lnsr-10k_20211231.htm

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

For transition period from to

Commission File Number: 001-39473

LENSAR, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

2800 Discovery Drive

Orlando, Florida32826

(Address of principal executive offices and Zip Code)

(888) 536-7271

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:

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

Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share LNSR The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

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 Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐No☒

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

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

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

Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated Filer ☐

Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒

Emerging growth company ☒

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

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

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

As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second quarter, the approximate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates was $78.5 million. As of January 31, 2022, there were 10,989,720 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2022 annual meeting of stockholders, which the registrant intends to file pursuant to Regulation 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Table of Contents

Page

Forward-Looking Statements 3

Trademarks and Trade Names 4

Market and Industry Data and Forecasts 4

Risk Factor Summary 5

PART I 6

Item 1. Business 6

Item 1A. Risk Factors 26

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 66

Item 2. Properties 66

Item 3. Legal Proceedings 66

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 67

Item 6. [Reserved] 68

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 81

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 82

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 82

Item 9B. Other Information 83

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 83

PART III 84

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 84

Item 11. Executive Compensation 84

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 84

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 85

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements 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”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report, including without limitation statements regarding our business model and strategic plans for our products, technologies and business, including our implementation thereof; the impact on our business, financial condition and results of operation from the ongoing and global COVID-19 pandemic; the timing of and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals; our expectations about our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our next generation system, the ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System, and the timing thereof; the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents; and the plans and objectives of management for future operations and capital expenditures are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important 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.

Without limiting the foregoing, in some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “aim”, “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “exploring,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “seeks,” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future results, performance, or achievements, and one should avoid placing undue reliance on such statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. Such beliefs and assumptions may or may not prove to be correct. Additionally, such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to, those identified in Part I. Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and Part II. Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

• our ability to accurately forecast customer demand and our inventory levels;

Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties.

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 our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. Except as required by applicable law, we have no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

Unless otherwise stated or the context requires otherwise, references to “LENSAR,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our,” refer to LENSAR, Inc.

TRADEMARKS AND TRADE NAMES

We own or have rights to certain trademarks, trade names, copyrights and other intellectual property used in our business, including LENSAR, the LENSAR logo, LENSAR Cataract Laser with Augmented Reality logo, Streamline, IntelliAxis, IntelliAxis Refractive Capsulorhexis, and ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System, each of which is considered a trademark. All other company names, product names, trade names and trademarks included in this Annual Report are trademarks, registered trademarks or trade names of their respective owners.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA AND FORECASTS

In this Annual Report, we present certain market and industry data and statistics. This information is based on third-party sources, which we believe to be reliable. We have not independently verified data from these sources and cannot guarantee their accuracy or completeness. While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding industry data provided herein, our estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based upon various factors, including those discussed in this Annual Report under “Forward-Looking Statements” and Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors.” Additionally, some data in this Annual Report is based on our good faith estimates, which are derived from management’s knowledge of the industry and independent sources. Similarly, we believe our internal research is reliable, however, such research has not been verified by any independent sources.

RISK FACTOR SUMMARY

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 stock. The principal risks and uncertainties affecting our business include the following:

PART I

Item 1. Business.

We are a commercial-stage medical device company focused on designing, developing and marketing an advanced femtosecond laser system for the treatment of cataracts and the management of pre-existing or surgically induced corneal astigmatism. Our current LENSAR Laser System incorporates a range of proprietary technologies designed to assist the surgeon in obtaining better visual outcomes, efficiency and reproducibility by providing advanced imaging, simplified procedure planning, efficient design and precision. We believe the cumulative effect of these technologies results in a laser system that can be quickly and efficiently integrated into a surgeon’s existing practice, is easy to use and provides surgeons the ability to deliver improved visual outcomes with enhanced precision and the ability to do so consistently. As we continue to innovate, we are designing, developing, and seeking regulatory clearance of a next generation system, our ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System, or ALLY or ALLY system, which combines an enhanced femtosecond laser with a phacoemulsification system in a single, integrated cataract treatment system that is designed to allow surgeons to perform a femtosecond laser assisted cataract procedure in a single operating room using a single device. The ALLY system is designed to incorporate all of the attributes and benefits of our current femtosecond laser with an efficient and advanced phacoemulsification system. This system is designed to be a significant medical advancement and provide improved efficiency and financial benefit to a surgeon’s practice. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has accepted our 510(k) submission of the ALLY system for substantive review. This submission is the first stage of a planned, two step commercial release strategy. If this submission is cleared by the FDA, ALLY will launch as a next generation femtosecond laser. Subject to FDA clearance, we expect to begin commercialization of ALLY in the second half of 2022. We anticipate the launch will be followed by an additional 510(k) application seeking clearance for the phacoemulsification features within the integrated and combined ALLY system later in 2022. We will begin commercialization of ALLY in a controlled launch and ALLY will have the phacoemulsification features integrated as part of the system; however, these features will not be activated for use until we receive FDA clearance on these aspects of the combined system from our planned second 510(k) submission to occur late in 2022.

Market Overview

The global market for the treatment of cataracts is characterized by large patient populations with increases driven by the aging population and the availability of new technologies, such as laser-assisted systems and an influx of new, innovative intraocular lenses, or IOLs, which can improve visual outcomes post-operatively. Cataract surgery is one of the highest volume surgical procedures in the world, and according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, or AAO, the most common procedure performed by the ophthalmic surgeon. According to the 2021 Cataract Surgical Equipment Market Report, global estimated cataract/refractive lens exchange surgical procedures are expected to grow from 30 million in 2021 to 37 million in 2026. In the United States, cataract surgery is expected to increase from almost 4.6 million procedures in 2021 to approximately 5.3 million in 2026. By contrast, worldwide laser-assisted cataract surgery is expected to grow from an estimated 876,000 procedures in 2021 to an estimated 1.3 million procedures in 2026. There are approximately 10,000 ophthalmic surgeons in the United States focused on performing cataract procedures.

Cataracts and Cataract Surgery

A cataract occurs when the normally clear lens of the eye becomes cloudy or opaque, causing a decrease in vision. The clouding of this lens caused by a cataract can cause blurring and distortion of vision, colors that seem faded, glare or halos from lights at night, diminished vision and double vision. Cataracts typically affect both eyes, but it is not uncommon for a cataract in one eye to advance more rapidly. In most cases, the cataract is a naturally occurring process that is age-related, although it can also be caused by heredity, an injury to the eye or after surgery for another eye problem, such as glaucoma. Currently, the only way to treat cataracts is to surgically remove the natural lens of the eye.

Traditional cataract surgeries are performed by a surgeon using a metal or diamond blade to perform the corneal incisions to enter the eye, and a bent needle to perform the anterior capsulorhexis to provide the surgeon access to the nucleus of the cataract for fragmentation and subsequent removal. Over the last decade, laser systems have been

developed to assist surgeons in performing or facilitating these aspects of the cataract procedure, including assessing and fragmenting the cataract. In either case, cataract nucleus disassembly and removal is achieved using a process with ultrasound called phacoemulsification. Currently, Medicare and most commercial third-party payors only cover the cost of traditional cataract surgery and the placement of a monofocal IOL, which may not produce the targeted visual outcome. To achieve their targeted visual outcome, patients may elect to have an advanced procedure that involves use of a laser system and/or implantation of a premium IOL, and/or addresses their pre-existing astigmatism in which case the patient is responsible for the cost differential between the amount reimbursed by a third-party payor and the cost of the advanced procedure.

The majority of patients suffering from cataracts also present with visually significant astigmatism. Astigmatism is an imperfection in the symmetry of the cornea, creating a different, additional focal plane in a specific axis within the cornea. This causes a distortion of the light as it converges on the retina and causes blurry vision. In 2021, Market Scope referenced data from a clinical study of 6,000 patients performed by Warren Hill, MD that estimates that approximately 70 – 90% of cataract patients present with addressable astigmatism prior to cataract surgery. To reduce the need for prescription distance or reading glasses following cataract surgery, it is important that little or no astigmatism remain. Conventionally, residual post-operative astigmatism has been targeted at less than or equal to 0.5 diopters, the unit measure of the refractive power of a lens. Surgeons may attempt to address low to moderate magnitudes of astigmatism using a procedure called limbal relaxing incisions, or LRIs, or arcuate incisions, or AIs. LRIs or AIs are performed by making two small incisions on the cornea, usually 180 degrees apart that are intended to return the cornea to a rounder, symmetrical shape. Corneal incisions used by surgeons as a means to manage astigmatism that are performed with a laser are referred to as AIs. More recently, and where the magnitude of astigmatism is higher, toric IOLs may be used to both correct the patient’s near or far vision and address any pre-existing astigmatism.

Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery. In the last 10 to 15 years, special laser systems have been developed to assist surgeons in performing or facilitating the various aspects of the cataract procedures. Laser-assisted cataract surgery involves the same steps as traditional surgery but uses advanced imaging techniques to design a precise surgical plan and a femtosecond laser, the same type of laser engine used to cut the flaps in LASIK corrective procedures, to make the AIs and perform the capsulorhexis. The intent is to create an incision with a specific location, depth and length that can be performed exactly without the variable of surgeon experience or the individual variances in the anatomy of the patient. The laser can also be used to soften and fragment the nucleus of the cataract before phacoemulsification, which can reduce the amount of phacoemulsification energy required to break up and remove the cataract and reduce the chance of certain complications. After phacoemulsification, the surgeon replaces the natural lens with an IOL and the incision is closed without the need for suture.

The Transition to Advanced Refractive Cataract Procedures

Currently, Medicare and most commercial third-party payors only cover the cost of treating the medical condition of the cataract, which can be accomplished with traditional cataract surgery and the placement of a monofocal IOL. Standard or traditional cataract surgery does not specifically address the outcomes associated with astigmatism and presbyopia, which may be addressed in an advanced refractive procedure involving laser-assisted cataract removal and implantation of a premium IOL. However, since the advantages of these advanced refractive cataract procedures are not deemed medically necessary, patients seeking either or both of these alternatives must pay the difference between the reimbursed amount and the cost of the advanced procedure that includes implantation of a premium IOL.

We believe that these advanced procedures that include implantation of a premium IOL offer physicians and patients additional benefits and improved outcomes that justify the additional cost. For example, some of the benefits of laser-assisted cataract surgery include:

Typically, patients undergoing an advanced refractive cataract procedure are paying a significant portion of the cost of the surgery out of pocket. As a result, they have heightened expectations for their visual outcomes, normally targeting vision correction within 0.5 diopters of their predicted refractive outcome, sometimes referred to as best uncorrected visual acuity. We believe these procedures and outcomes must appropriately address and manage the correction of the patient’s pre-existing astigmatism. Pre-existing astigmatism is frequently not being addressed in the preoperative surgical planning and more frequently is not part of the treatment. In many cases, we believe the failure to manage the astigmatism in such a large percentage of patients is due to the lack of useful technology in surgery. For example, research indicates that for each 1 degree that a toric IOL is off-axis, its ability to reduce astigmatism is decreased by approximately 3.3%. To that end, very small errors in the measurements, calculations and treatments used in the cataract procedure can significantly decrease its effectiveness in achieving the targeted visual outcome. We believe this lack of precision can be attributed to one or more of the following limitations of procedures performed with competing laser systems:

As a result, we believe a significant opportunity exists for a laser system that can improve surgeon precision and assist in achieving targeted visual outcomes in patients with astigmatism.

LENSAR’s Products

We believe the inability to achieve the targeted visual outcome is largely due to a failure to appropriately address corneal astigmatism even when using competing laser systems. We believe this lack of precision can be attributed to several limitations of competing laser devices, including imaging systems that require manual inputs, inaccuracies that result from reliance on manually transposing data and manually marking the eye for treatment, and competing systems’ inability to use iris registration to integrate with preoperative devices. In addition, these devices may not have the ability to precisely, and in a reproducible basis through the imaging and measurement technology determine the location on optical axis or pupil center based on the surgeons choice to place the anterior capsulorhexis. This can affect the outcomes due to less certain effective lens position with the IOL implantation. These devices also lack a cataract density imaging system, which allows the surgeon to customize the fragmentation and energy settings based on each individual patient’s cataract.

We developed our current LENSAR Laser System to provide an alternative laser cataract treatment tool that allows the surgeon to better address astigmatism and improve visual outcomes. Our system incorporates a range of proprietary technology features that are designed to provide surgeons the following key benefits:

We believe the cumulative effect of these technologies is an advanced laser system that can be quickly integrated into a surgeon’s existing practice and is easy to use. The current LENSAR Laser System provides surgeons the ability to deliver improved outcomes when addressing astigmatism in connection with cataract removal and to perform the surgery with enhanced precision and reproducibility.

We are focused on continuous innovation and are currently developing our proprietary, next generation system, ALLY. Our ALLY system is designed to combine our current core femtosecond laser technology features with enhanced laser capabilities and a phacoemulsification system into a single unit that allows surgeons to perform a femtosecond laser assisted cataract procedure in a single operating room using one device. The ALLY system’s enhanced laser feature includes the ability to performs laser procedures much faster and have broader application ability with its dual pulse laser. The FDA has accepted our 510(k) submission of the ALLY system for substantive review. This submission is the first stage of a planned, two step commercial release strategy. If this submission is cleared by the FDA, ALLY will launch as a next generation femtosecond laser. Subject to FDA clearance, we expect to begin commercialization of ALLY in the second half of 2022. We anticipate the launch will be followed by an additional 510(k) application seeking clearance for the phacoemulsification features within the integrated and

combined ALLY system later in 2022. We will begin commercialization of ALLY in a controlled launch and ALLY will have the phacoemulsification features integrated as part of the system; however, these features will not be activated for use until we receive FDA clearance on these aspects of the combined system from our planned second 510(k) submission to occur late in 2022. If our ALLYsystemis cleared by the FDA, we believe its lower operating costs and combined functions will help drive broader penetration for us into the overall cataract surgery market and could create a paradigm shift in the treatment of cataracts and management of astigmatism in cataract surgery.

Currently, almost all cataract procedures, whether manual or laser-assisted, involve the use of a phacoemulsification system to fracture and remove the cataract. For surgeons that also use a laser-assisted system, the laser system is stationed in a separate room from the phacoemulsification system, as the size of most operating rooms will not accommodate placement of all the other necessary equipment, and these two critical pieces of equipment operate independently. This configuration results in significant interruption in the patient flow, by requiring the patient to be moved from one room to the next during the course of the procedure.

We have designed our ALLY system to seamlessly integrate an enhanced version of our femtosecond laser technology and an advanced phacoemulsification system into one unit that can allow the surgeon to switch seamlessly and quickly between femtosecond laser and phacoemulsification without movement of machines or patients. Importantly, this integrated cataract treatment system will be configured with the ergonomics to be used in an operating room or an in-office surgical suite, a trend in current ophthalmology practices. The footprint is significantly smaller than current laser systems and only slightly larger than stand-alone phacoemulsification systems. The additional enhancements to our existing laser technology that we intend to incorporate into our ALLY system include a more versatile laser that uses pulse characteristics designed for tissue specific targeting with significantly faster speeds in different applications. We expect this system could be a considerable advancement and will provide significant administrative and financial benefit to a surgeon’s practice at a cost less than the two individual products.

We believe several converging marketplace factors will encourage adoption of our ALLY system, if cleared by the FDA. These include:

We estimate that there are currently approximately 54,000 phacoemulsification systems installed globally, with an estimated 5,900 new phacoemulsification systems installed in 2021 growing to an anticipated 7,000 new units in 2026. According to the 2021 Cataract Surgical Equipment Market Report, there were an estimated 2,644 femtosecond laser systems installed at the end of 2021, of which 2,408 were in markets that we service. The number of total femtosecond laser systems installed is expected to grow to over 4,000 devices by 2026. We believe the expected growth in the phacoemulsification market, combined with the results from our blinded survey, suggest a significant market opportunity as surgeons replace, or add to, their phacoemulsification or femtosecond laser systems.

To help encourage and facilitate this transition to a dual function system, and to our ALLY system, in particular, we are focused on reducing the total the cost of the system, as compared to two separate systems, without compromising the capabilities or performance of either of the dual functions. With that in mind, we are designing our ALLYsystem to offer more functionality and better performance than the combined use of currently available separate systems but at a lower price. If our ALLYsystem is cleared by the FDA, we believe its lower price and combined functions could help drive broader penetration into the overall cataract surgery market and could potentially create a paradigm shift in the treatment of cataracts and management of astigmatism in cataract surgery.

Our Strengths

We attribute our current and anticipated future success to the following factors:

LENSAR Procedures per Year

Source: Management.

While we believe these factors will contribute to further growth and success, we cannot assure you that the market for cataract surgery will continue to grow as we anticipate or that new disruptive technologies will not be introduced to displace our laser systems. Moreover, we must maintain and grow market acceptance for our laser system and convince physicians and patients that the out of pocket costs associated with procedures that use our laser systems will produce their targeted results. If we are unable to accomplish those goals, our business could suffer.

Technology

Our LENSAR Laser System has been built specifically for refractive cataract surgery, and at the core of our commitment to continuous technological innovation is our focus on providing cataract surgeons the tools to deliver their patients improved outcomes. The key technological features of our system include:

Sales and Distribution

We have built and are continuing to grow our commercial organization, which includes a direct sales force in the United States and third-party distributors in China, South Korea, Germany, and other targeted international markets. Depending on the dynamics of a particular geographic region, we and our distributors typically market and sell our systems to ASCs, hospitals and physicians. In the United States, we sell our products through a direct sales organization that, as of December 31, 2021, consisted of approximately 45 commercial team professionals, including regional sales managers, clinical applications and outcomes specialists, field service, marketing, technical and customer support personnel. As of December 31, 2021, we had a total of approximately 255 systems installed in a total of 16 countries, with approximately 40% of those systems in the United States where we have a direct sales relationship with our customers, and with China, South Korea, and Germany representing our largest markets outside the United States, where we sell our products through distributor relationships. We believe there is significant opportunity for us to expand our presence in these countries and other countries where we have no or only a limited number of installed systems. For the year ended December 31, 2021, two customers accounted for 16% and 13% of our revenue. As of December 31, 2021, three customers accounted for 37%, 13%, and 10% of our accounts receivable, net.

We have been able to achieve our success to date with a limited number of regional sales managers in the United States and independent distributors in international markets, growing our business substantially year-over-year in terms of both revenues and number of procedures, with the exception of 2020 due to the impact on our operations of the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that increasing the size and geographic breadth of our sales and marketing management team and number of regional sales managers in the United States and expanding our network of independent distributors in additional international markets will allow further penetration in the cataract surgery market. To support these commercial efforts, in the United States, we anticipate adding additional field sales professionals, including clinical outcome specialists, and expanding our marketing support and commitment to physician and staff training programs in an effort to optimize results and communicate the strengths of our cataract surgery solutions. Outside the United States, we expect to expand the geographical reach of our distributors. We believe the expansion of our domestic and international commercialization efforts will provide us with significant opportunity for future growth as we continue to penetrate existing and new markets.

Manufacturing

We manufacture our LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system at a facility in Orlando, Florida. We purchase custom and off-the-shelf components from a number of suppliers and subject them to stringent quality specifications and processes. Some of the components necessary for the assembly of the LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system are currently provided by single-sourced suppliers (the only approved supply source for us among other sources). We have entered into various purchase orders, as well as a limited number of long-term supply agreements, for the manufacture and supply of certain components. These arrangements commit us to a minimum purchase obligation of approximately $4.6 million at December 31, 2021. We expect to meet these requirements. We are also relying on a third party to manufacture the phacoemulsification component of ALLY. We generally do not maintain large volumes of finished goods. We currently have and intend to have long-term supply agreements or sufficient supply of raw material inventory to adequately source the expected near-term demand of our ALLY system upon its commercial launch, if cleared. We strive to maintain enough inventory of our various component parts to avoid the impact of a potential short-term disruption in the supply and the longer-term effects COVID-19 has had on the supply chain.

Intellectual Property

We seek patent and trademark protection for our key technology, products and product improvements, both in the United States and in select foreign countries. We plan to continue to enforce and defend our patent and trademark rights. While our patents protect, among other things, the aspects of our technology that provide us with a competitive advantage, we also rely upon trade secrets and continuing technological innovations to develop and maintain our competitive position. In an effort to protect our trade secrets, we have a policy of requiring our employees, consultants and advisors to execute proprietary information and invention assignment agreements upon commencement of employment or consulting relationships with us. These agreements also provide that all confidential information developed or made known to the individual during the course of their relationship with us must be kept confidential, except in specified circumstances.

We own numerous issued patents and pending patent applications. As of December 31, 2021, we owned approximately 42 U.S. patents, 33 pending U.S. patent applications, 75 issued foreign patents, and 64 pending foreign and Patent Cooperation Treaty applications. Our patents are expected to expire between 2026 and 2038, with some design patents expiring in 2046. We have 75 issued foreign patents in a total of 11 countries and regions, including China, Macau, Taiwan, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada and the European Patent Office. Our patents contain a broad range of claims related to devices and methods for performing cataract surgery using, among other things, refractive corrections, lens targeting and positioning and we believe provide significant protection for our current commercialized products.

Our material registered and unregistered trademarks include: LENSAR, ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System, INTELLIAXIS, INTELLIAXIS REFRACTIVE CAPSULORHEXIS, STREAMLINE, LENSAR CATARACT LASER WITH AUGMENTED REALITY AND DESIGN, and LENSDOCTOR SOFTWARE, INTELLIAXIS-C, and INTELLIAXIS-L.

Our intellectual property portfolio further secures a premier technology position for the development and commercialization of devices that incorporate both a phacoemulsification system and a femtosecond laser, such as our ALLY system. In addition to patent applications we have filed related to our system, we have pursued and consummated agreements with third parties to acquire patent rights, such as those described below, which provide important exclusivity with respect to our development and commercialization of our ALLY system. Our business plan includes aggressively pursuing additional patent rights related to ALLY, and we expect to continue to add to our current portfolio.

Patton License Agreement

In September 2019, we entered into a license agreement, or the Patton License, with Doug Patton and Ophthalmic Synergies, LLC, or the Licensors, pursuant to which we were granted a worldwide, exclusive license to use certain patents held by, and patent applications made by, the Licensors relating to combining a femtosecond laser and phacoemulsification system into a single device. Under the Patton License, we made an initial, upfront payment to the Licensors of $3.5 million and are required to make certain milestone payments relating to regulatory approval and commercial sales, in an aggregate amount of $2.4 million. We are not required to make any royalty payments under the Patton License.

In October 2021, we acquired full ownership of the patents and patent applications that were licensed under the Patton License.

Oertli Collaboration

In January 2020, we entered into a development agreement with Oertli Instrumente AG, or the Development Agreement, pursuant to which we are collaborating on the phacoemulsification component in our ALLY system. The Development Agreement provides that we and Oertli will be joint and several owners of intellectual property resulting from inventive contributions from both parties, and that we and Oertli will each be entitled to practice such intellectual property rights in our respective sole discretion, without regard to the other party. Additionally, we pay Oertli an hourly fee for their work under the Development Agreement. We have also entered into a long-term supply agreement with Oertli for the phacoemulsification component of our ALLY system.

Competition

We participate in the highly competitive global market for treatments for cataracts. We face significant competition from large multinational medical device companies as well as smaller, emerging players focused on product innovation. In providing surgical solutions for cataract patients, our primary competitors are Alcon Inc.; Bausch + Lomb, a division of Bausch Health Companies Inc.; and AMO, a division of Johnson & Johnson, each of which have their own femtosecond lasers and phacoemulsification devices. Additionally, we compete with Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG, a private Swiss based company, in the femtosecond laser market. If our ALLY system were to be cleared for commercial use, we would also face competition from Beaver-Visitec International, Carl Zeiss AG, D.O.R.C. Holding B.V., KeraNova S.A., Lumenis, a division of XIO Group, and Oertli Instrumente AG in the standalone phacoemulsification market. In addition, we are aware of several smaller companies with IOL technologies under development or that have limited approvals.

These competitors are focused on bringing new technologies to market and acquiring products and technologies that directly compete with our products or have potential product advantages that could render our products obsolete or noncompetitive.

Many of these competitors are large public companies or divisions of publicly-traded companies and have several competitive advantages, including:

• significantly greater name recognition;

• their own IOLs;

• longer operating histories; and

• more established sales and marketing programs and distribution networks.

Because of the size of the cataract market, we expect that companies will continue to dedicate significant resources to developing and commercializing competing products, and we anticipate that our current marketed products and any future products will be subject to intense competition. We believe that the principal competitive factors in our market include:

• improved outcomes for patients;

• acceptance by surgeons;

• ease of use and reliability;

• product price and availability of reimbursement;

• product bundling and multiple product purchasing agreements;

• technical leadership;

• effective marketing and distribution; and

• speed to market.

Regulation

United States

We are a manufacturer and marketer of medical devices, and therefore are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other federal and state authorities in the United States, as well as comparable authorities in foreign jurisdictions.

Our products are subject to regulation in the United States under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, as implemented and enforced by the FDA. The FDA regulates the development, design, non-clinical and clinical research, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling, packaging, storage, installation, servicing, recordkeeping, premarket clearance or approval, adverse event reporting, advertising, promotion, marketing and distribution, and import and export of medical devices to ensure that medical devices distributed domestically are safe and effective for their intended uses and otherwise meet the requirements of the FDCA.

FDA Premarket Clearance and Approval Requirements

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 control needed to ensure safety and effectiveness. Class I devices are those for which safety and effectiveness can be assured by adherence to FDA’s general controls for medical devices, or General Controls, which include compliance with the applicable portions of the FDA’s Quality System Regulation, or QSR, facility registration and product listing, reporting of adverse medical events, and appropriate, truthful and non-misleading labeling, advertising, and promotional materials. Some Class I devices also require premarket clearance by the FDA through the 510(k) premarket notification process described below. Class II devices are subject to FDA’s General Controls, and any other special controls as deemed necessary by FDA to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device. Premarket review and clearance by the FDA for Class II devices is accomplished through the 510(k) premarket notification procedure, unless an exemption applies. A Class III product is a product which has a new intended use or uses advanced technology that is not substantially equivalent to that of a legally marketed device. The safety and effectiveness of Class III devices cannot be assured solely by the General Controls and the other requirements described above. These devices almost always require formal clinical studies to demonstrate safety and effectiveness. Our currently marketed medical device products are Class II medical devices subject to 510(k) clearance.

510(k) Clearance Marketing Pathway

When a 510(k) is required, the manufacturer must submit to the FDA a premarket notification submission demonstrating that the device is “substantially equivalent” to a predicate device already on the market. A predicate device is a legally marketed device that is not subject to premarket approval, i.e., a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976 (pre-amendments device) and for which a premarket approval application, or PMA, is not required, a device that has been reclassified from Class III to Class II or I, or a device that was found substantially equivalent through the 510(k) process.

If the FDA agrees that the device is substantially equivalent to a predicate device, it will grant clearance to commercially market the device in the U.S. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance process usually takes from three to twelve months from the date the application is submitted and filed with the FDA but may take significantly longer and clearance is never assured. Although many 510(k) pre-market notifications are cleared without clinical data, in some cases, the FDA requires significant clinical data to support substantial equivalence. In reviewing a pre-market notification, the FDA may request additional information, including clinical data, which may significantly prolong the review process. If the FDA determines that the device, or its intended use, is not “substantially equivalent,” the FDA may deny the request for clearance.

After a device receives 510(k) clearance, any subsequent modification of the device that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or could require pre-market approval. The FDA requires each manufacturer to make this determination initially, but the FDA may review any such decision and may disagree with a manufacturer’s determination. If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s determination, the FDA may require the manufacturer to cease marketing or recall the modified device, or both, until 510(k) clearance or pre-market approval is obtained. We have modified aspects of some of our devices since receiving regulatory clearance and we have made the determination that new 510(k) clearances or pre-market approvals were not required.

Over the last several years, the FDA has proposed reforms to its 510(k) clearance process, and such proposals could include increased requirements for clinical data and a longer review period, or could make it more difficult for manufacturers to utilize the 510(k) clearance process for their products. For example, in November 2018, FDA officials announced forthcoming steps that the FDA intends to take to modernize the premarket notification pathway

under Section 510(k) of the FDCA. Among other things, the FDA announced that it planned to develop proposals to drive manufacturers utilizing the 510(k) pathway toward the use of newer predicates. These proposals included plans to potentially sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway, and to potentially publish a list of devices that have been cleared on the basis of demonstrated substantial equivalence to predicate devices that are more than 10 years old. The FDA also announced that it intends to finalize guidance to establish a premarket review pathway for “manufacturers of certain well-understood device types” as an alternative to the 510(k) clearance pathway and that such premarket review pathway would allow manufacturers to rely on objective safety and performance criteria recognized by the FDA to demonstrate substantial equivalence, obviating the need for manufacturers to compare the safety and performance of their medical devices to specific predicate devices in the clearance process.

In May 2019, the FDA solicited public feedback on its plans to develop proposals to drive manufacturers utilizing the 510(k) pathway toward the use of newer predicates, including whether the FDA should publish a list of devices that have been cleared on the basis of demonstrated substantial equivalence to predicate devices that are more than 10 years old. The FDA requested public feedback on whether it should consider certain actions that might require new authority, such as whether to sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway. These proposals have not yet been finalized or adopted, and the FDA may work with Congress to implement such proposals through legislation. More recently, in September 2019, the FDA finalized the aforementioned guidance to describe an optional “safety and performance based” premarket review pathway for manufacturers of “certain, well-understood device types” to demonstrate substantial equivalence under the 510(k) clearance pathway, by demonstrating that such device meets objective safety and performance criteria established by the FDA, obviating the need for manufacturers to compare the safety and performance of their medical devices to specific predicate devices in the clearance process. The FDA maintains a list of device types appropriate for the “safety and performance based pathway” and develop product-specific guidance documents that identify the performance criteria for each such device type, as well as the testing methods recommended in the guidance documents, where feasible.

FDA PMA Approval Process

Although unlikely for the types of medical devices marketed by us, the FDA may classify devices, or the particular use of a device, into Class III, and the device sponsor must then fulfill more rigorous PMA requirements. A PMA application, which is intended to demonstrate that a device is safe and effective, must be supported by extensive data, including extensive technical and manufacturing data and data from preclinical studies and human clinical trials. After a PMA application is submitted and filed, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the submitted information, which typically takes between one and three years, but may take significantly longer. During this review period, the FDA may request additional information or clarification of information already provided. Also, during the review period, an advisory panel of experts from outside the FDA will usually be convened to review and evaluate the application and provide recommendations to the FDA as to the approvability of the device. In addition, the FDA will conduct a pre-approval inspection of the manufacturing facility to ensure compliance with the QSR, which imposes stringent design development, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures in the design and manufacturing process. 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 approval. Failure to comply with the conditions of approval can result in materially adverse enforcement action, including the loss or withdrawal of the approval. New PMA applications or PMA supplements are required for significant modifications to the manufacturing process, labeling of the product and design of a device that is approved through the PMA process. PMA supplements often require submission of the same type of information as an original PMA, except that the supplement is limited to information needed to support any changes from the device covered by the original PMA, and may not require as extensive clinical data or the convening of an advisory panel.

A clinical trial is typically required to support a PMA application and is sometimes required for a 510(k) pre-market notification. Clinical trials generally require submission of an application for an Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, to the FDA. The IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory testing results, showing that it is safe to test the device in humans and that the investigational protocol is scientifically sound. The IDE application must be approved in advance by the FDA for a specified number of patients, unless the product is deemed a non-significant risk device and eligible for more abbreviated IDE requirements. Clinical trials for a significant risk device may begin once the IDE application is approved by the FDA as well as the appropriate

institutional review boards at the clinical trial sites, and the informed consent of the patients participating in the clinical trial is obtained. After a trial begins, the FDA may place it on hold or terminate it if, among other reasons, it concludes that the clinical subjects are exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Any trials we conduct must be conducted in accordance with FDA regulations as well as other federal regulations and state laws concerning human subject protection and privacy.

Post-Market Regulation

After a device is cleared or approved for marketing, numerous and pervasive FDA and other regulatory requirements continue to apply. These include establishment registration and device listing with the FDA; compliance with medical device reporting regulations, which require that manufacturers report to the FDA if their device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or malfunctioned in a way that would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if it were to recur; and compliance with corrections and removal 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. The FDA and the Federal Trade Commission also regulate the advertising and promotion of our products to ensure that the claims we make are consistent with our regulatory clearances, that there is scientific data to substantiate the claims and that our advertising is neither false nor misleading. In general, we may not promote or advertise our products for uses not within the scope of our intended use statement in our clearances or make unsupported safety and effectiveness claims. Many regulatory jurisdictions outside of the United States have similar regulations to which we are subject.

We are also required to register with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer. As such, our manufacturing sites are subject to periodic inspection by the FDA for compliance with the FDA’s QSR. These regulations cover the methods and the facilities and controls for the design, manufacture, testing, production, processes, controls, quality assurance, labeling, packaging, distribution, installation and servicing of finished devices intended for human use. The QSR also requires, among other things, maintenance of a device master file, device history file, and complaint files. As a manufacturer, we are subject to periodic scheduled or unscheduled inspections by the FDA. Our failure to maintain compliance with the QSR requirements could result in the shut-down of, or restrictions on, our manufacturing operations and the recall or seizure of our products, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. The discovery of previously unknown problems with any of our products, including unanticipated adverse events or adverse events of increasing severity or frequency, whether resulting from the use of the device within the scope of its clearance or off-label by a physician in the practice of medicine, could result in restrictions on the device, including the removal of the product from the market or voluntary or mandatory device recalls.

The FDA has broad regulatory compliance and enforcement powers. If the FDA determines that we failed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, it can take a variety of compliance or enforcement actions, which may result in any of the following sanctions:

• recalls, withdrawals, or administrative detention or seizure of our products;

• operating restrictions or partial suspension or total shutdown of production;

• withdrawing 510(k) clearances or PMA approvals that have already been granted;

• refusal to grant export approvals for our products; or

• criminal prosecution.

Requirements for Surgical Lasers as Radiation Emitting Products

In addition to the requirements that apply to medical devices, our devices must also comply with an independent set of requirements that apply to radiation emitting electronic products, which includes lasers. Under the electronic product radiation control provisions of the FDCA, the FDA has established regulations specifying certain requirements for different types of radiation emitting electronic products. Among other requirements, manufacturers of surgical lasers must comply with FDA regulations that establish performance standards for laser products and require that manufacturers of products subject to performance standards submit reports to FDA demonstrating compliance. Unless otherwise exempted, manufacturers of certain radiation emitting devices must submit certain reports to FDA, including for new and modified products, for product defects, and annual reports, and comply with recordkeeping requirements. FDA regulations also provide specific certification and labeling requirements, and the labels for these products must contain certain information, such as warnings, declarations, and instructions for use.

Outside the United States

In order for us to market our products in countries outside the United States, we must obtain regulatory approvals, clearances or certifications and comply with extensive product and quality system regulations in other countries. These regulations, including the requirements for approvals, clearance or certifications and the time required for regulatory review, vary from country to country. Some countries have regulatory review processes which are substantially longer than the U.S. process. Failure to obtain regulatory authorizations or approvals in a timely manner and to meet all local requirements including language and specific safety standards in any foreign country in which we plan to market our products could prevent us from marketing products in such countries or subject us to sanctions and fines.

In the European Union, or EU, commercialization of medical devices is regulated by the European Union. The European Union has adopted specific directives regulating the design, manufacture, clinical investigations, conformity assessment, labeling and adverse event reporting for medical devices. Unlike EU regulations, directives must be implemented into the national laws of the EU Member States and national laws may vary from one member state to another.

In the EU, there is currently no premarket government review of medical devices. However, the EU requires that all medical devices placed on the market in the EU must meet the relevant essential requirements laid down in Annex I of Council Directive 93/42/EEC, or the Medical Devices Directive. The most fundamental essential requirement is that a medical device must be designed and manufactured in such a way that it will not compromise the clinical condition or safety of patients, or the safety and health of users and others. In addition, the device must achieve the performances intended by the manufacturer and be designed, manufactured, and packaged in a suitable manner. The European Commission has adopted various standards applicable to medical devices. These include standards governing common requirements, such as sterilization and safety of medical electrical equipment and product standards for certain types of medical devices. There are also harmonized standards relating to design and manufacture. While not mandatory, compliance with these standards is viewed as the easiest way to satisfy the essential requirements as a practical matter. Compliance with a standard developed to implement an essential requirement also creates a rebuttable presumption that the device satisfies that essential requirement. To demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements laid down in Annex I to the Medical Devices Directive, medical device manufacturers must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its (risk) classification. Conformity assessment procedures require an assessment of available clinical evidence, literature data for the product, and post-market experience in respect of similar products already marketed. Except for low-risk medical devices (Class I non-sterile, non-measuring devices), where the manufacturer can self-declare the conformity of its products with the essential requirements (except for any parts which relate to sterility or metrology), a conformity assessment procedure requires the intervention of a Notified Body. Notified Bodies are often separate entities and are authorized or licensed to perform such assessments by government authorities. The Notified Body would typically audit and examine a product’s technical dossiers and the manufacturers’ quality system. If satisfied that the relevant product conforms to the relevant essential requirements, the Notified Body issues a certificate of conformity, which the manufacturer uses as a basis for its own declaration of conformity. The manufacturer may then apply the CE Mark to the device, which allows the device to be placed on the market throughout the EU.

As a general rule, demonstration of conformity of medical devices and their manufacturers with the essential requirements must be based, among other things, on the evaluation of clinical data supporting the safety and

performance of the products during normal conditions of use. Specifically, a manufacturer mustdemonstrate that the device achieves its intended performance during normal conditions of use, that theknown and foreseeable risks, and any adverse events, are minimized and acceptable when weighed againstthe benefits of its intended performance, and that any claims made about the performance and safety of thedevice are supported by suitable evidence. All manufacturers placing medical devices into the market in theEU must comply with the EU Medical Device Vigilance System. Under this system, incidents must bereported to the relevant authorities of the EU member states, and manufacturers are required to take FieldSafety Corrective Actions, or FSCAs, to reduce a risk of death or serious deterioration in the state of healthassociated with the use of a medical device that is already placed on the market. An incident is defined as anymalfunction or deterioration in the characteristics and/or performance of a device, as well as any inadequacyin the labeling or the instructions for use which, directly or indirectly, might lead to or might have led to thedeath of a patient or user or of other persons or to a serious deterioration in their state of health. An FSCAmay include the recall, modification, exchange, destruction or retrofitting of the device. FSCAs must be communicated by the manufacturer or its legal representative to its customers and/or to the end users of thedevice through Field Safety Notices.

In May 2017, the EU Medical Devices Regulation (Regulation 2017/745) entered into force, which repeals and replaces the EU Medical Devices Directive. Unlike directives, which must be implemented into the national laws of the EU Member States, the regulations would be directly applicable, i.e., without the need for adoption of EU Member State laws implementing them, in all EU Member States and are intended to eliminate current differences in the regulation of medical devices among EU Member States. The Medical Devices Regulation, among other things, is intended to establish a uniform, transparent, predictable and sustainable regulatory framework across the EU for medical devices and ensure a high level of safety and health while supporting innovation. The Medical Devices Regulation was originally intended to become applicable three years after publication (in May 2020). However, in April 2020, to take the pressure off EU national authorities, notified bodies, manufacturers and other actors so they can focus fully on urgent priorities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament adopted Regulation 2020/561, extended the transition period by an additional year, until May 26, 2021. Devices lawfully placed on the market pursuant to the Medical Devices Directive prior to May 26, 2021 may generally continue to be made available on the market or put into service until May 26, 2025. Once applicable, the Medical Devices Regulation will among other things:

Once applicable, the Medical Devices Regulation may impose increased compliance obligations for us to access the EU market and these modifications may have an impact on the way we design and manufacture products and the way we conduct our business in the EU. The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area, or EEA, which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

Following the end of the “Brexit” Transition Period, beginning on January 1, 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) will be responsible for the UK medical device market. The new regulations will require medical devices to be registered with the MHRA (but manufacturers will be given a grace period of four to 12 months to comply with the new registration process). Manufacturers based outside the UK will need to appoint a UK Responsible Person to register devices with the MHRA in line with the grace periods. By July 1, 2023, in the UK (England, Scotland, and Wales), all medical devices will require a UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark but CE marks issued by EU notified bodies will remain valid until this time. However, UKCA marking alone will not be

recognized in the EU. The rules for placing medical devices on the Northern Ireland market will differfrom those in the UK.

Other Healthcare Laws

Although none of the procedures performed using our products are currently covered by any government or commercial third-party payors, applicable agencies and regulators may nonetheless interpret that we are subject to numerous state and federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws, including anti-kickback, false claims and physician payment transparency laws that are intended to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the health care industry and analogous state laws that may apply to healthcare items and services by any payors including private insurers and self-pay patients. These laws are broad, subject to evolving interpretations and vigorously enforced against medical device manufacturers and have resulted in manufacturers paying significant fines and penalties and being subject to stringent corrective action plans and reporting obligations. We must operate our business within the requirements of these laws and, if we were accused of violating them, could be forced to expend significant resources on investigation, remediation and monetary penalties. Companies targeted in such prosecutions have paid substantial fines in the hundreds of millions of dollars or more, have been forced to implement extensive corrective action plans, can be excluded from federal health care programs and become subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties, and have often become subject to consent decrees, settlement agreements or corporate integrity agreements severely restricting the manner in which they conduct their business.

Because we have commercial operations overseas, we are also subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and other countries’ anti-corruption/anti-bribery regimes, such as the U.K. Bribery Act. The FCPA prohibits, among other things, improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Safeguards we implement to discourage improper payments or offers of payments by our employees, consultants, sales agents or distributors may be ineffective, and violations of the FCPA and similar laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, or other liabilities or proceedings against us, any of which would likely harm our reputation, business, financial condition and result of operations.

Many foreign countries have similar laws relating to healthcare fraud and abuse. Foreign laws and regulations may vary greatly from country to country. For example, the advertising and promotion of our products is subject to EU Directives concerning misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices, as well as other national member state legislation governing the advertising and promotion of medical devices. These laws may limit or restrict the advertising and promotion of our products to the general public and may impose limitations on our promotional activities with healthcare professionals.

Coverage and Reimbursement

In the United States and markets in other countries, 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. Physicians may be less likely to use our ALLY system or other future products, if cleared, certified or otherwise approved for marketing, unless coverage is provided, and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost. Sales of any of our products may therefore depend, in part, on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors. Third-party payors include government authorities, managed care plans, private health insurers and other organizations.

For devices like our ALLY system, we expect the reimbursement to the facility or physician from third-party payors would be intended to cover the overall cost of treatment, including the cost of our devices used during the procedure as well as the overhead cost associated with the facility where the procedure is performed. We do not directly bill any third-party payors; instead, we receive payment from the physician practice, hospital or other facility that uses our devices. Cataract surgery, including the implantation of a basic, single focus IOL, is reimbursed by Medicare but at a relatively low level and that level of reimbursement further declined in 2020. Failure by physicians, hospitals, and other users of our ALLY system or other devices we may develop the future, if cleared, certified or approved, to obtain sufficient coverage and reimbursement from healthcare payors for procedures in which such devices are used, or adverse changes in government and private third-party payors’ policies could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects.

In addition, there are periodic changes to reimbursement. Third-party payors regularly update reimbursement amounts and also from time to time revise the methodologies used to determine reimbursement amounts. This includes annual updates to payments to physicians, hospitals and other facilities for procedures during which our devices are used. Because we expect the cost of our ALLY system, if cleared, certified or approved, would generally be recovered by the healthcare provider as part of the payment for performing a procedure and not separately reimbursed, these updates could directly impact the demand for our devices. An example of such payment updates is the Medicare program’s updates to hospital and physician payments, which are done on an annual basis using a prescribed statutory formula. In the past, with respect to reimbursement for physician services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, when the application of the formula resulted in lower payment, Congress has passed interim legislation to prevent the reductions.

The containment of healthcare costs is a priority of federal, state and foreign governments, and the prices of pharmaceutical or device products have been a focus in this effort. Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services, examining the medical necessity and reviewing the cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical products, medical devices and medical services, in addition to questioning safety and efficacy. If these third-party payors do not consider our ALLY system or other products we may develop in the future, if cleared, to be cost-effective compared to other available therapies, they may not cover our products or, if they do, the level of payment may not be sufficient to allow us to sell our products at a profit.

With respect to our LENSAR Laser System, surgeons typically charge the patient a separate out-of-pocket fee for procedures using our device. The use of advanced IOLs designed to improve vision is also not reimbursed by Medicare beyond the standard reimbursement for a monofocal IOL and physicians charge the patient for the difference between the lower reimbursed amount and the cost of the advanced IOL. Surgeons typically offer the option of an advanced IOL to patients explaining that it is not covered by Medicare and will be an out-of-pocket expense. Use of our LENSAR Laser System is often accompanied by the implantation of an advanced IOL. We believe that the ability of our LENSAR Laser System, when used with advanced IOLs to optimize vision results, will encourage surgeons to perform the procedure and their patients to pay the additional out-of-pocket costs.

Healthcare Reform

The United States and some foreign jurisdictions are considering or have enacted a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our ability to sell our products profitably. Among policy makers and payors in the United States and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality or expanding access. Current and future legislative proposals to further reform healthcare or reduce healthcare costs may limit coverage of or lower reimbursement for the procedures associated with the use of our ALLY system or other products we may develop in the future, if cleared. The cost containment measures that payors and providers are instituting, and the effect of any healthcare reform initiative implemented in the future could impact our revenue from the sale of our products.

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, in the United States, for example, has changed healthcare financing and delivery by both governmental and private insurers substantially, and affected medical device manufacturers significantly. The ACA, among other things, provided incentives to programs that increase the federal government’s comparative effectiveness research, and implemented payment system reforms including a national pilot program on payment bundling to encourage hospitals, physicians and other providers to improve the coordination, quality and efficiency of certain healthcare services through bundled payment models. Additionally, the ACA expanded eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs and created a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research.

Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. By way of example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the Tax Act, included a provision repealing, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the ACA on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year, a requirement commonly referred to as the “individual mandate”. On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Northern District of Texas, ruled that the individual mandate is a critical and inseverable feature of the ACA, and therefore, because it was repealed as part of the Tax Act, the

remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the District Court’s decision that the individual mandate was unconstitutional but remanded the case back to the District Court to determine whether the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. In March 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari to review the case and heard oral arguments in November 2020, though it is unclear when a decision will be made or how the Supreme Court will rule. In addition, there may be other efforts to challenge, repeal or replace the ACA in the future.

Moreover, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. For example, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, included reductions to Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2030, with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021, unless additional Congressional action is taken. Additionally, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, 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, any of which could 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 pressure.

Human Capital

LENSAR is committed to revolutionizing refractive eye surgery. As a global leader in next generation femtosecond laser for cataract surgery, our success depends on talented and motivated individuals who share our passion for making a difference in patients’ lives. We pride ourselves on having a highly collaborative, innovative environment where initiatives and teamwork are valued, and individual efforts are recognized. Together, we are one team, one vision.

In managing our business, we utilize a variety of human capital measures and objectives, including:

Seasonality

We have historically experienced seasonal variations in the sales and leases of our products, with our fourth quarter typically being the strongest and the third quarter being the slowest. We believe these seasonal variations are consistent across our industry.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated in the State of Delaware on August 20, 2004 and became a direct, majority-owned subsidiary of PDL BioPharma, Inc., or PDL, in 2017. In October 2020, we completed a spin-off of LENSAR, Inc. from PDL in the form of a dividend involving the distribution of all outstanding shares of our common stock owned by PDL to the holders of PDL common stock, or Spin-Off. Following the completion of the Spin-Off, PDL no longer owns any equity interest in us, and we became an independent public company on October 1, 2020.

Available Information

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Our SEC filings are available to the public over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Our SEC filings are also available free of charge under the Investor Relations section of our website at www.lensar.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. We may use our website as a distribution channel of material information about the Company. Financial and other important information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible through the Investor Relations sections of our website at www.lensar.com. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about the Company when you enroll your email address by under the Investor Email Alerts option on the Investor Relations page of our website at www.lensar.com. Our website and the information available through our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this Annual Report, including our audited financial statements and the related notes, as well as our other public filings with the SEC, before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the price of our common stock could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Business

We expect to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future and we cannot assure you that we will be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve or sustain profitability.

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had net losses of $19.6 million and $19.8 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $77.6 million. We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future as we continue to build our commercial and clinical infrastructure, pursue FDA and other regulatory body clearance of and commercially launch our proprietary, next generation integrated cataract treatment system, known as our ALLY system, and invest in research and development. In addition, as a result of becoming a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We cannot make assurances that we will ever generate sufficient revenue from our operations to achieve profitability, and even if we achieve profitability, we cannot be sure that we will remain profitable for any substantial period of time. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability could negatively affect the value of our securities and our ability to raise capital and continue operations.

We principally derive our revenue from the sale or lease and use of our LENSAR Laser System, the associated procedure licenses and consumables used in each procedure and the commercial success of our LENSAR Laser System will largely depend upon our ability to maintain and grow significant market acceptance for it.

We principally derive our revenue from the sale or lease of our LENSAR Laser System and the associated procedure licenses and consumables used in each procedure involving our LENSAR Laser System, and expect that this will account for all of our revenue in the foreseeable future until we receive regulatory clearance of our ALLY system. Accordingly, our ability to increase revenue is highly dependent on our ability to market and sell or lease our LENSAR Laser System and market the associated consumables.

Our ability to maintain our market share, execute our growth strategy, achieve commercial success and become profitable will depend upon the adoption and continued acceptance of our LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system by surgeons, hospital outpatient surgical facilities, in-office surgical suites and ambulatory surgery centers, or ASCs. Our system is currently, and upon regulatory clearance our ALLY system will be, used in advanced cataract procedures for which surgeon reimbursement continues to decline and patients pay a significant portion of the cost of the procedure. We cannot predict the extent to which patients will continue to seek out these types of procedures. Further, we cannot predict if cataract surgeons will continue to use our LENSAR Laser System or how quickly cataract surgeons will accept any planned or future products we introduce, like ALLY, and, if accepted, how frequently any such products will be used. Our current products may not maintain, and our ALLY system or other planned or future products we may develop or market may never gain, broad market acceptance among cataract surgeons and the medical community for the procedures in which they are designed to be used. Our ability to maintain and increase market acceptance of our products depends on a number of factors, including:

• the technical leadership of our research and development teams;

• the absence of third party blocking intellectual property;

Failure to maintain or increase market acceptance would limit our ability to generate revenue and would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our long-term growth depends on our ability to gain regulatory clearances for our ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System.

Our ALLY system has taken considerable time and resources to develop, and we may not be able to obtain FDA clearance (or regulatory bodies’ certification or approval) to market and ultimately commercialize our ALLY system on a timely basis, or at all. Moreover, we are developing our ALLY system as a dual-function device that can perform both phacoemulsification and laser-assisted surgery. The FDA has accepted our 510(k) submission of the ALLY system for substantive review. This submission is the first stage of a planned, two step commercial release strategy. If this submission is cleared by the FDA, ALLY will launch as a next generation femtosecond laser. Subject to FDA clearance, we expect to begin commercialization of ALLY in the second half of 2022. We anticipate the launch will be followed by an additional 510(k) application seeking clearance for the phacoemulsification features within the integrated and combined ALLY system later in 2022. We will begin commercialization of ALLY in a controlled launch and ALLY will have the phacoemulsification features integrated as part of the system; however, these features will not be activated for use until we receive FDA clearance on these aspects of the combined system from our planned second 510(k) submission to occur late in 2022. We may not be able to obtain FDA clearance on either or both the femtosecond laser or the phacoemulsification features of our combined and integrated ALLY system. Accordingly, if we are unable to get one or both features of ALLY cleared by the FDA and other regulatory bodies, it could impact our future revenue. We are relying on a third party to manufacture the phacoemulsification component of our ALLY system, and do not currently possess the internal resources or know-how to do so. Any adverse developments with our 510(k) submission or that of our third-party supplier, including that third-party’s failure to obtain 510(k) clearance for their phacoemulsification device, for which the phacoemulsification component of our ALLY system is using as

a predicate, could in turn negatively impact our development of theALLY system, our ability to obtain 510(k) clearance forthe phacoemulsification features of our ALLYsystem or, even if clearance is obtained, the timing of any commercialization of both the femtosecond laser and phacoemulsification features within our ALLY system.

While we have engaged in market research to evaluate the interest in a dual-function device, the results of that research are based on a small population of cataract surgeons and may not be indicative of actual market interest. In addition, the success of our ALLY system or any other new product offering or product enhancements we pursue will depend on several factors, including our ability to:

• properly identify and anticipate cataract surgeon and patient needs;

• our ability to exclude competition based on our intellectual property rights;

• avoid infringing upon the intellectual property rights of third-parties;

• provide adequate training to potential users of these products;

• develop an effective and dedicated sales and marketing team.

If we are not successful in expanding our product offering, our ability to increase our revenue may be impaired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

COVID-19 and actions taken to control the spread of COVID-19 have impeded global supply chains and have had an adverse impact on our business, and we expect this situation to continue.

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has severely impacted global economic activity and caused significant volatility and negative pressure in financial markets. COVID-19 and actions taken to control the spread of COVID-19 have significantly impacted our business, and we expect they may continue to do so. For example, many jurisdictions imposed, or in the future may impose, “shelter-in-place” orders, quarantines or similar orders or restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 by restricting non-essential activities, including the suspension or restriction of elective surgeries and various business operations. These types of orders and restrictions resulted in a significant decrease in the number of and demand for non-essential or elective medical procedures, including cataract surgeries, during 2020 and early 2021. We cannot provide assurance procedure volume levels will continue to grow if additional business suspensions or restrictions are mandated. Additionally, some of our employees are still subject to remote working arrangements and restricted business-related travel. The respective commercial teams of certain of the third parties that act as our distributors in international markets have chosen or have been forced to take similar action, and those or other distributors may choose or be forced to take similar action in the future. Neither we, nor our distributors have significant experience operating with the majority of our respective work forces working from home, and this may disrupt standard operations for us or them, the magnitude of which will depend, in part, on the length and severity of the restrictions and other limitations on our respective abilities to conduct business in the ordinary course. In addition, this may increase our cybersecurity risk, create data accessibility concerns and make us more susceptible to communication disruptions, any of which could adversely impact our business operations or delay

necessary interactions with local and federal regulators, ethics committees, manufacturing sites, research or clinical trial sites and other important agencies and contractors. While the implementation of these measures has not required material expenditures to date, the suspension of non-essential medical services during 2020 significantly impacted our revenues and cash flows and significantly impacted our ability to operate our commercial operations. Furthermore, these developments, including their long-term impact on our suppliers, have and may continue to adversely affect the availability of parts and components needed for our LENSAR Laser System and ALLYsystem or, if such conditions persist, the commercial success of ALLY. Furthermore, we may continue to face increased costs associated with supply chain disruptions and price increases resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in, and may continue to result in, historically high unemployment rates, which typically result in lower rates of private health insurance. Even if procedures in which our LENSAR Laser Systems are used are covered or reimbursable by third-party payors, patients may not have adequate insurance coverage or other discretionary income to pay for a procedure in which one of our LENSAR Laser Systems is used, which would in turn adversely impact our future revenue and results of operations. Furthermore, some industry meetings and conferences have moved to a virtual format, which severely limits our ability to meet and interact with surgeons and staff, display our technology, conduct user group meetings, and network as a means to market and sell our product.

The continued spread of COVID-19 has also led to extreme disruption and volatility in the global capital markets, which may increase the cost of, and adversely impact access to, capital and increases economic uncertainty. While we expect COVID-19 to continue to impact our business, operations and revenue growth, given the rapid and evolving nature of the virus and the uncertainty about its impact on society and the global economy, we cannot predict with certainty the extent to which it will affect our operations, particularly if these impacts persist or worsen over an extended period of time. Furthermore, any similar pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in the markets in which we operate or in which we sell or lease our LENSAR Laser Systems may adversely affect our business.

COVID-19 disruptions adversely impacting our business and financial results, may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, including risks relating to changes in consumer demand; our ability to maintain and grow significant market acceptance; our ability to enhance our LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system; our ability to grow our marketing team; patients’ and surgeons’ willingness and ability to pay for an advanced cataract procedure over a standard cataract procedure; our future capital needs; disruption in the long-term supply and manufacturing of our products by suppliers; increased credit risks associated with our customers; and regulatory restrictions and clearances.

Patients may not be willing to pay for the price difference between a standard cataract procedure and an advanced cataract procedure in which a laser system such as ours is used, an increment which is typically not covered by Medicare, private insurance or other third-party payors.

Payment for a standard cataract procedure is typically covered by Medicare, private insurance or other third-party payors. However, a cataract patient seeking a greater and more versatile visual outcome may desire an advanced cataract procedure involving a laser system such as ours. The patient is typically responsible for the additional costs associated with the use of these premium technologies in the physician’s practice, hospital outpatient surgical facilities, in-office surgical suites and ambulatory surgery centers. Due to this additional cost, patients may not elect to have such a procedure and our business may not grow as anticipated. Our future success depends in part upon patients achieving better visual outcomes from procedures using our LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system upon regulatory clearance, or procedures involving similar laser systems that meets their expectations. If patients are not adequately satisfied with the results of such procedures, they or their surgeons may be less willing to recommend these procedures to other patients.

Additionally, weak or uncertain economic conditions, such as those that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, may cause individuals to be less willing to pay for advanced cataract procedures. Although we anticipate use of our ALLY system in certain aspects of the standard cataract procedure will be covered by or reimbursable through government or other third-party payors, our current LENSAR Laser System procedures are not covered by or reimbursable through government or other third-party payors. A decline in economic conditions in the United States or in international markets could result in a decline in demand for the procedures in which our LENSAR Laser System is used and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are not able to effectively grow our U.S. sales and marketing organization, or maintain or grow an effective network of international distributors, our business prospects, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

In order to generate future sales growth within the United States, we will need to expand the size and geographic scope of our U.S. direct sales organization. Accordingly, our future success will depend largely on our ability to train, retain and motivate skilled regional sales managers and direct sales representatives with significant technical knowledge of our LENSAR Laser System, and our ALLY system upon receiving regulatory clearance. Because of the competition for their services, we may not be able to retain such representatives on favorable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If we are unable to grow our global sales and marketing organization within the United States, we may not be able to increase our revenue, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Additionally, we rely exclusively on a network of independent distributors to generate sales and leases of our LENSAR Laser System as well as purchases of our consumables and licensed applications outside of the United States. For the year ended December 31, 2021, two customers accounted for 16% and 13% of our revenue. As of December 31, 2021, three customers accounted for 37%, 13%, and 10% of our accounts receivable, net. This customer concentration exposes us to a material adverse effect if any of these significant distributors were to significantly reduce purchases for any reason or favor competitors or new market participants. If a dispute arises with a distributor or if a distributor is terminated by us or goes out of business, it may take time to locate an alternative distributor, to seek appropriate regulatory approvals and to train new personnel to market our LENSAR Laser System, and our ALLY system upon receiving regulatory clearance, as well as our ability to sell those systems in the region formerly serviced by such terminated distributor could be harmed. In addition, our international distributors may be unable to successfully market and sell our products and may not devote sufficient time and resources to support the marketing, sales, education and training efforts that we believe are necessary to enable the products to develop, achieve or sustain market acceptance. Any of these factors could reduce our revenues from affected markets, increase our costs in those markets or damage our reputation. In addition, if an independent distributor were to depart and be retained by one of our competitors, we may be unable to prevent that distributor from helping competitors solicit business from our existing customers, which could further adversely affect us. As a result of our reliance on third-party distributors, we may be subject to disruptions and increased costs due to factors beyond our control, including labor strikes, third-party error and other issues. If the services of any of these third-party distributors become unsatisfactory, we may experience delays in meeting our customers’ demands and we may be unable to find a suitable replacement on a timely basis or on commercially reasonable terms. Any failure to deliver products in a timely manner may damage our reputation and could cause us to lose potential customers.

Our future capital needs are uncertain and we may need to raise additional funds in the future, and such funds may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.

Subject to the duration and extent of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we expect our revenues and expenses to increase in connection with our on-going activities, particularly as we continue to execute on our growth strategy, including expansion of our sales and customer support teams. The primary factors determining our cash needs are the funding of operations, which we expect to continue to expand as the business grows, and enhancing our product offerings through the research and development and regulatory clearances of ALLY. Our future liquidity needs, and ability to address those needs, will largely be determined by the success of our commercial efforts and those of our distributors; the timing, scope and magnitude of our commercial and development activities; and the timing of regulatory clearance of our ALLY system. We also expect the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will negatively affect our capital requirements and the availability of funds to finance those requirements.

As of the date of this Annual Report, we expect our cash and cash equivalents, together with cash generated from the sale and lease of our products, to be sufficient to operate our business through the anticipated clearance and launch of ALLY and into 2023. However, if these amounts are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, we may seek additional funds from public and private stock offerings, borrowings under credit facilities or other sources that we

may not be able to maintain or obtain on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Our capital requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:

• the costs associated with expanding our sales and marketing efforts;

• costs associated with any product recall that may occur;

• the cost of enforcing or defending against non-competition claims;

• the number and timing of acquisitions and other strategic transactions;

• the costs associated with increased capital expenditures; and

Such capital may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. Furthermore, if we issue equity securities to raise additional capital, our existing stockholders may experience dilution, and the new equity securities may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our existing stockholders. Debt financing, if available, may involve covenants restricting our operations or our ability to incur additional debt. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. In addition, if we raise additional capital through collaboration, licensing or other similar arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our products, potential products or proprietary technologies, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we cannot raise capital on acceptable terms, we may not be able to develop or enhance our products, execute our business plan, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, changes in our supplier relationships or unanticipated customer requirements. Any of these events could adversely affect our ability to achieve our business and financial goals or to achieve or maintain profitability, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If the supply or manufacture of our LENSAR Laser System, ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System, or other products is materially disrupted, including supply chain shortages and price increases resulting from the COVID-

19 pandemic, it may adversely affect our ability to manufacture products and could negatively affect our operating results.

We manufacture our LENSAR Laser System, ALLY system, and provide the electronic license applications at our corporate headquarters in Orlando, Florida. This is also the location where we currently conduct substantially all of our research and development activities, customer and technical support, and management and administrative functions. If our facility suffers a crippling event, or a force majeure event such as an earthquake, hurricane, fire, flood or temporary shutdown due to a pandemic, epidemic or infectious disease, this could materially impact our ability to operate.

We purchase custom and off-the-shelf components from a number of suppliers and subject them to stringent quality specifications and processes. Some of the components necessary for the assembly of our LENSAR Laser System, ALLY system and associated consumables are currently provided by single-sourced suppliers (the only approved supply source for us among other sources). We are also relying on a third party to manufacture the phacoemulsification component of ALLY. If one or more of our suppliers cease to provide us with sufficient quantities of materials in a timely manner or on terms acceptable to us, we would have to seek alternative sources of supply. Because of factors such as the proprietary nature of our products, our quality control standards and regulatory requirements, we may experience delays in engaging additional or replacement suppliers for certain components. There may also be disruptions outside our control in the availability and pricing of various component parts needed for our LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system. For example, a global semiconductor supply shortage resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is having wide-ranging effects across multiple industries, and we are seeing more significant disruptions in the supply of, and fluctuations in pricing for, various component parts needed for our LENSAR Laser System and ALLY system. Our efforts to maintain an adequate supply of inventory may not be sufficient and we may be unable to source the necessary component parts on commercially acceptable terms to reflect in the price of our system. The long-term loss of these suppliers, or their long-term inability to provide us with an adequate supply of components or products, could potentially cause delay in the manufacture of our products, thereby impairing our ability to meet the demand of our customers and causing significant harm to our business. If it becomes necessary to identify and qualify a suitable second source to replace one of our key suppliers, that replacement supplier would not have access to our previous supplier’s proprietary processes and would therefore be required to develop its own, which could also result in delay. Any disruption of this nature or increased expense could harm our commercialization efforts and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We and some of our suppliers and contract facilities are required to comply with regulatory requirements of the FDA (and other regulatory authorities). In particular, the FDA’s Quality System Regulation, or QSR, which includes FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, or cGMPs, covers the procedures and documentation of the design, testing, production, control, quality assurance, inspection, complaint handling, recordkeeping, management review, labeling, packaging, sterilization, storage and shipping of our device products. The FDA audits compliance with these regulatory requirements through periodic announced and unannounced inspections of manufacturing and other facilities. If our manufacturing facilities or those of any of our suppliers or contract facilities are found to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations, the FDA could take enforcement action. Similar requirements must be complied with in foreign countries and foreign regulatory authorities could also take enforcement action. Additionally, in the event we must obtain a replacement supplier or contract facility, it may be difficult for us to identify and qualify a supplier or contract facility that complies with QSR and cGMPs, which would adversely impact our operations.

We compete and may compete in the future against other companies, some of which have longer operating histories, more established products or greater resources than we do.

Our industry is global, highly competitive and subject to rapid and profound technological, market and product-related changes. We face significant competition from large multinational medical device companies, as well as smaller, emerging players focused on product innovation.

Our primary competitors in providing surgical solutions for cataract patients are Alcon Inc.; Bausch + Lomb, a division of Bausch Health Companies Inc.; Johnson & Johnson; Carl Zeiss AG; Zeimer; and KERANOVA S.A. These competitors are focused on bringing new technologies to market and acquiring products and technologies that directly compete with our products or have potential product advantages that could render our products obsolete or noncompetitive.

Many of our current and potential competitors are large publicly traded companies or divisions of publicly-traded companies and have several competitive advantages, including:

• significantly greater name recognition;

• longer operating histories; and

• more established sales and marketing programs and distribution networks.

In addition, many of our competitors have their own intraocular lens, or IOLs, while we do not, which could put us at a competitive disadvantage. If we are unable to compete effectively in this environment, it could adversely affect our business.

To successfully market, sell and lease our products in markets outside of the United States, we must address many international business risks with which we have limited experience.

We have historically sold and leased a significant portion of our LENSAR Laser Systems outside of the United States through a network of independent distributors and intend to increase our international presence in Germany, China and South Korea, as well as other international markets. Our international business operations are subject to a number of risks, including:

• difficulties in staffing and managing our international operations;

• export restrictions, trade regulations, and foreign tax laws;

• fluctuations in currency exchange rates;

• foreign certification and regulatory clearance or approval requirements;

• customs clearance and shipping delays;

• preference for locally produced products;

• increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities.

If one or more of these risks are realized, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are exposed to the credit risk of some of our customers, which could result in material losses.

Customers may lease our LENSAR Laser System or finance the laser through the product utilization, and we believe there has been an increase in demand for these types of customer leasing in recent years, especially in the United States. We may experience loss from a customer’s failure to make payments according to the contractual lease terms or some other material decrease in the practice revenues and surgical procedure volume. Our exposure to the credit risks relating to our lease financing arrangements may increase if our customers are adversely affected by changes in healthcare laws, economic pressures or uncertainty, or other customer-specific factors. In addition, our credit risk may be highly concentrated, as we rely exclusively on a network of independent distributors to generate sales outside of the United States. Further, ongoing consolidation among distributors, retailers and healthcare provider organizations could increase the concentration of credit risk. The factors affecting our customers’ ability to make timely payments according to the contractual lease terms are out of our control, and as a result, exposes us to additional risks that may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. The occurrence of any such factors affecting our customers may cause delays in payments or, in some cases, defaults on payment obligations, which could result in material losses.

The programs we have designed to monitor and mitigate the associated risk may not be successful. There can be no assurance that such programs will be effective in reducing credit risks relating to these lease financing arrangements. If the level of credit losses we experience in the future exceed our expectations, such losses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations or adversely affect our ability to sell such assets as part of our monetization strategy.

We may be unable to accurately forecast customer demand and our inventory levels.

We generally do not maintain large volumes of finished goods and anticipating demand for our products may be challenging as cataract surgeon demand and adoption rates can be unpredictable. In addition, as use of our LENSAR Laser System is adopted by more cataract surgeons, we anticipate greater fluctuations in demand for our products, which makes demand forecasting more difficult. Our forecasts are based on management’s judgment and assumptions, each of which may introduce error into our estimates. if we underestimate customer demand or if insufficient manufacturing capacity is available, we would miss revenue opportunities and potentially lose market share and damage our customer relationships. As we anticipate the projected commercial launch of ALLY, we are adapting our manufacturing operations from producing the LENSAR Laser Systems and we could underestimate demand for the LENSAR Laser System and be unable to fulfill customer requests. Conversely, if we overestimate customer demand, our excess or obsolete inventory may increase significantly, which would reduce our gross margin and adversely affect our financial results.

Failure to secure adequate coverage or reimbursement by government or other third-party payors for procedures using our ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System or our other future products, or changes in current coverage or reimbursement, could materially impact our revenue and future growth.

Adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors, including government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private insurance plans and managed care programs, for procedures using our ALLY system or other products we may develop in the future, if approved, is central to the acceptance and adoption of these products. Hospitals, healthcare facilities, physicians and other healthcare providers that may purchase and use our ALLY system generally rely on third-party payors to pay for all or part of the costs and fees associated with the procedures using our ALLY system. If third-party payors reduce their levels of payment, if our costs of production increase faster than increases in reimbursement levels or if third-party payors deny reimbursement for procedures using our ALLY system, our ALLY system may not be adopted or accepted by hospitals, healthcare facilities, physicians or other healthcare providers and the prices paid for a procedure using our ALLY system may decline, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Physicians are reimbursed separately for their professional time and effort to perform a cataract procedure that is covered by third-party payors. Such party payors regularly update reimbursement amounts and also from time to time revise the methodologies used to determine reimbursement amounts. This includes routine updates to payments to physicians, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers for procedures during which our ALLY system would be used. These updates could directly impact the demand for our future products. For example, the Medicare Access and CHIP

Reauthorization Act of 2015, or MACRA, provided for a 0.5% annual increase in payment rates under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, or PFS, through 2019, but no annual update from 2020 through 2025. MACRA also introduced a Quality Payment Program for Medicare physicians, nurses and other “eligible clinicians” (as defined in MACRA) that adjusts overall reimbursement under the PFS based on certain performance categories. While MACRA applies only to Medicare reimbursement, Medicaid and private payors often follow Medicare payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates, and any reduction in Medicare reimbursement may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors, which may result in reduced demand for our ALLY system or any other products we may develop in the future. However, there is no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement among payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for procedures can differ significantly from payor to payor. Many private payors require extensive documentation of a multi-step diagnosis before authorizing procedures using our products. Some private payors may apply their own coverage policies and criteria inconsistently, and physicians and other healthcare providers may not be able to receive approval and reimbursement for certain procedures using our ALLYsystem consistently. Any perception by physicians and other healthcare providers that the reimbursement for procedures using our ALLYsystem or other future products is inadequate to compensate them for the work required, including diagnosis, documentation, obtaining third-party payor approval for the procedure and other burdens on their office staff or that they may not be reimbursed at all for the procedures using our ALLYsystem or other future products, may negatively affect the adoption and use of our ALLYsystem or other future products and technologies, and the prices paid for such products may decline.

The healthcare industry in the United States has experienced a trend toward cost containment as government and private insurers seek to control healthcare costs. Third-party payors are imposing lower payment rates and negotiating reduced contract rates with hospitals, other healthcare facilities, surgeons and other healthcare providers and being increasingly selective about the products, technologies and procedures they chose to cover and provide reimbursement for. Third-party payors may adopt policies in the future restricting access to products and technologies like ours or the procedures performed using such products. Therefore, we cannot be certain that any procedures performed with our ALLY system or other future products will be covered and reimbursed. There can be no guarantee that should we introduce new products and technologies, third-party payors will provide adequate coverage and reimbursement for those products or the procedures in which they are used. If third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage or reimbursement for such products, then our sales may be limited to circumstances where our products and procedures using our products are being largely or entirely self-paid by patients, as is currently the case with procedures using our current LENSAR Laser System.

Additionally, market acceptance of our products and technologies in foreign markets may depend, in part, upon the availability of coverage and reimbursement within prevailing healthcare payment systems. Reimbursement and healthcare payment systems in international markets vary significantly by country and include both government-sponsored healthcare and private insurance. In Europe, reimbursement is entirely regulated at member state level, varies significantly between countries, and member states are facing increased pressure to limit public healthcare spending. We may not obtain additional international coverage and reimbursement approvals in a timely manner, if at all. Our failure to receive such approvals would negatively impact future market acceptance of our ALLY system or any of other products we may develop in the future in the international markets in which those approvals are sought.

We provide a limited warranty for our products.

We provide a limited warranty that our products are free of material defects and conform to specifications, and offer to repair, replace or refund the purchase price of defective products. As a result, we bear the risk of potential warranty claims on our products. In the event that we attempt to recover some or all of the expenses associated with a warranty claim against us from our suppliers or vendors, we may not be successful in claiming recovery under any warranty or indemnity provided to us by such suppliers or vendors and any recovery from such vendor or supplier may not be adequate. In addition, warranty claims brought by our customers related to third-party components may arise after our ability to bring corresponding warranty claims against such suppliers expires, which could result in costs to us.

Product liability suits brought against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities, limit the selling or leasing of our existing products and interfere with commercialization of any products that we may develop.

If our product offerings are defectively designed or manufactured, contain defective materials, or are used or deployed improperly, or if someone alleges any of the foregoing, whether or not such claims are meritorious, we may become

subject to substantial and costly litigation. Any product liability claims brought against us, with or without merit, could divert management’s attention from our business, be expensive to defend, result in sizable damage awards against us, damage our reputation, increase our product liability insurance rates, prevent us from securing continuing coverage, or prevent or interfere with commercialization of our products. In addition, we may not have sufficient insurance coverage for all future claims. Product liability claims brought against us in excess of our insurance coverage would likely be paid out of cash reserves, harming our financial condition and results of operations.

Our insurance policies are expensive and protect us only from some business risks, which leaves us exposed to significant uninsured liabilities.

We do not carry insurance for all categories of risk that our business may encounter. We can give no assurance that the coverage under our product liability insurance in the United States will be available or adequate to satisfy any claims. Product liability insurance is expensive, subject to significant deductibles and exclusions, and may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to obtain or maintain insurance at an acceptable cost or on acceptable terms with adequate coverage or otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, we could be exposed to significant liabilities. A product liability claim, recall or other claim with respect to uninsured liabilities or for amounts in excess of insured liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Defending a suit, regardless of its merit or eventual outcome, could be costly, could divert management’s attention from our business and might result in adverse publicity, which could result in reduced acceptance of our products in the market, product recalls or market withdrawals.

We do not carry specific hazardous waste insurance coverage, and our insurance policies generally exclude coverage for damages and fines arising from hazardous waste exposure or contamination. Accordingly, in the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for damages or be penalized with fines in an amount exceeding our resources, and our clinical trials or regulatory approvals could be suspended.

We also expect that operating as a public company will make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain and maintain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified people to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers. We do not know, however, if we will be able to maintain existing insurance with adequate levels of coverage. Any significant uninsured liability may require us to pay substantial amounts, which would negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our financial results may fluctuate significantly and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business.

Our quarterly and annual results of operations 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 quarterly and annual 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. For example, we have historically experienced seasonal variations in the selling or leasing of our products and procedures involving our products, with our fourth quarter typically being the strongest and the third quarter being the slowest. We believe these seasonal changes are consistent across our industry. Other factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results include:

• adoption of our LENSAR Laser Systems and ALLY systems;

• pricing pressure applicable to our products competitor pricing;

• the mix of sales and leases of our LENSAR Laser Systems;

• the effect of competing technological, industry and market developments; and

As a result, you should not rely on our results in any past period as an indication of future results and you should anticipate that fluctuations in our quarterly and annual operating results may continue and could generate volatility in the price of our common stock. Quarterly or annual comparisons of our financial results should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.

If we fail to manage our anticipated growth effectively, or are unable to increase or maintain our manufacturing capacity, we may not be able to meet customer demand for our products and our business could suffer.

We have experienced significant period-to-period growth in our business, with the exception of 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, and we must continue to grow in order to meet our business and financial objectives. However, continued growth may create numerous challenges, including:

• new and increased responsibilities for our management team;

• increased pressure on our operating, financial and reporting systems;

• increased pressure to anticipate and satisfy market demand;

• additional manufacturing capacity requirements;

• the need to hire, train and manage additional qualified personnel; and

• transitioning manufacturing from our LENSAR Laser System to our ALLY system.

Our current and planned capacity may not be sufficient to meet our current business plans. There are uncertainties inherent in expanding our manufacturing capabilities, and we may not be able to sufficiently increase our capacity in a timely manner. For example, manufacturing and product quality issues may arise as we increase production rates at our manufacturing facility or launch new products. Also, we may not manufacture the right product mix to meet customer demand as we introduce new products. As a result, we may experience difficulties in meeting customer demand, in which case we could lose customers or be required to delay new product introductions, and demand for our products could decline. If we fail to manage any of the above challenges effectively, our business may be harmed.

If we choose to acquire new and complementary businesses, products or technologies, we may be unable to complete these acquisitions or to successfully integrate them in a cost-effective and non-disruptive manner.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continually enhance and broaden our product offerings in response to changing customer demands, competitive pressures and advances in technologies. Accordingly, although we have no current commitments with respect to any acquisition or investment, we may in the future pursue the acquisition of, or joint ventures relating to, complementary businesses, products or technologies instead of developing them ourselves. We do not know if we will be able to successfully complete any future acquisitions or joint ventures, or whether we will be able to successfully integrate any acquired business, product or technology or retain any key employees related thereto. Integrating any business, product or technology we acquire could be expensive and time-consuming, disrupt our ongoing business and distract our management. If we are unable to integrate any acquired businesses, products or technologies effectively, our business will be adversely affected. In addition, any amortization or charges resulting from the costs of acquisitions could increase our expenses.

Our future growth depends on our ability to retain members of our senior management and other key employees. If we are unable to retain or recruit qualified personnel for growth, our business results could suffer.

We have benefited substantially from the leadership and performance of our senior management as well as certain key employees. Our success will depend on our ability to retain our current management and key employees, and to attract and retain qualified personnel in the future. Competition for senior management and key employees in our industry is intense, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to retain our personnel or attract new, qualified personnel. The loss of services of certain members of our senior management or key employees could prevent or delay the implementation and completion of our strategic objectives, or divert management’s attention to seeking qualified replacements. Each member of senior management as well as our key employees may terminate employment without notice and without cause or good reason. The members of our senior management are not subject to non-competition agreements. Accordingly, the adverse effect resulting from the loss of certain members of senior management could be compounded by our inability to prevent them from competing with us.

In addition to competing for market share for our products, we also compete against our competitors for personnel, including qualified sales representatives that are necessary to grow our business. Universities and research institutions also compete with us for scientific personnel that are important to our R&D efforts. We also rely on consultants and advisors in our research, operations, clinical and commercial efforts to implement our business strategies. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. Our strategic plan requires us to continue growing our sales, marketing, clinical and operational infrastructure in order to generate, and meet, the demand for our products. If we fail to retain or attract these key personnel, we could fail to take advantage of the market for our products, adversely affecting our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Failure to protect our information technology infrastructure against cyber-based attacks, network security breaches, service interruptions or data corruption could materially disrupt our operations and adversely affect our business and operating results.

The efficient operation of our business depends on our information technology systems. We rely on our information technology systems to effectively manage sales and marketing data, accounting and financial functions, inventory management, product development tasks, clinical data, customer service and technical support functions. Our information technology systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural disasters, terrorist attacks, power losses, computer system or data network failures, security breaches, data corruption and cyber-based attacks, including malicious software programs or other attacks, which have been

attempted against us in the past. In addition, a variety of our software systems are cloud-based data management applications, hosted by third-party service providers whose security and information technology systems are subject to similar risks.

The failure to protect either our or our service providers’ information technology infrastructure could disrupt our entire operation or result in decreased sales and leases of our products, increased overhead costs, product shortages, loss or misuse of proprietary or confidential information, intellectual property or sensitive or personal information, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to comply with data privacy and security laws could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our business processes personal data, including some data related to health. When conducting clinical trials, we face risks associated with collecting trial participants’ data, especially health data, in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations. We also face risks inherent in handling large volumes of data and in protecting the security of such data. We could be subject to attacks on our systems by outside parties or fraudulent or inappropriate behavior by our service providers or employees. Third parties may also gain access to users’ accounts using stolen or inferred credentials, computer malware, viruses, spamming, phishing attacks or other means, and may use such access to obtain users’ personal data or prevent use of their accounts. Data breaches could result in a violation of applicable U.S. and international privacy, data protection and other laws, and subject us to individual or consumer class action litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings by federal, state and local regulatory entities in the United States and by international regulatory entities, resulting in exposure to material civil or criminal liability, or both. Further, our general liability insurance and corporate risk program may not cover all potential claims to which we are exposed and may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed.

We may be subject to state, federal and foreign laws relating to data privacy and security in the conduct of our business, including state breach notification laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, and the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA. These laws affect how we collect and use data of our employees, consultants, customers and other parties. Additionally, we are subject to laws and regulations regarding cross-border transfers of personal data, including laws relating to transfer of personal data outside of the EEA GDPR applies to the EEA. We rely on transfer mechanisms permitted under these laws, including EU Standard Contract Clauses. If we cannot rely on existing mechanisms for transferring personal data from the EEA, the United Kingdom, or UK, or other jurisdictions, we could be prevented from transferring personal data of users or employees in those regions. This could adversely affect the manner in which we provide our services and thus materially affect our operations and financial results.

Furthermore, these laws impose substantial requirements that require the expenditure of significant funds and employee time to comply, and additional states and countries are enacting new data privacy and security laws, which will require future expansion of our compliance efforts. We also rely on third parties to host or otherwise process some of this data. In some instances, these third parties have experienced immaterial failures to protect data privacy. Any failure by a third party to prevent security breaches could have adverse consequences for us. We will need to expend additional resources and make significant investments to comply with data privacy and security laws. Our failure to comply with these laws or prevent security breaches of such data could result in significant liability under applicable laws, cause disruption to our business, harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business.

Performance issues, service interruptions or price increases by our shipping carriers could adversely affect our business and harm our reputation and ability to provide our products on a timely basis.

Reliable shipping is essential to our operations. We rely on providers of transport services for reliable and secure point-to-point transport of our products to our customers and for tracking of these shipments. Should a carrier encounter delivery performance issues such as loss, damage or destruction of any of our products, it would be costly to replace such products in a timely manner and such occurrences may damage our reputation and lead to decreased demand for our products and increased cost and expense to our business. In addition, any significant increase in shipping rates could adversely affect our operating margins and results of operations. Similarly, strikes, severe weather, natural disasters or other service interruptions affecting delivery services we use would adversely affect our ability to deliver our products (or any other products we commercialize in the future) on a timely basis.

Intangible assets on our books may lead to significant impairment charges.

We carry a significant amount of intangible assets on our balance sheet, partially due to the value of the LENSAR brand name, but also intangible assets associated with our technologies, acquired research and development, currently marketed products, and marketing know-how. As a result, we may incur significant impairment charges if the fair value of the intangible assets would be less than their carrying value on our balance sheet at any point in time.

We regularly review our long-lived intangible and tangible assets, including identifiable intangible assets, for impairment. Intangible assets with an indefinite useful life (such as the LENSAR brand name), acquired research projects not ready for use, and acquired development projects not yet ready for use are subject to impairment review. We review other long-lived assets for impairment when there is an indication that an impairment may have occurred.

Our historical financial information may not be representative of the results we would have achieved as a stand-alone public company during the periods presented and may not be a reliable indicator of our future results.

Our historical financial information included in this Annual Report may not necessarily reflect what our financial position, results of operations or cash flows would have been had we been an independent entity during the periods presented or those that we will achieve in the future. The costs and expenses reflected in our historical financial data include an allocation for certain corporate functions historically provided by PDL, including shared services and infrastructure provided by PDL to us, such as costs of information technology, accounting, tax and legal services, and other corporate and infrastructure services that may be different from the comparable expenses that we would have incurred had we operated as a stand-alone company. Our historical financial information does not reflect changes that will occur in our cost structure and operations as a result of our transition to becoming a stand-alone public company, including changes in our employee base, potential increased costs associated with reduced economies of scale and increased costs associated with SEC reporting and requirements. Accordingly, the historical financial information presented in this Annual Report should not be assumed to be indicative of what our financial condition or results of operations actually would have been as an independent, publicly traded company or to be a reliable indicator of what our financial condition or results of operations actually could be in the future.

We are subject to continuing contingent liabilities of PDL following the Spin-Off.

There are several significant areas where the liabilities of PDL may become our obligations. For example, under the Internal Revenue Code and the related rules and regulations, each corporation that was a member of the PDL consolidated U.S. federal income tax reporting group during any taxable period or portion of any taxable period ending on or before the effective time of the Distribution is jointly and severally liable for the U.S. federal income tax liability of the entire PDL consolidated tax reporting group for that taxable period. In addition, the Tax Matters Agreement with PDL allocates the responsibility for taxes between PDL and us. Pursuant to this allocation, we may be responsible for taxes that we would not have otherwise incurred, or that we would have incurred but in different amounts or at different times, on a standalone basis outside of the PDL consolidated group, and the amount of such taxes could be significant. However, if PDL is unable to pay any prior period taxes for which it is responsible, we could be required to pay the entire amount of such taxes.

Potential indemnification obligations to PDL pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement could materially and adversely affect us.

Among other things, the Separation and Distribution Agreement provides for indemnification obligations designed to make us financially responsible for substantially all of the liabilities that may exist relating to our business activities, whether incurred prior to or after the Spin-Off. If we are required to indemnify PDL under the circumstances set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, we may be subject to substantial liabilities.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

Our products and operations are subject to extensive government regulation and oversight both in the United States and abroad, and our failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business.

Our products are regulated as medical devices. We and our products are subject to extensive regulation in the United States and elsewhere, including by the FDA and its foreign counterparts. The FDA and foreign regulatory agencies regulate, among other things, with respect to medical devices: design, development and manufacturing; testing, labeling, content and language of instructions for use and storage; clinical trials; product safety; establishment registration and device listing; marketing, sales and distribution; pre-market clearance and approval; record keeping procedures; advertising and promotion; recalls and field safety corrective actions; post-market surveillance, including reporting of deaths or serious injuries and malfunctions that, if they were to recur, could lead to death or serious injury; post-market approval studies; and product import and export.

The regulations to which we are subject are complex and have tended to become more stringent over time. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales. The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities enforce these regulatory requirements through, among other means, periodic unannounced inspections. We do not know whether we will be found compliant in connection with any future FDA (or foreign regulatory authorities) inspections. Failure to comply with applicable regulations could jeopardize our ability to sell our products and result in enforcement actions such as: warning letters; fines; injunctions; civil penalties; termination of distribution; recalls or seizures of products; delays in the introduction of products into the market; total or partial suspension of production; refusal to grant future clearances or approvals; withdrawals or suspensions of current approvals, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products; and in the most serious cases, criminal penalties.

We may not receive, or may be delayed in receiving, the necessary clearances, certifications or approvals for our future products, including our ALLY Adaptive Cataract Treatment System, or modifications to our current products, and failure to timely obtain necessary clearances, certifications or approvals for our ALLY system and future products or modifications to our current products would adversely affect our ability to grow our business.

In the United States, before we can market a new medical device, or a new use of, new claim for or significant modification to an existing product, we must first receive either clearance under Section 510(k) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or the FDCA, or approval of a pre-market approval application, or PMA, from the FDA, unless an exemption applies. In the 510(k) clearance process, before a device may be marketed, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a legally-marketed “predicate” device, which includes a device that has been previously cleared through the 510(k) process, a device that was legally marketed prior to May 28, 1976 (pre-amendments device), a device that was originally on the U.S. market pursuant to an approved PMA and later down-classified, or a 510(k)-exempt device. To be “substantially equivalent,” the proposed device must have the same intended use as the predicate device, and either have the same technological characteristics as the predicate device or have different technological characteristics and not raise different questions of safety or effectiveness than the predicate device. Clinical data are sometimes required to support substantial equivalence. In the process of obtaining PMA approval, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is safe and effective for its intended use based, in part, on extensive data, including, but not limited to, technical, pre-clinical, clinical trial, manufacturing and labeling data. The PMA process is typically required for devices that are deemed to pose the greatest risk, such as life-sustaining, life-supporting or implantable devices. To date, our products have received marketing authorization pursuant to the 510(k) clearance process.

Modifications to products that are approved through a PMA application generally require FDA approval. Similarly, certain modifications made to products cleared through a 510(k) may require a new 510(k) clearance. Both the PMA approval and the 510(k) clearance process can be expensive, lengthy and uncertain. The FDA’s 510(k) clearance process usually takes from three to 12 months, but can last longer. The process of obtaining a PMA is much more costly and uncertain than the 510(k) clearance process and generally takes from one to three years, or even longer, from the time the application is filed with the FDA. In addition, a PMA generally requires the performance of one or more clinical trials. Despite the time, effort and cost, a device may not be approved or cleared by the FDA. Any delay or failure to obtain necessary regulatory clearances or approvals could harm our business. Furthermore, even if we are granted regulatory clearances or approvals, they may include significant limitations on the indicated uses for the device, which may limit the market for the device.

In the United States, we have obtained clearance of our LENSAR Laser System through the 510(k) clearance process. Any modification to these systems that has not been previously cleared may require us to submit a new 510(k) premarket notification and obtain clearance, or submit a PMA and obtain FDA approval prior to implementing the change. Specifically, any modification to a 510(k)-cleared device that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change in its intended use, design or manufacture, requires a new 510(k) clearance or, possibly, approval of a PMA. The FDA requires every manufacturer to make this determination in the first instance, but the FDA may review any manufacturer’s decision. The FDA may not agree with our decisions regarding whether new clearances or approvals are necessary. We have made modifications to 510(k)-cleared products in the past and have determined based on our review of the applicable FDA regulations and guidance that in certain instances new 510(k) clearances or PMA approvals were not required. We may make modifications or add additional features in the future that we believe do not require a new 510(k) clearance or approval of a PMA. If the FDA disagrees with our determination and requires us to submit new 510(k) notifications or PMA applications for modifications to our previously cleared products for which we have concluded that new clearances or approvals are unnecessary, we may be required to cease marketing or to recall the modified product until we obtain clearance or approval, and we may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties. If the FDA requires us to go through a lengthier, more rigorous examination for future products or modifications to existing products than we had expected, product introductions or modifications could be delayed or canceled, which could adversely affect our ability to grow our business.

The FDA has accepted our 510(k) submission of the ALLY for substantive review. This submission is the first stage of a planned, two step commercial release strategy. If this submission is cleared by the FDA, ALLY will launch as a next generation femtosecond laser. Subject to FDA clearance, we expect to begin commercialization of ALLY in the second half of 2022. We anticipate the launch will be followed by an additional 510(k) application seeking clearance for the phacoemulsification features within the integrated and combined ALLY system later in 2022. We have entered into a development agreement with Oertli pursuant to which we are collaborating on the phacoemulsification component in our ALLY system. We will begin commercialization of ALLY in a controlled launch and ALLY will have the phacoemulsification features integrated as part of the system; however, these features will not be activated for use until we receive FDA clearance on these aspects of the combined system from our planned second 510(k) submission to occur late in 2022. Our ability to receive 510(k) clearance on a timely basis, if at all, for the phacoemulsification features of our ALLY system is subject to our partner, Oertli, successfully receiving 510(k) clearance for their phacoemulsification device. If Oertli is unsuccessful in obtaining clearance on its projected timelines, or at all, we could be delayed in our submission for 510(k) clearance for the phacoemulsification features of our ALLY system, and/or we may be required to find an alternative component from a different third party to replace the component Oertli is developing. We may be unable to identify a replacement supplier, and even if we are, the use of a third party component could require additional data or other activities that could increase our costs or delay our projected timing. If any of these events were to occur, we could be materially delayed in our efforts to seek 510(k) clearance of all features of our ALLY system. Even if Oertli obtains clearance for the phacoemulsification device, the FDA has significant discretion in the 510(k) clearance process, and we cannot guarantee that we will obtain clearance of our ALLY system as proposed.

LNSR US Equity

LNSR · 10-K · period ended 2021-12-31

Item 1. Business.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

LNSR US Equity☆

LNSR · 10-K · period ended 2021-12-31

Item 1. Business.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

LNSR US Equity