k) clearance process, the manufacturer must submit to the FDA a premarket notification demonstrating that the device is “substantially equivalent” to either a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976, the date upon which the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 were enacted, and for which a PMA is not required, a device that has been reclassified from Class III to Class II or I, or another commercially available device that was cleared through the 510(k) process. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance process usually takes from three to twelve months but may take longer. The FDA may require additional information, including clinical data, to make a determination regarding substantial equivalence. FDA collects user fees for certain medical device submission and annual fees and for medical device establishments.
If the FDA agrees that the device is substantially equivalent to a predicate device currently on the market, it will grant 510(k) clearance to commercially market the device. If the FDA determines that the device is not “substantially equivalent” to a previously cleared device, the device is automatically designated as a Class III device. The device sponsor must then fulfill more rigorous PMA requirement as described below. After a device receives 510(k) clearance or de novo classification, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change or modification in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or, depending on the modification, PMA approval or de novo classification. The FDA requires each manufacturer to determine whether the proposed change requires submission of a 510(k), de novo request or a PMA in the first instance, but the FDA can review any such decision and disagree with a manufacturer’s determination. If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s determination, the FDA can require the manufacturer to cease marketing and/or request the recall of the modified device until 510(k) marketing clearance or PMA approval is obtained or a de novo request is granted. In these circumstances, the manufacturer may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties.
De Novo Classification Process
Medical device types that the FDA has not previously classified are automatically classified into Class III regardless of the level of risk they pose. The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 established a route to market for low-to-moderate risk medical devices that are automatically placed into Class III due to the absence of a predicate device, called the “Request for Evaluation of Automatic Class III Designation,” or the de novo classification procedure. This procedure allows a manufacturer whose novel device is automatically classified into Class III to request down-classification of its medical device into Class I or Class II on the basis that the device presents low or moderate risk, rather than requiring the submission and approval of a PMA application. Pursuant to the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (the “FDASIA”) manufacturers may request de novo classification directly without first submitting a 510(k) pre-market notification to the FDA and receiving a not-substantially-equivalent determination. De novo classification requests are subject to the payment of user fees.
Under FDASIA, FDA is required to classify the device within 120 days following receipt of the de novo request, although the process may take significantly longer. If the manufacturer seeks reclassification into Class II, the manufacturer must include a draft proposal for special controls that are necessary to provide a reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of the medical device. If FDA grants the de novo request, the device may be legally marketed in the United States. However, the FDA may reject the request if the FDA identifies a legally marketed predicate device that would be appropriate for a 510(k) notification, determines that the device is not low-to-moderate risk, or determines that General Controls would be inadequate to control the risks and/or special controls cannot be developed. After a device receives de novo classification, any modification that could significantly affect its safety
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or efficacy, or that would constitute a major change or modification in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or, depending on the modification, another de novo request or even PMA approval.
PMA Pathway
Class III devices require a PMA before they can be marketed, although some pre-amendment Class III devices for which the FDA has not yet required a PMA are cleared through the 510(k) process. The PMA process is more demanding than the 510(k) premarket notification process. In a PMA application, the applicant must demonstrate that the device is safe and effective, and the PMA application must be supported by extensive data, which may include data from pre-clinical studies and human clinical trials. The PMA application must also contain a full description of the device and its components, a full description of the methods, facilities and controls used for manufacturing, and proposed labeling. The PMA process is burdensome, and in practice, the FDA’s review of a PMA application may take up to several years following initial application.
Following submission of a PMA application, the FDA conducts an initial filing review to determine whether the application is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. If the application is accepted for filing, the FDA’s review goal under the FDCA is 180 days; however, actual review timelines are typically longer and may extend well beyond this timeframe depending on the complexity of the application, the need for Advisory Committee input, and the number and scope of FDA information requests. During the review process, the FDA frequently issues requests for additional information or clarification (e.g., deficiency letters), and the sponsor’s responses to these requests can significantly impact the overall review timeline. The FDA can delay, limit or deny approval of a PMA application for many reasons, including:
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the device may not be safe, effective, reliable or accurate to the FDA’s satisfaction;
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the data from pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may be insufficient to support approval;
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the manufacturing process or facilities may not meet applicable requirements; and
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changes in FDA approval policies or adoption of new regulations may require additional data.
An advisory panel of experts from outside the FDA may be convened to review and evaluate the application and provide recommendations to the FDA as to the approvability of the device. The FDA may or may not accept the panel’s recommendation. In addition, the FDA will generally conduct a preapproval inspection of the applicant, its clinical trial data and clinical sites, as well as its third-party manufacturers’ or suppliers’ manufacturing facility or facilities to ensure compliance with FDA requirements, including the QSR. PMA applications are also subject to the payment of user fees, which for 2026 includes a standard application fee of $579,272.
The FDA will approve the new device for commercial distribution if it determines that the data and information in the PMA application constitute valid scientific evidence and that there is reasonable assurance that the device is safe and effective for its intended use(s). The FDA may approve a PMA application with post-approval conditions intended to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device, including, among other things, restrictions on labeling, promotion, sale and distribution, and collection of long-term follow-up data from patients in the clinical study that supported a PMA or requirements to conduct additional clinical studies post-approval. The FDA may condition a PMA on some form of post-market surveillance when deemed necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and efficacy data for the device in a larger population or for a longer period of use. In such cases, the manufacturer might be required to follow certain patient groups for a number of years and to make periodic reports to the FDA on the clinical status of those patients. Failure to comply with the conditions of approval can result in material adverse enforcement action, including withdrawal of the approval.
Certain changes to an approved device, such as changes in manufacturing facilities, methods, or quality control procedures, or changes in the design performance specifications, which affect the safety or effectiveness of the device, require submission of a PMA supplement. PMA supplements often require submission of the same type of information as a PMA application, except that the supplement is limited to information needed to support any changes from the device covered by the original PMA application and may not require as extensive clinical data or the convening of an advisory panel. Certain other changes to an approved device require the submission of a new PMA, such as when the design change causes a different intended use, mode of operation, and technical basis of operation, or when the design change is so significant that a new generation of the device will be developed, and the data that were submitted with the original PMA application are not applicable for the change in demonstrating a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness.
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Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are almost always required to support a PMA application and are sometimes required to support a 510(k) submission. We completed clinical trials for our ASSURE WCD in March 2020 and received our PMA for our ASSURE WCD in July 2021. Most recently, we announced results from the post-approval clinical study of the ASSURE WCD in November 2025, and we may in the future engage in additional clinical trials and other clinical initiatives to support additional indications and stronger guideline recommendations for WCD therapy and to obtain regulatory approvals to market our products in new markets. All clinical investigations of investigational devices to determine safety and effectiveness must be conducted in accordance with the FDA’s IDE regulations which govern investigational device labeling, prohibit promotion of the investigational device, and specify an array of recordkeeping, reporting and monitoring responsibilities of study sponsors and study investigators. If the device presents a “significant risk” to human health, as defined by the FDA, the FDA requires the device sponsor to submit an IDE application to the FDA, which must become effective prior to commencing human clinical trials. If the device under evaluation does not present a significant risk to human health, then the device sponsor is not required to submit an IDE application to the FDA before initiating human clinical trials, but must still comply with abbreviated IDE requirements and obtain Institutional Review Board, or IRB approval when conducting such trials. A significant risk device is one that presents a potential for serious risk to the health, safety or welfare of a patient and either is implanted, used in supporting or sustaining human life, substantially important in diagnosing, curing, mitigating or treating disease or otherwise preventing impairment of human health, or otherwise presents a potential for serious risk to a subject. An IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory test results, showing that it is safe to test the device in humans and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound. The IDE will automatically become effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA unless the FDA notifies the company that the investigation may not begin. If the FDA determines that there are deficiencies or other concerns with an IDE for which it requires modification, the FDA may permit a clinical trial to proceed under a conditional approval.
In addition, regardless of the degree of risk presented by the medical device, clinical studies must be approved by, and conducted under the oversight of, an IRB for each clinical site. The IRB is responsible for the initial and continuing review of the IDE, and may pose additional requirements for the conduct of the study. If an IDE application is approved by the FDA and one or more IRBs, human clinical trials may begin at a specific number of investigational sites with a specific number of patients, as approved by the FDA. If the device presents a non-significant risk to the patient and does not require an IDE application, a sponsor may begin the clinical trial after obtaining approval for the trial by one or more IRBs without separate approval from the FDA, but must still follow abbreviated IDE requirements, such as monitoring the investigation, ensuring that the investigators obtain informed consent, and labeling and record-keeping requirements. The FDA’s approval of an IDE application allows clinical testing to go forward, but it does not bind the FDA to accept the results of the trial as sufficient to prove the product’s safety and efficacy, even if the trial meets its intended success criteria. All clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with applicable FDA regulations including for example those that govern good clinical practices, IRB review, investigational device labeling, prohibitions on promotion, and recordkeeping, reporting and monitoring responsibilities of study sponsors and study investigators. Required records and reports are subject to inspection by the FDA. The results of clinical testing may be unfavorable or, even if the intended safety and efficacy success criteria are achieved, may not be considered sufficient for the FDA to grant approval or clearance of a product. Clinical trials that meet certain requirements must be entered into the clinical trials registry at clinicaltrials.gov.
The commencement or completion of any clinical trial may be delayed or halted, or be inadequate to support approval of a PMA application, for numerous reasons, including, but not limited to, the following:
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the FDA or other regulatory authorities do not approve a clinical trial protocol or a clinical trial, or place a clinical trial on hold;
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patients do not enroll in clinical trials at the rate expected;
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patients, sponsor or study sites do not comply with trial protocols;
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patient follow-up is not at the rate expected;
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patients experience adverse side effects;
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patients die during a clinical trial, even though their death may not be related to the products that are part of our trial;
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IRBs and third-party clinical investigators may delay or reject the trial protocol;
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third-party clinical investigators decline to participate in a trial or do not perform a trial on the anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol, good clinical practices or other FDA requirements;
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the sponsor or third-party organizations do not perform data collection, monitoring and analysis in a timely or accurate manner or consistent with the clinical trial protocol or investigational or statistical plans;
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third-party clinical investigators have significant financial interests related to the sponsor or the study that the FDA deems to make the study results unreliable, or the company or investigators fail to disclose such interests;
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regulatory inspections of our clinical trials, which may, among other things, require us to undertake corrective action or suspend or terminate our clinical trials;
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changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions;
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the interim or final results of the clinical trial are inconclusive or unfavorable as to safety or efficacy; and
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the FDA concludes that our trial design is inadequate to demonstrate safety and efficacy.
Post-market Regulation
After a device is cleared or approved for marketing, numerous and pervasive regulatory requirements continue to apply. These include:
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establishment registration and device listing with the FDA;
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QSR requirements, which require manufacturers, including third-party manufacturers and suppliers, to follow stringent design, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures during all aspects of the design and manufacturing process, as well as maintain various records;
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labeling and marketing regulations, which require that promotion is truthful, not misleading, fairly balanced and provide adequate directions for use and that all claims are substantiated, and also prohibit the promotion of products for uncleared, unapproved or “off-label” uses and impose other restrictions on labeling;
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requirements related to promotional activities;
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FDA guidance on off-label dissemination of information and responding to unsolicited requests for information;
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clearance or approval of product modifications to 510(k)-cleared devices that could significantly affect safety or effectiveness or that would constitute a major change in intended use of one of our cleared devices, or approval of a supplement for certain modifications to PMA devices;
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medical device reporting regulations, which require that a manufacturer report to the FDA if a device it markets may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury, or has malfunctioned and the device or a similar device that it markets would be likely to cause or contribute to a death or serious injury, if the malfunction were to recur;
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correction, removal and recall reporting regulations, which require that manufacturers report to the FDA field corrections and product recalls or removals if undertaken to reduce a risk to health posed by the device or to remedy a violation of the FDCA that may present a risk to health;
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complying with the federal law and regulations requiring Unique Device Identifiers on devices and also requiring the submission of certain information about each device to the FDA’s Global Unique Device Identification Database;
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the FDA’s recall authority, whereby the agency can order device manufacturers to recall from the market a product that is in violation of governing laws and regulations; and
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post-market surveillance activities and regulations, which apply when deemed by the FDA to be necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and effectiveness data for the device.
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Additionally, the FDA may require us to conduct post-market surveillance studies or establish and maintain a system for tracking our products through the chain of distribution to the patient level. The FDA enforces regulatory requirements by conducting periodic, unannounced inspections and market surveillance. Inspections may include the manufacturing facilities of our subcontractors.
The FDA has broad regulatory compliance and enforcement powers. Failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in enforcement actions by the FDA and other regulatory agencies. These may include any of the following sanctions or consequences:
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warning letters or untitled letters that require corrective action;
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fines and civil penalties;
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unanticipated expenditures;
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delays in approving or refusal to approve future products;
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suspension or withdrawal of FDA 510(k) clearance or PMAs that have already been granted;
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product recall, withdrawal, administrative detention or seizure;
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interruption of production, including partial suspension or total shutdown;
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operating restrictions, including refusal to grant export approvals for devices being shipped to foreign markets;
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injunctions, consent decrees; and
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criminal prosecution.
We and our contract manufacturers, specification developers and some suppliers of components of our products, are also required to comply with current good manufacturing practice requirements set forth in the QSR. The QSR requires a quality system for the design, manufacture, packaging, labeling, storage, installation and servicing of marketed devices, and it includes extensive requirements with respect to quality management and organization, device design, buildings, equipment, purchase and handling of components or services, production and process controls, packaging and labeling controls, device evaluation, distribution, installation, complaint handling, servicing, and record keeping. The FDA evaluates compliance with the QSR through periodic unannounced inspections that may include the manufacturing facilities of our subcontractors. If the FDA believes that we or any of our contract manufacturers or regulated suppliers are not in compliance with these requirements, it can shut down such manufacturing operations, require recall of our products, refuse to approve new marketing applications, institute legal proceedings to detain or seize products, enjoin future violations or assess civil and criminal penalties against us or our officers or other employees.
Advertising and promotion of medical devices is regulated by the FDA, as well as the Federal Trade Commission depending on the type of device and by state regulatory and enforcement authorities. Promotional activities for FDA-regulated products of other companies have been the subject of enforcement action brought under healthcare reimbursement laws and consumer protection statutes. Furthermore, under the federal U.S. Lanham Act and similar state laws, competitors and others can initiate litigation relating to advertising claims.
Fraud and Abuse Laws
In addition to FDA restrictions, there are numerous federal and state laws pertaining to healthcare fraud and abuse, including anti-kickback laws and physician self-referral laws. Our relationships with healthcare providers and other third parties are subject to scrutiny under these laws. Violations of these laws are punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including, in some instances, imprisonment and exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, including the Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Administration health programs.
Federal Anti-Kickback and Self-Referral Laws
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or providing remuneration (including any kickback, bribe or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, to induce either the referral of an
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individual, or the furnishing, recommending, or arranging of a good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. The term “remuneration” has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value, including such items as gifts, discounts, the furnishing of supplies or equipment, credit arrangements, waiver of payments and providing anything at less than its fair market value. Although there are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting some common activities from prosecution, the exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly. Practices that involve remuneration that may be alleged to be intended to induce prescribing, purchases or recommendations may be subject to scrutiny if they do not qualify for an exception or safe harbor. Failure to meet all of the requirements of a particular applicable statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor does not make the conduct per se illegal under the Anti-Kickback Statute. Instead, the legality of the arrangement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on a review of all its relevant facts and circumstances. Several courts have interpreted the statute’s intent requirement to mean that if any one purpose of an arrangement involving remuneration is to induce referrals of (or purchases, or recommendations related to) federal healthcare covered business, the Anti-Kickback Statute has been implicated and potentially violated.
The penalties for violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute include imprisonment for up to five years, fines of up to $25,000 per violation and possible exclusion from federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Many states have adopted prohibitions similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, some of which do not have the same exceptions and apply to the referral of patients for healthcare services reimbursed by any source, not only by the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Further, the Anti-Kickback Statute was amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Specifically, under the Anti-Kickback Statute, the government must prove the defendant acted “knowingly” to prove a violation occurred. The ACA added a provision to clarify that with respect to violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, “a person need not have actual knowledge” of the statute or specific intent to commit a violation of the statute. This change effectively overturns case law interpretations that set a higher standard under which prosecutors had to prove the specific intent to violate the law. In addition, the ACA codified case law that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal civil False Claims Act.
We plan to provide the initial training to providers and patients necessary for appropriate use of our ASSURE WCD through training and educating patients, cardiologists, cardiac electrophysiologists, key opinion leaders from these disciplines and medical societies. We may hire or contract with a network of ASSURE patient specialists to assist with fitting and training patients and such specialists will be reimbursed for their services at fair market value.
Noncompliance with the federal Anti-Kickback Statute could result in our exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental programs, restrictions on our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions, and civil and criminal penalties.
Federal law also includes a provision commonly known as the “Stark Law,” which prohibits a physician from referring Medicare or Medicaid patients to an entity providing “designated health services,” including a company that furnishes durable medical equipment, in which the physician has an ownership or investment interest or with which the physician has entered into a compensation arrangement. Violation of the Stark Law could result in denial of payment, disgorgement of reimbursements received under a noncompliant arrangement, civil penalties, and exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental programs. We believe that we have structured our provider arrangements to comply with current Stark Law requirements. Nevertheless, a determination of liability under such laws could result in fines and penalties and restrictions on our ability to operate in these jurisdictions.
Federal False Claims Act
The Federal False Claims Act provides, in part, that the federal government may bring a lawsuit against any person whom it believes has knowingly presented, or caused to be presented, a false or fraudulent request for payment from the federal government, or who has made a false statement or used a false record to get a claim approved. In addition, amendments in 1986 to the Federal False Claims Act have made it easier for private parties to bring “qui tam” whistleblower lawsuits against companies under the Federal False Claims Act. Penalties include fines ranging from $5,500 to $11,000 for each false claim, plus three times the amount of damages that the federal government sustained because of the act of that person. Qui tam actions have increased significantly in recent years, causing greater numbers of healthcare companies to have to defend a false claim action, pay fines or be excluded from Medicare, Medicaid or other federal or state healthcare programs as a result of an investigation arising out of such action.
There are other federal anti-fraud laws that that prohibit, among other actions, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors, knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense, and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services.
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Additionally, HIPAA established two federal crimes in related to healthcare fraud and false statements relating to healthcare matters. The healthcare fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private payors. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines, imprisonment or exclusion from government sponsored programs. The false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines or imprisonment.
Civil Monetary Penalties Law
In addition to the Anti-Kickback Statute and the civil and criminal False Claims Acts, the federal government has the authority to seek civil monetary penalties (“CMPs”), assessments, and exclusion against an individual or entity based on a wide variety of prohibited conduct. For example, the Civil Monetary Penalties Law authorizes the imposition of substantial CMPs against an entity that engages in activities including, but not limited to: (1) knowingly presenting or causing to be presented, a claim for services not provided as claimed or which is otherwise false or fraudulent in any way; (2) knowingly giving or causing to be given false or misleading information reasonably expected to influence the decision to discharge a patient; (3) offering or giving remuneration to any beneficiary of a federal healthcare program likely to influence the receipt of reimbursable items or services; (4) arranging for reimbursable services with an entity which is excluded from participation from a federal healthcare program; (5) knowingly or willfully soliciting or receiving remuneration for a referral of a federal healthcare program beneficiary; or (6) using a payment intended for a federal health care program beneficiary for another use. Noncompliance can result in civil money penalties of up to $10,000 for each wrongful act, assessment of three times the amount claimed for each item or service and exclusion from the federal healthcare programs.
State Fraud and Abuse Provisions
Many states have also adopted some form of anti-kickback and anti-referral laws and a false claims act. We believe that we are in compliance with such laws. Violations of state fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, the possibility of exclusion from state healthcare programs, disgorgement, and corporate integrity agreements, which impose, among other things, rigorous operational and monitoring requirements on companies. Similar sanctions and penalties, as well as imprisonment, also can be imposed upon executive officers and employees of such companies.
Physician Payment Sunshine Act
Transparency laws regarding payments or other items of value provided to healthcare providers and teaching hospitals may also impact our business practices. The federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act requires most medical device manufacturers to report annually to the Secretary of Human Health Services financial arrangements, payments, or other transfers of value made by that entity to physicians and teaching hospitals. The payment information is made publicly available in a searchable format on a CMS website. We will need to dedicate significant resources to establish and maintain systems and processes in order to comply with these regulations. Failure to comply with the reporting requirements can result in significant civil monetary penalties.
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Data Privacy and Security Laws
We may also be subject to data privacy and security regulation by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), and their respective implementing regulations, imposes specified requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information, applicable to health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and certain health care providers, referred to as covered entities, and the business associates with whom such covered entities contract for services. Among other things, HITECH makes HIPAA’s security standards directly applicable to business associates, defined as service providers of covered entities that create, receive, maintain or transmit protected health information in connection with providing a service for or on behalf of a covered entity. In performing our activities as a DME supplier, we are a covered entity under HIPAA, and as a result, must implement a HIPAA privacy and security program in accordance with HIPAA requirements. In addition, we are a business associate with respect to our billing distribution partnership with a third-party DME provider, to which we will provide assistance with preparing and reviewing claims to be submitted to payors, and as a result, must comply with the HIPAA privacy and security requirements set forth in our business associate agreement. With regard to our other operations, we are not a covered entity or a business associate, though we may be subject to certain HIPAA requirements in our collection of individually identifiable health information from patients. HITECH also created four new tiers of civil monetary penalties and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. In addition, many state laws govern the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from HIPAA and each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect. At the state level, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, for example, affords California residents expended privacy rights and provides for civil penalties for violations and a private right of action related to certain data security breaches; and Washington’s My Health My Data Act extends privacy protections for Washington residents for health data beyond what HIPAA covers, granting Washington residents with more control over their health data by allowing them to access, delete, and restrict its use. Similar legislations have been advanced in other states as well as in Congress.
The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) also has authority to initiate enforcement actions against entities that mislead customers about HIPAA compliance, make deceptive statements about privacy and data sharing in privacy policies, fail to limit third-party use of personal health information, fail to implement policies to protect personal health information, or engage in other unfair practices that harm customers or that may violate Section 5 of the FTC Act. Even when HIPAA does not apply, failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce under the FTC Act. The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities.
Our business is also subject to the Bermuda Personal Information Protection 2016 Act (“PIPA”). The PIPA was fully implemented on January 1, 2025 and regulates how any organization in Bermuda may use personal information through a combination of principle based and prescriptive rules. Prescriptive rules for in scope organizations (i.e., those that use personal information, noting “use” is broadly defined) include a requirement to only use personal information where a legal condition applies, a requirement to appoint a data privacy officer, a requirement to provide all individuals with a privacy notice that must contain at a minimum certain required information and requirement to understand and comply with individual rights around access, rectification and erasure.
Although we work to comply with applicable laws, regulations and standards, our contractual obligations, research protocols, and other obligations, any actual or perceived failure by us or our employees, representatives, contractors, consultants, or other third parties to comply with such requirements or adequately address data privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, could result in, among other adverse impacts, damage to our reputation, loss of customer confidence in our security measures, withdrawal or withholding of customer consent for using patient data, government investigations, and enforcement actions and litigation and claims by third parties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) prohibits U.S. corporations and their representatives from offering, promising, authorizing or making corrupt payments, gifts or transfers to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party or political candidate in an attempt to obtain or retain business abroad. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the United States to comply with accounting provisions requiring the company to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations. Activities that violate the FCPA, even if they occur wholly outside the United States, can result in criminal and civil fines, imprisonment, disgorgement, oversight, and debarment from government contracts.
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U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Coverage and Reimbursement
In the United States, our commercial success depends in part on the extent to which governmental authorities, private health insurers and other third-party payors provide coverage for and establish adequate reimbursement levels for our products and related services. Medicare is a federal program administered by CMS through fiscal intermediaries and carriers. Available to individuals aged 65 or over, and certain other individuals, the Medicare program provides, among other things, healthcare benefits that cover, within prescribed limits, the major costs of most medically necessary care for such individuals, subject to certain deductibles and copayments.
CMS has established guidelines for the coverage and reimbursement of certain products, supplies and services. In general, in order to be reimbursed by Medicare, a healthcare product or service furnished to a Medicare beneficiary must be reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of an illness or injury, or to improve the functioning of a malformed body part. The methodology for determining coverage status and the amount of Medicare reimbursement varies based upon, among other factors, the setting in which a Medicare beneficiary received healthcare products and services. Any changes in federal legislation, regulations and policy affecting Medicare coverage and reimbursement relative to our products could have a material effect on our performance.
CMS also administers the Medicaid program, a cooperative federal/state program that provides medical assistance benefits to qualifying low income and medically needy persons. State participation in Medicaid is optional, and each state is given discretion in developing and administering its own Medicaid program, subject to certain federal requirements pertaining to payment levels, eligibility criteria and minimum categories of services. The coverage, method and level of reimbursement varies from state to state and is subject to each state’s budget restraints. Changes to the coverage, method or level of reimbursement for our products may affect future revenue negatively if reimbursement amounts are decreased or discontinued.
All CMS programs are subject to statutory and regulatory changes, retroactive and prospective rate adjustments, administrative rulings, interpretations of policy, intermediary determinations, and government funding restrictions, all of which may materially increase or decrease the rate of program payments to healthcare facilities and other healthcare providers, including those paid for our products.
Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any product candidates for which we may seek regulatory approval by the FDA or other government authorities. Patients who are prescribed treatments for their conditions and providers performing the prescribed services generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the associated healthcare costs. Patients are unlikely to use any product candidates we may develop unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of such product candidates. With respect to our ASSURE WCD, and any other product candidates we may develop, to the extent they are approved, the distribution of our ASSURE WCD and other future product candidates will depend, in part, on the extent to which third-party payors, including government health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, commercial health insurers, and managed care organizations, provide coverage, and establish adequate reimbursement levels for, such product candidates. The process for determining whether a payor will provide coverage for a product may be separate from the process for setting the price or reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the product once coverage is approved. Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged, examining the medical necessity, and reviewing the accuracy of claims and overall cost-effectiveness of medical products and services and imposing controls to manage costs. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, also known as a formulary, which might not include all of the approved products for a particular indication.
In order to secure coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for sale, a company may need to conduct expensive clinical studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of the product, in addition to the costs required to obtain FDA or other comparable marketing approvals. Nonetheless, product candidates may not be considered medically necessary or cost effective. A decision by a third-party payor not to cover any product candidates we may develop could reduce physician utilization of such product candidates once approved and have a material adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, a payor’s decision to provide coverage for a product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Further, one payor’s determination to provide coverage for a product does not assure that other payors will also provide coverage and reimbursement for the product, and the level of coverage and reimbursement can differ significantly from payor to payor. Third-party reimbursement and coverage may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.
Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which a company or its collaborators receive marketing approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
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Healthcare Reform and Cost Containment Measures
There have been and continue to be proposals by the federal government, state governments, regulators and third-party payors to control or manage the increased costs of healthcare and, more generally, to reform the U.S. healthcare system. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit a company’s revenue generated from the sale of any approved products.
For example, the ACA contains a number of significant provisions, including those governing enrollment in federal healthcare programs, reimbursement changes and fraud and abuse measures, all of which will impact existing government healthcare programs and will result in the development of new programs. Since its enactment, there have been numerous judicial, administrative, executive and legislative challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. For example, various portions of the ACA have faced legal and constitutional challenges, including in the United States Supreme Court; the Trump administration issued various Executive Orders which eliminated cost sharing subsidies and various provisions that would impose a fiscal burden on states or a cost, fee, tax, penalty or regulatory burden on individuals, healthcare providers, health insurers, or manufacturers of pharmaceuticals or medical devices; and Congress introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at significantly revising or repealing the ACA. While the ACA remains in effect, it continues to be subject to modification through legislative, regulatory and administrative actions, the impact of which on our business cannot be predicted.
Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted, include the Budget Control Act of 2011, which among other things, included reductions to Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect in April 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, including the BBA, will remain in effect through 2030 unless additional Congressional action is taken. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years.
We expect additional state and federal healthcare reform measures to be adopted in the future, particularly in light of the current presidential administration which has stated its intent to make some changes to the regulatory landscape overseen by, for example, the HHS, including the FDA, any of which could, among others, change product approval pathways, or limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products or additional pricing pressures.
Additionally, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what products to purchase and which suppliers will be included in their healthcare programs. CMS also continues to implement a competitive bidding program (“CBP”) enacted under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 that applies to certain suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies. Under the CBP, suppliers that operate in a designated bidding area are required to submit electronic bids for certain products; CMS awards contracts to suppliers that offer the best price and meet applicable quality and financial standards. At this time, it is unclear whether the CBP will have an impact on the pricing or the commercialization of our current or future products.
Team Members and Human Capital Resources
As of April 30, 2026, we had over 443 full time team members, substantially all of which are located in the U.S. None of our team members is subject to a collective bargaining agreement or represented by a trade or labor union, and we have not experienced any material work stoppages to date. We consider our relationship with our team members to be good, and we are committed to inclusion and policies and procedures to maintain a safe work environment.
Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our team members. We believe our success depends on our ability to attract, retain, develop and motivate diverse highly skilled personnel. In particular, we depend upon the personal efforts and abilities of the principal members of our senior management to partner effectively as a team, and who provide strategic direction, develop our business, manage our operations and maintain a cohesive and stable work environment. We also rely on qualified sales managers and other skilled employees, who possess technical expertise in operations, scientific knowledge, engineering and quality management experience, in order to operate our business successfully.
Our compensation program is designed to retain, motivate and, as needed, attract highly qualified executives. Accordingly, we use a mix of competitive base salary, cash-based annual incentive compensation, equity compensation awards, including performance-based equity, and other employee benefits.
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Corporate Information
Our principal office is located at 3933 Lake Washington Blvd Northeast, Suite 200, Kirkland, Washington, 98033. We use our website at kestramedical.com to communicate important information about our company, including news releases and financial information. We also make available on our investor relations webpage, free of charge, copies of our Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings and submissions, which can be found at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing or furnishing such documents with the SEC. Shareholders may also request copies of these documents by writing to our Corporate Secretary at the address above. Website references are provided throughout this document for convenience only. The contents of these websites do not constitute a part of this Annual Report and shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report unless expressly noted.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Investing in our common shares involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report, including the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto, before deciding to invest in our common shares. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that affect us. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common shares could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Please also see “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”
Risks Related to Our Business
We have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our current business and its likelihood of success and viability. If we are unable to manage our business and any fluctuations in our business effectively, our business and growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
We are a commercial-stage, wearable medical device and digital healthcare company focused on transforming patient outcomes in cardiovascular disease through connected monitoring, therapeutic intervention, and data-driven clinical insights. We have developed and are commercializing our Cardiac Recovery System platform, a comprehensive and advanced system that integrates monitoring, therapeutic treatment, digital health, and patient support services into a single, unified solution. The cornerstone of our Cardiac Recovery System platform is the ASSURE WCD. We completed clinical trials for our ASSURE WCD in March 2020, received our PMA for our ASSURE WCD on July 27, 2021 and fully commercially launched our ASSURE WCD in August 2022, and therefore do not have a long history operating as a commercial company. We are continuing to develop the capabilities and infrastructure to increase our commercial organization, distribution, supply chain and revenue cycle management capabilities to further strengthen our market penetration. However, there is no assurance as to the extent to which we will be able to continue to scale our business and expand our market penetration. Consequently, any predictions you make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history. We may be unsuccessful for a number of reasons, including:
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responses of our primary competitor, and other start-up or large companies that are emerging or may emerge as competitors in the future, who have or may develop more technologically advanced products, stronger relationships with healthcare providers, and greater capital, marketing and other resources than our company;
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limitations on our ability to demonstrate the differentiation and advantages of our ASSURE WCD or other products we may develop in the future and their relative safety, efficacy and ease of use over other products in the market;
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the limited size and geographic scope of our sales and marketing capabilities as compared to our primary competitor and the learning curve required for our direct sales force personnel to become effective in processing prescriptions of our products and capturing market share;
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our inability to continue to provide products that are clinically effective, meet our desired product profile and are capable of being supplied at quantities and at a cost that addresses the clinical needs and commercial opportunities we target;
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our inability to obtain sufficient and timely supplies of components necessary to manufacture our products or secure second source suppliers if our primary suppliers are unable to fulfill our orders;
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our inability to timely make improvements to our products in response to feedback from patients or from the medical community;
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insufficient financial or other resources to support our commercialization efforts; and
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the introduction and market acceptance of new, more effective or less expensive competing products and technologies.
In addition, as a company with a limited operating history, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors. The challenges we face in managing our evolving business place significant demands on our management, financial, operational, manufacturing, technological and other resources. In particular, rapid and continued growth increases the challenges involved in a number of areas, including recruiting and retaining sufficient skilled personnel, maintaining consistent and high-quality products and customer service to meet increased demand for our products, and developing and maintaining revenue cycle management, inventory management, payor contracting, supply chain and information
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technology infrastructure that can support the growing scale of our business and ensuring our compliance with the laws and regulations of our markets and new markets we may enter into. We are continuing to invest in and grow our commercial activities. As we continue to grow, we may also need to invest significant resources to improve and expand our portfolio of technologies and solutions, scale up our manufacturing capabilities through our third-party suppliers and expand our distribution resources, including our network of APSs. We may not be able to do this in a cost-effective manner or at all. We cannot assure you that any changes in scale, related quality or compliance assurance will be successfully implemented or that appropriate personnel will be available to facilitate the management of and changes to our business. If we do not adequately address these risks and difficulties, our ability to support and further grow our current commercial activities may be negatively impacted.
We have a history of net losses, and there is no assurance as to when we will achieve profitability, if at all, even as we continue to grow and scale our business. As part of such continued growth, we may need to raise equity or debt financing in the future. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we may be forced to delay or scale back our growth plans, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and prospects.
The development, manufacturing and distribution of medical technologies is capital intensive. From our inception in 2014 through the full commercial launch of our ASSURE WCD in August 2022, we made significant investments in research and development efforts, developing and running clinical trials to obtain regulatory approval for our ASSURE WCD, and enabling manufacturing activities in support of our product development efforts to prepare for the commercialization of our ASSURE WCD. Since the commercial launch of our ASSURE WCD, we have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant expenses related to our sales, marketing, product manufacturing and distribution functions and processes and establishing the infrastructure, including revenue cycle management capabilities, necessary to continue to support its commercialization. More recently, we have also incurred expenses relating to operating as a public company. We had net losses of $131.6 million and $113.8 million for the fiscal years ended April 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and as of April 30, 2026, we had an accumulated deficit of $651.9 million.
In order to achieve profitability, we will need to continue to make investments to successfully grow and scale our business while managing our expenses. We expect to continue to incur losses for the next several years and there is no assurance as to when we will achieve profitability, if at all, or whether we will be able to maintain profitability, if achieved, in the future. Factors that have impacted, and that we expect will continue to impact, our ability to achieve profitability and our capital requirements include:
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our continued investments in recruiting, training and retaining our direct sales force and supporting our commercial infrastructure as our operations continue to grow;
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our ability to manage the costs of manufacturing and distributing our ASSURE WCD and increase our gross profits through supply chain efficiencies and manufacturing process improvements;
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changes in reimbursement rates for WCDs, including as a result of improved market access and shifts in patient mix towards patients with longer wear duration;
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the availability of reimbursement from payors, including Medicare, Medicaid and private payors, to cover the cost of our products;
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the effectiveness of our revenue cycle management infrastructure and our ability to timely and accurately collect payments from payors, which may be impacted by seasonality due to the resetting of patient healthcare insurance plan deductibles at certain times of the year;
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our ability to establish and maintain collaborations with technology, commercial and clinical partners on favorable terms, if at all; and
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the scope, prioritization and number of our research and development initiatives.
We expect our expenses to continue to increase as our business grows, including as a result of our ongoing efforts to grow our sales and commercial organization, increase our brand awareness through programmatic and industry-specific advertising, conduct clinical studies to expand the clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of our ASSURE WCD and our broader Cardiac Recovery System platform and engage in research and development initiatives and potential partnerships to enhance and broaden our suite of solutions. Our efforts to continue to grow and scale our business may not be successful or may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue sufficiently to offset these higher expenses or at all.
While we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to fund our operating and capital needs for at least the next 12 months, we may need additional funding, which may include future equity and debt financing. We may
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experience lower than expected cash generated from operating activities or greater than expected capital expenditures, cost of revenue or operating expenses, and we may require additional funding in the future to further our growth plans. Fundraising efforts can divert management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to further commercialize our ASSURE WCD and otherwise grow our business. Any disruptions in the financial markets or other adverse macroeconomic conditions may make equity and debt financing more difficult to obtain and may have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet our fundraising needs. We cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms favorable to us, if at all. Moreover, the terms of any financing may adversely affect the holdings or the rights of our shareholders and the issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our shares to decline. The sale of additional equity or convertible securities would dilute all of our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations, and we may be required to agree to certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. We could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborators or otherwise at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable, and we may be required to relinquish rights to some of our technologies or current or future products or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Additionally, if we are capital constrained and unable to raise capital when needed, we may not be able to meet our obligations, which may limit or halt our ability to continue operations, or we may be forced to delay or scale back our growth plans, including our initiatives to increase market adoption of our ASSURE WCD and further our market penetration, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and prospects.
We generate revenue primarily by leasing our ASSURE WCD as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform, and we are therefore highly dependent on our ASSURE WCD for our continued success.
We generate revenue primarily by leasing our ASSURE WCD to patients for a fixed amount on a month-to-month basis as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform. We expect that revenues from our ASSURE WCD and associated products and services delivered as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform will continue to account for nearly all of our revenue for the foreseeable future. Our ability to execute our growth strategy and become profitable will significantly depend upon educating healthcare providers on the clinical efficacy and diagnostic utility of WCD therapy, broadening healthcare providers’ awareness of WCD-eligible populations, advancing the adoption of our ASSURE WCD and increasing our brand awareness, including through peer-to-peer education and effectively engaging with payors to educate them of the benefits of our Cardiac Recovery System platform and optimize reimbursement. We may incur significant expenses in our efforts to engage with healthcare providers to broaden awareness of the benefits of our ASSURE WCD, and there is no assurance that such efforts will lead to increased adoption of our ASSURE WCD or that we will generate sufficient revenue to offset the expenses incurred in connection with such efforts. In addition, some healthcare providers may have a preference for other treatment options or may be reluctant to alter their practice patterns and undergo the training and other transition processes, including updating billing procedures, required to enable them to prescribe our ASSURE WCD to their patients. Additionally, patients may decide to not utilize, and some payors may decide not to provide reimbursement for, our ASSURE WCD if, among other potential reasons, they believe our pricing is too high or that alternative devices are either more clinically efficacious, cost-effective or more comfortable to use than our product.
We derive nearly all our revenue from the direct billing of various third-party payors, including Medicare, Medicaid, private payors and other healthcare-related organizations, for the lease of our ASSURE WCD to patients as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform. We also bill patients for co-insurance payments and deductibles. As such, our cash flows and our ability to generate revenue depend on our ability to obtain and maintain broad in-network payor coverage of and optimize reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD. Patients are unlikely to use our product unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost. As a result, healthcare providers may be reluctant to adopt our product for patients covered by non-contracted insurance policies because of the uncertainty surrounding reimbursement. Our gross profit is also affected by payors’ reimbursement rates for our ASSURE WCD, as well as our ability to increase our reimbursement realization. Although reimbursement rates for WCDs have generally increased in recent years, there is no assurance that they will remain at or increase from historical levels. A decrease in reimbursement rates for our ASSURE WCD, or the introduction of other limitations to payors’ coverage for our ASSURE WCD, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. For more information on factors that may affect our reimbursement rates, see also “—Our commercial success depends in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers provide coverage and adequate reimbursement levels. Failure to obtain and maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement for our products could limit our ability to market those products and make it difficult for us to operate profitably.” Additionally, as we continue to scale our business, our ability to achieve profitability will depend on our efforts to increase our reimbursement realization for our ASSURE WCD, including through achieving manufacturing process improvements and supply chain efficiencies. If we are unable to achieve such efficiencies, including as a result of increased costs of manufacturing and distributing our products such as increased pricing of materials and electronics components, labor rates, shipping rates and inflation, our ability to grow our business could be adversely affected.
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Our business is dependent upon healthcare providers, hospitals and patients adopting our solutions, and if we fail to obtain and maintain broad adoption, our business would be adversely affected.
Our ability to execute our growth strategy and become profitable will depend on our ability to educate healthcare providers, hospitals and patients on the benefits of our ASSURE WCD and associated products and services delivered as part of our Cardiac Recovery System platform over the existing product and services in the market. There is no assurance that the products and solutions we offer through our Cardiac Recovery System platform or other potential products we may develop in the future will achieve and maintain widespread market adoption over the long term or at all. Market acceptance of the solutions and services we provide through our Cardiac Recovery System platform or other potential products we may develop may be negatively impacted if healthcare providers, hospitals and patients do not perceive WCDs, including our ASSURE WCD, to be useful, safe, effective, reliable and trustworthy or do not perceive the advantages of ASSURE WCD over our main competitor, or if we are unable to provide adequate customer service and sufficient training to patients or effectively harmonize our products with healthcare providers and processes in which we operate. We may in the future engage in additional clinical trials and other clinical initiatives to support additional indications and stronger guideline recommendations for WCD therapy and to obtain regulatory approvals to market our products in new markets. Any studies we, or third parties that we sponsor, may conduct may be expensive, time consuming and may not yield positive results. Negative clinical research results from past, current or future clinical studies or negative publicity or an adverse change to published or unpublished guidelines or recommendations from third parties (including, without limitation, key opinion leaders, medical societies and clinical advisory boards) relating to the use, clinical benefit or risk profile of WCDs in general, including our ASSURE WCD, generally could result in negative perception of the efficiency and safety of our products and affect our brand and reputation. Healthcare providers play a significant role in determining the course of a patient’s treatment and, as a result, the type of product that will be used to treat a patient. If we are not successful in convincing healthcare providers of the merits of our ASSURE WCD, they may not prescribe it or recommend it to other healthcare providers and we may be unable to increase revenue, sustain our growth or achieve profitability.
Furthermore, we believe healthcare providers may not adopt our ASSURE WCD unless they determine, based on their personal experience, recommendations from other healthcare providers, available clinical data and published peer-reviewed journal articles, that our ASSURE WCD is an attractive alternative to our competitors’ products. Healthcare providers may be hesitant to adopt or switch to our ASSURE WCD for the following reasons, among others:
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long-standing relationships with competitors and distributors that sell other products and their competitive responses and negative selling efforts aimed at our product;
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lack of experience with our products and concerns that we are relatively new to the WCD industry, or concerns that our competitors have greater resources than our company;
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reluctance to change to or use new products;
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perceived liability risk generally associated with the use of new products;
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adverse clinical evidence regarding the clinical benefits of our ASSURE WCD and WCDs in general;
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perception that the clinical evidence for our products is not sufficient or that our products are unproven or experimental; and
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the time commitment that may be required to gain familiarity with and establish the infrastructure, including billing processes, required to adopt our products.
In addition, the medical device industry’s relationship with healthcare providers is under increasing scrutiny by federal, state and other foreign and domestic government agencies. In recent years, Congress, the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”), the Office of the Inspector General (the “OIG”) of the Department of Health and Human Services (the “HHS”) and the state attorneys general have issued subpoenas and other requests for information to, as well as initiated enforcement actions against and entered into settlements with, medical device manufacturers, primarily related to financial arrangements with healthcare providers, regulatory compliance and marketing and product promotional practices. Furthermore, the federal government and certain state governments have enacted legislation to limit and/or increase the transparency of interactions between medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers, pursuant to which we are or may be required by law to disclose certain payments and other transfers of value to healthcare providers or marketing expenditures both nationally and those licensed by certain states. Our failure to comply with laws, rules and regulations governing our relationships with healthcare providers, or an investigation into our compliance by the DOJ, the HHS OIG, state attorneys general or other government agencies, could significantly harm our business.
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Additionally, adoption of our products may be directly influenced by a number of financial factors, including the extent to which our products have broad coverage from third-party payors and have well-established reimbursement codes and adequate reimbursement rates. The efficacy, safety, performance, patient compliance benefits and cost-effectiveness of our solutions, on a stand-alone basis and relative to competing products and/or services will determine the availability and level of reimbursement received by us. There is no assurance that we will be able to obtain and maintain adequate levels of coverage and reimbursement for our products. In particular, as we seek to expand into new markets in the future, including select international markets, we may be subject to different, and potentially conflicting requirements, to obtain the necessary coverage and reimbursement for our products. Complying with various coverage and reimbursement requirements in each jurisdiction in which we distribute our products may be costly, and we may face difficulty in adequately adjusting our business to comply with any diverging requirements, which could hinder our ability to expand our market reach or launch new products. In order to generate revenue, we will need to target potential prescribers of our products, such as hospitalists, cardiologists and other healthcare providers, as well as potential end-users of our products with whom we have had little contact, which requires significant marketing and sales efforts. Even if we succeed in increasing adoption of our products by healthcare providers and hospitals, maintaining and creating new relationships with third-party payors and developing and commercializing new features or indications for our products, we may be unable to generate sufficient revenue to achieve or sustain profitability.
The revenue we generate from distributing our ASSURE WCDs also varies, in part, based on the wear time of patients who are prescribed our ASSURE WCD. We bill third-party payors for patient use of our ASSURE WCDs based on their wear time. Although we have designed our ASSURE WCD to enhance the comfort of patients and allow for more extended wear times as part of their longer-term cardiac care, the actual wear time of our ASSURE WCDs can vary due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. The emergence of new medical technologies, therapies and other medical advances may reduce the need to wear a WCD for an extended period. Patients may shorten their wear time due to any inconvenience or discomfort from wearing a WCD or because they do not perceive the need to wear a WCD for an extended period of time and are willing to take on the heightened risk of experiencing a SCA from not wearing a WCD. Additionally, healthcare providers may elect to prescribe our ASSURE WCD for a more limited period of time because of concerns of reduced patient compliance with longer wear times, difficulties with obtaining reimbursement from third-party payors for extended wear times, changes in medical guidelines on recommended wear times or other clinical factors that result in the need to shorten or terminate the use of a WCD, such as a patient requiring an ICD sooner than anticipated. If the average wear time of our ASSURE WCD does not increase or is reduced over time, this may limit the revenue we generate, which may negatively impact our results of operations, cash flows and the growth of our business.
Our commercial success depends in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers provide coverage and adequate reimbursement levels. Failure to obtain and maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement for our products could limit our ability to market those products and make it difficult for us to operate profitably.
In the United States and in other countries, patients who are prescribed medical treatment generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their treatment. In the U.S., third-party payors include government healthcare programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and the Veterans Administration and private payors. Coverage and adequate reimbursement from payors are critical to new product acceptance. As we expand our business and enter into new markets, we will need to enter into new payor contracts with national, state, regional and international payors. There is no assurance that we will be able to enter into new payor contracts, or renew our existing payor contracts upon their expiration, on terms acceptable to us, or at all.
Government healthcare programs and other third-party payors may change their coverage and reimbursement policies, as well as payment amounts, in a way that could prevent or limit reimbursement for our products, which would significantly harm our business. Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including macro-economic developments, as well as the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:
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a covered benefit under its health plan;
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safe, effective, and medically necessary;
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cost-effective;
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supported by peer-reviewed publications and key opinion leaders;
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appropriate for the specific patient; and
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neither experimental nor investigational.
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In the U.S., no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for our products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval of a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that typically requires us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate for us to achieve or sustain profitability or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. There is no assurance that we will be able to maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD in each of the markets it is distributed.
Market adoption of our products also depends on whether we are able to obtain reimbursement codes so that our products are eligible for reimbursement by payors such as Medicare and Medicaid. Our ASSURE WCD is currently reimbursable under the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (“HCPCS”) code K0606, which is well-established. HCPCS is a standardized system used by all U.S. insurance payors to provide descriptions of healthcare equipment, supplies and services. HCPCS codes are used by payors to identify what services are being billed and to assign payment rates to those specific services. HCPCS codes for durable medical equipment are assigned and managed by the CMS and a Medicare contractor responsible for Pricing, Data Analysis and Coding (“PDAC”). New products and product revisions must go through a coding verification process to confirm the products meet the requested HCPCS definitions. CMS or its contractor can also review and revise coding assignments if they believe a product no longer meets the assigned HCPCS definition. If the PDAC contractor determines one of our products does not meet the current HCPCS definition, it could remove all coding or assign a different HCPCS code with a lesser payment rate. This could have an adverse impact on our reimbursement rates, results of operations and cash flows.
We were issued a Medicare Provider Number by the CMS, which enables us to bill Medicare for reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD as an accredited DME supplier to the extent the claim meets medical necessity and coverage requirements set forth by Medicare. Determinations of which products or services will be reimbursed under Medicare can be developed at the national level through a national coverage determination (“NCD”), by CMS, or at the local level through a local coverage determination (“LCD”), by one or more of the regional Medicare Administrative Contractors (“MACs”), which are private contractors that process and pay claims on behalf of CMS for different regions. In the absence of an NCD, the MAC with jurisdiction over a specific geographic region will have the discretion to make an LCD and determine the fee schedule and reimbursement rate within the region, and regional LCDs may not always be consistent in their determinations. Currently, no NCD has been issued with respect to products reimbursed pursuant to HCPCS Code K0606, so reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD will depend on the medical necessity and coverage requirements set forth with respect to K0606 in the relevant LCD. Reductions in reimbursement rates, if enacted, could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, a reduction in coverage by Medicare could cause some commercial third-party payors to implement similar reductions in their coverage or level of reimbursement of our products. Given the evolving nature of the healthcare industry and on-going healthcare cost reforms, we may be subject to changes in the level of coverage for our products by government healthcare programs, once approved for commercial sales, and unfavorable coverage determinations at the national or local level could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Additionally, healthcare reform legislation or regulation may be proposed or enacted in the future that may adversely affect such policies and amounts. Changes in the healthcare industry directed at controlling healthcare costs or perceived over-utilization of cardiac monitoring products and services in ambulatory care environments could reduce the volume of demand for our products. If more healthcare cost controls are broadly instituted throughout the healthcare industry, the volume of cardiac monitoring solutions prescribed could decrease, resulting in pricing pressure and declining demand for our products.
Our operating results fluctuate significantly and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business.
Our results of operations, including our revenue, profitability and cash flow, may vary significantly in the future and period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter or period should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Our financial results may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside our control and, as a result, may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business. Fluctuation in quarterly and annual results may decrease the value of our common shares. Factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results include, without limitation:
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market acceptance of our ASSURE WCD and other products and solutions we may develop in the future;
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our ability to obtain marketing approval for our ASSURE WCD in international markets we enter in the future or for other products and solutions we may develop in the future, and the timing and scope of any such approvals we may receive;
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the availability of reimbursement for our ASSURE WCD or any future product candidates at acceptable reimbursement rates;
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the availability of reimbursement for our products and solutions through government healthcare programs at acceptable reimbursement rates;
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the cost of manufacturing our ASSURE WCD or any future product candidates, which may vary depending on the quantity of production and the terms of our agreements with manufacturers and other vendors;
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our ability to attract, hire, train and retain qualified personnel;
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the amount and timing of costs and expenses related to the maintenance and expansion of our business and operations;
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changes in our future pricing policies or those of our competitors;
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the level of demand for our ASSURE WCD or any future product candidates that receive necessary marketing and other regulatory approvals, which may vary significantly;
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general economic, industry and market conditions or extraordinary external events, such as a recession;
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changes in our regulatory environment;
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expenses associated with unforeseen product quality issues;
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the timing and success or failure of clinical trials or post-approval studies for our ASSURE WCD or any future product candidates or competing product candidates;
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any other change in the competitive landscape of our industry, including consolidation among our competitors or partners;
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litigation or other claims against us for intellectual property infringement or otherwise;
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expenses associated with indemnification obligations to third parties that are subject to litigation or claims, including in relation to intellectual property infringement, or incur other losses as a result of their use of our products;
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our ability to obtain additional financing as necessary; and
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advances and trends in new technologies and industry standards.