Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following factors may affect the growth and profitability of Milestone Scientific and should be considered by any prospective purchaser or current holder of our securities. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks.
We have a history of operating losses that are expected to continue, and we are unable to predict the extent of future losses, whether we will generate significant revenues or whether we will achieve or sustain profitability.
We are a small, non-diversified medical device company with a history of limited revenue and significant operating losses and our prospects must be evaluated considering the uncertainties, risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by similarly situated companies. With only one exception (i.e., 2013), we have generated net losses in all periods since the commencement of our operations, including operating losses of approximately $7.4 million and $7.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Overall, at December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $100.9 million. We expect to make substantial expenditures and incur increasing operating costs in the future and our accumulated deficit will increase significantly as we undertake to commercialize our CompuFlo Epidural System. Our losses have had, and are expected to continue to have, an adverse impact on our working capital, total assets, and stockholders' equity. Because of the risks and uncertainties associated with product acceptance, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses, whether we will ever generate significant revenues or if we will ever achieve or sustain profitability.
The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting the Company’s business currently. Additional factors could exacerbate such negative consequences and/or cause other materially adverse effects.
The COVID-19 pandemic did materially adversely affect the Company’s financial results and business operations in theCompany’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, while economic and health conditions in the United States and across most of the globe have continued to change rapidly since the end of the year. In the short-term, demand for the Company’s dental products is showing an increase in sell through activity to dental offices. However the change in demand may or may not continue and/or demand may or may not increase from historical levels depending on the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the length of time it takes for normal economic and operating conditions to resume, additional governmental actions that may be taken and/or extensions of time for restrictions that have been imposed to date, and numerous other uncertainties. Such events may result in business and manufacturing disruption, inventory shortages, delivery delays, and reduced sales and operations, any of which could materially affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The ability of the Company’s employees to work may be significantly impacted by the coronavirus.
The Company’s employees are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of our office and management personnel are working remotely. The health of the Company’s workforce is of primary concern and the Company may need to enact further precautionary measures to help minimize the risk of our employees being exposed to the coronavirus. Further, our management team is focused on mitigating the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has required and will continue to require a large investment of time and resources across the entire Company, thereby diverting their attention from other priorities that existed prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. If these conditions worsen, or last for an extended period of time, the Company’s ability to manage its business may be impaired, and operational risks, cybersecurity risks and other risks facing the Company even prior to the pandemic may be elevated. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the Company’s customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners, but the Company is not able to assess the full extent of the current impact nor predict the ultimate consequences that will result therefrom.
The full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the Company’s operations in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 and may continue to do so for the rest of 2021. All of these factors may have far reaching impacts on the Company’s business, operations, and financial results and conditions, directly and indirectly, including without limitation impacts on the health of the Company’s management and employees, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and sales operations, customer, and consumer behaviors, and on the overall economy. The scope and nature of these impacts, most of which are beyond the Company’s control, continue to evolve and the outcomes are uncertain. Management cannot predict the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s sales channels, supply chain, manufacturing, and distribution nor to economic conditions generally. The ultimate extent of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company is highly uncertain and will depend on future developments, and such effects could exist for an extended period of time even after the pandemic might end.
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We require additional funding and may be unable to raise capital when needed, which may force us to delay, curtail or eliminate commercialization efforts of our CompuFlo Epidural Computer Controlled Anesthesia System.
Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, net cash flow used in operations was approximately $6.9 million and approximately $1.8 million, respectively. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts on commercialization and marketing activities, including the continued commercialization and marketing of our FDA-approved CompuFlo Epidural Computer Controlled Anesthesia System. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate a sufficient amount of product revenue and achieve profitability, we expect to seek to finance future cash needs through equity financings or corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements, and the sale of non-medical assets.
Raising additional capital by issuing securities or through licensing or lending arrangements may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish proprietary rights.
To the extent that we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, the share ownership of existing stockholders will be diluted. Any future debt financing may involve covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, redeem our stock, make certain investments, and engage in certain merger, consolidation, or asset sale transactions, among other restrictions. In addition, if we raise additional funds through licensing arrangements or the disposition of any of our assets, it may be necessary to relinquish potentially valuable rights to our product candidates or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
Business interruptions, including any interruptions resulting from COVID-19, could significantly disrupt our operations and could have a material adverse impact on our business.
Business interruptions, including any interruptions resulting from COVID-19, could significantly disrupt our operations and could have a material adverse impact on our business. All of our employees are located in the U.S. In addition to our employees, we rely on (i) distributors, agents, and third-party logistics providers in connection with product sales and distribution and (ii) raw material and component suppliers in the U.S., Europe, and China. If we, or any of these third-party partners encounter any disruptions to our or their respective operations or facilities, or if we or any of these third-party partners were to shut down for any reason, including by fire, natural disaster, such as a hurricane, tornado or severe storm, power outage, systems failure, labor dispute, pandemic, or other unforeseen disruption, then we or they may be prevented or delayed from effectively operating our or their business, respectively.
Relying exclusively on third parties to manufacture our products, changes in our informal manufacturing arrangements made by the manufacturer of our products and disruptions at the manufacturing facility of our manufacturers and failure to maintain existing supply relationships exposes us to risks that may harm our business.
We have limited internal experience in manufacturing operations and have not historically established our own manufacturing facilities. We currently lack the internal resources to manufacture any of our products, including our CompuFlo® Epidural Computer Controlled Anesthesia System.
Milestone Scientific has been supplied by the manufacturer of the Wand/STA System and its predecessor, the CompuDent System, since the commencement of production in 1998, and by the manufacturer of its handpieces since 2003. The manufacturer of our handpieces is in the People’s Republic of China and the manufacturer of the Wand/STA System is in the United States. At present, we have an informal arrangement with certain manufacturers of our products. We have one manufacturer of the handpieces for our devices which is under a long-term contract. We have a single manufacturer manufacturing our devices. Our current arrangement with our manufacturers is on a purchase order by purchase order basis. As a result, we do not have price protection or a supply commitment for our devices or handpieces. If either manufacturer insists on a material change in terms or determines to discontinue manufacture of our products, it could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operation.
An operational disruption in the facility of the manufacturer of or their ability to ship our handpieces or devices could negatively impact our financial results. The occurrence of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, tropical storm, earthquake, tornado, severe weather, flood, fire, or epidemic, pandemic, or other health emergency, or other unanticipated problems such as labor difficulties, equipment failure or unscheduled maintenance, in each case could cause operational disruptions of varied duration.
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These types of disruptions could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations to varying degrees dependent upon the facility, the duration of the disruption, our ability to shift business to another facility or find alternative sources of supply. Any losses due to these events may not be covered by our existing insurance policies or may be subject to certain deductibles. Given our current manufacturing relationships, it is possible that our manufacturing requirements may exceed the available supply allotments under our existing agreements. Our anticipated future reliance on third-party manufacturers exposes us to the following additional risks:
We may be unable to identify manufacturers on acceptable terms or at all because the number of potential manufacturers is limited, and the FDA must approve any replacement contractor. This approval would require new testing and compliance inspections. In addition, a new manufacturer would have to develop substantially equivalent processes for production of our products.
Though other alternate sources of supply for dental handpieces exist, Milestone Scientific would need to establish relationships with new suppliers, and with respect to the Wand/STA System recover its existing tools or have new tools produced and “burn in” and other manufacturing and quality control software re-produced. Establishing new manufacturing relationships could involve significant expense and delay.
Each of these risks could delay the commercialization of our CompuFlo Epidural Computer Controlled Anesthesia System, limit our available supply of The Wand/ STA for dental applications, cause damage to our reputation, result in higher costs and/or deprive us of potential product revenues. Any curtailment or interruptions of the supply, whether as a result of termination of the relationship or otherwise, would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, business, and results of operations.
Our business is exposed to risks associated with the economic, environmental, and political conditions in China because the sole manufacturer of our handpieces is located in China.
Because the sole manufacturer of our dental handpieces is located is located in China, our business is disproportionately exposed to the economic, environmental, and political conditions of the region. China’s political and economic systems are very different from most developed countries in many respects, including, the amount of government involvement, the level of development, the control of foreign exchange and the allocation of resources. Uncertainties may arise with changing governmental policies and measures. China also faces many social, economic, and political challenges that may produce instabilities in both its domestic arena and in its relationship with other countries.
Risks related to Human Capital Management
We may not be able to attract and retain qualified employees.
Our future success depends upon the continued service of our executive officers and other key management and technical personnel, and on our ability to continue to identify, attract, retain, and motivate them. Implementing our business strategy requires specialized territory managers and other talent, as our revenues are highly dependent on technological and product innovations. The market for employees in our industry is extremely competitive, and competitors for talent. A number of such competitors for talent are significantly larger than us and are able to offer compensation in excess of what we are able to offer. Further, existing immigration laws make it more difficult for us to recruit and retain highly skilled foreign national graduates of universities in the United States, making the pool of available talent even smaller. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified employees, our business may be harmed.
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These instabilities may significantly and adversely affect our supply of dental handpieces which would in turn adversely affect our financial performance. In addition, as the Chinese legal system develops, there can be no assurance that changes in laws and regulations and their interpretation or their enforcement will not have a material adverse effect on our business relationship with the sole manufacturer of our dental handpieces. Any adverse change in the economic, environmental and political conditions in China could have a material adverse effect on economic growth and the level of investments and availability of capital in China, which in turn could lead to a reduction in the supply of our dental handpieces and consequently have a material adverse effect on our businesses.
Issues with product quality could have a material adverse effect upon our business, subject us to regulatory actions and cause a loss of customer confidence in us or our products.
In general, our success depends upon the quality of our products. Quality management plays an essential role in meeting customer requirements, preventing defects, improving our products and services, and assuring the safety and efficacy of our products. Our future success depends on our ability to maintain and continuously improve our quality management program. A quality or safety issue may result in adverse inspection reports, warning letters, product recalls or seizures, monetary sanctions, injunctions to halt manufacture and distribution of products, civil or criminal sanctions, costly litigation, refusal of a government to grant approvals and licenses, restrictions on operations or withdrawal of existing approvals and licenses. An inability to address a quality or safety issue in an effective and timely manner may also cause negative publicity, a loss of customer confidence in us or our current or future products, which may result in the loss of sales and difficulty in successfully launching new products.
If physicians do not accept nor use our CompuFlo Epidural System, our ability to generate revenue from sales will be materially impaired.
Although the FDA has cleared our application to begin marketing the CompuFlo Epidural System, this is no assurance that physicians, hospitals, clinics, and other health care providers will accept and use it. Acceptance and use of the CompuFlo Epidural System will depend on many factors including:
● cost-effectiveness of our product relative to competing products and systems;
● patient satisfaction;
Because we expect sales of the CompuFlo Epidural Computer Controlled Anesthesia System to generate substantially all our medical product revenues in the near-term, the failure of this product to find market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing or make such financing difficult to obtain on favorable terms, if at all.
Developments by competitors may render our products or technologies obsolete or non-competitive.
The medical device industry is intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. We expect that other companies (or individuals), whether located in the United States or abroad, will pursue the development of alternative injection-based or imaging-based systems that will compete with our products. Many of these potential competitors have substantially greater capital resources, larger research and development staffs and facilities, longer product development history in obtaining regulatory approvals and greater manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we do. These companies also compete with us to attract qualified personnel and parties for acquisitions, joint ventures, or other collaborations. As a result, we may not be able to compete effectively against these companies or their products.
Developments by competitors may render our products or technologies obsolete or non-competitive.
The medical device industry is intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. We expect that other companies (or individuals), whether located in the United States or abroad, will pursue the development of alternative injection-based or imaging-based systems that will compete with our products.
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Many of these potential competitors have substantially greater capital resources, larger research and development staffs and facilities, longer product development history in obtaining regulatory approvals and greater manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we do. These companies also compete with us to attract qualified personnel and parties for acquisitions, joint ventures, or other collaborations. As a result, we may not be able to compete effectively against these companies or their products.
If we are unable to adequately protect our patents, trade secrets and other proprietary rights, if our patents are challenged or if our provisional patent applications do not get approved, our competitiveness and business prospects may be materially damaged.
Intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, confidential information, trademarks, trade names and trade address, are important to our business. We will endeavor to protect our intellectual property rights in key jurisdictions in which our products are produced or used and in jurisdictions into which our products are imported. Our success will depend to a significant degree upon our ability to protect and preserve our intellectual property rights. However, we may be unable to obtain or maintain protection for our intellectual property in key jurisdictions.
Although we own and have applied for patents and trademarks throughout the world, we may have to rely on judicial enforcement of our patents and other proprietary rights. Our patents and other intellectual property rights may be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, and rendered unenforceable or otherwise compromised. A failure to protect, defend or enforce our intellectual property could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, third parties may assert claims against us and our customers and distributors alleging our products infringe upon third party intellectual property rights.
We believe that the intellectual property underlying our products is a competitive advantage. We rely on a combination of patent rights, trade secrets and nondisclosure and non-competition agreements to protect our proprietary intellectual property, and we will continue to do so. There can be no assurance that our patents, trade secret policies and practices or other agreements will adequately protect our intellectual property. Our issued patents may be challenged, found to be over-broad or otherwise invalidated in subsequent proceedings before courts or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Even if enforceable, we cannot provide any assurances that they will provide significant protection from competition. The processes, systems, and/or security measures we use to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies resulting from such breaches. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. There can be no assurance that the confidentiality, nondisclosure and non-competition agreements with employees, consultants and other parties with access to our proprietary information to protect our trade secrets, proprietary technology, processes and other proprietary rights, or any other security measures relating to such trade secrets, proprietary technology, processes and proprietary rights, will be adequate, will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information or that third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or proprietary knowledge. To the extent that our consultants, contractors, or collaborators use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.
If we must take legal action to protect, defend or enforce our intellectual property rights, any suits or proceedings could result in significant costs and diversion of our resources and our management’s attention, and we may not prevail in any such suits or proceedings. A failure to protect, defend or enforce our intellectual property rights could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We could lose our market advantage earlier than expected.
We believe that our products represent a significant improvement over any existing drug delivery injection system in use today. However, this competitive advantage can evaporate quickly if we are not able to commercialize our products quickly. In the medical device industry, the majority of an innovative product’s commercial value is realized during the early stages of commercialization, before competing products are developed. Our market advantage is based, in part, on patent rights and the need for new competing products and systems to obtain regulatory approval before they can be commercialized. The scope of our patent rights may be limited and may also depend on the availability of meaningful legal remedies.
Our failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights, through patents or otherwise, or limitations on the use or loss of such rights, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent the commercialization of competing anesthetic delivery systems. In some countries, basic patent protections for our products may not exist because certain countries did not historically offer the right to obtain specific types of patents and/or we (or our licensors) did not file in those markets. In addition, the patent environment can be unpredictable, and the validity and enforceability of patents cannot be predicted with certainty.
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Third parties could obtain patents that may require us to negotiate licenses to commercialize our technologies, and we cannot assure you that the required licenses would be available on reasonable terms or at all.
Third parties may claim that one or more aspects of our technologies or products may infringe on their intellectual property rights.
Our computer-controlled anesthesia systems are complex systems and numerous U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications owned by third parties exist in fields that relate to the development and commercialization of drug delivery systems. In addition, many companies have employed intellectual property litigation as a strategy to gain a competitive advantage. It is possible that infringement claims may occur as the number of products and competitors in our market increases. In addition, to the extent that we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company, we face a greater risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement claims. We cannot be certain that the conduct of our business does not and will not infringe intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions. If any of our computer-controlled anesthesia systems are found to infringe third party patent rights, we could be prohibited from manufacturing and commercializing the infringing technology unless we obtain a license under the applicable third-party patent and pay royalties or are able to design around such patent.
We may be unable to obtain a license on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and we may not be able to redesign the system to avoid infringement. Even if we can redesign our products or processes to avoid an infringement claim, our efforts to design around the patent could require significant time, effort and expense and ultimately may lead to an inferior or costlier product. Any claim of infringement by a third party, even those without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim and could distract our management from our business. Furthermore, if any such claim is successful, a court could order us to pay substantial damages, including compensatory damages for any infringement, plus prejudgment interest and could, in certain circumstances, treble the compensatory damages and award attorney fees. These damages could be substantial and could harm our reputation, business, financial condition, and operating results. A court also could enter orders that temporarily, preliminary, or permanently prohibit us, our licensees, if any, and our customers from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing one or more of our products or using our proprietary technologies or processes, or could enter an order mandating that we undertake certain remedial activities. Any of these events could seriously harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.
We are exposed to the risks inherent in international manufacturing, sales, and operations.
In 2020, export sales outside of the United States made up approximately 60% of our total sales, and we sell our products to customers in approximately 40 countries and US territories. We have exposure to risks of operating in many foreign countries, including:
● unexpected changes in political or regulatory environments;
● political and economic instability;
● import and export restrictions and other trade barriers; and
● difficulties in obtaining approval for significant transactions.
Continued instability in the credit and financial markets may negatively impact our ability to commercialize our products.
Financial markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia continue to experience disruption, including, among other things, significant volatility in security prices, declining valuations of certain investments, as well as severely diminished liquidity and credit availability. Business activity across a wide range of industries and regions continues to be reduced. As a small medical device company, we rely on third parties for several important aspects of our business, including contract manufacturing of products, distribution of our products and sales and marketing. These third parties may be unable to satisfy their commitments to us due to tightening of global credit from time to time, which would adversely affect our business. The continued volatility in the credit and financial market conditions may also negatively impact our ability to access capital and credit markets and our ability to manage our cash balance. While we are unable to predict the continued duration and severity of any adverse conditions in the United States and other countries, any of the circumstances mentioned above could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flow or cash position.
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Our ability to commercialize our products will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement will be available from governmental agencies, health administration authorities, private health maintenance organizations and health insurers and other healthcare payers.
Our ability to generate revenues from our products will be diminished if the products sell for inadequate prices or hospitals or physicians are unable to obtain adequate levels of reimbursement for the cost they incur in connection with the use of the product. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved healthcare products. Healthcare payers, including Medicare, are challenging the prices charged for medical products and services. Government and other healthcare payers increasingly attempt to contain healthcare costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement for products. Insurance coverage may not be available, or reimbursement levels may be inadequate, to cover the charges for the use of such product. If government and other healthcare payers do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement for any of our products, market acceptance of such product could be reduced. Prices in many countries, including many in Europe, are subject to local regulation and price controls. In the United States, where pricing levels for medical products, procedures and services are substantially established by third-party payors, including Medicare, if payors reduce the amount of reimbursement for a product, it may cause groups or individuals dispensing the product to discontinue use of the product, to substitute lower cost products even if the alternatives are less effective or to seek additional price-related concessions. These actions could have a negative effect on our financial results. The existence of direct and indirect price controls and pressures on our products could materially adversely affect our financial prospects and performance.
We are subject to substantial domestic and international government regulation, including regulatory quality standards applicable to our manufacturing and quality processes. Failure by us to comply with these standards could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
The FDA regulates the approval, manufacturing and sales and marketing of many of our products in the United States. Significant government regulation also exists in other countries in which we conduct business. As a device manufacturer, we are required to register with the FDA and are subject to periodic inspection by the FDA for compliance with the FDA’s Quality System Regulation requirements, which require manufacturers of medical devices to adhere to certain regulations, including testing, quality control and documentation procedures. In addition, the federal Medical Device Reporting regulations require us to provide information to the FDA whenever there is evidence that reasonably suggests that a device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or, if a malfunction were to occur, could cause or contribute to a death or serious injury. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements is subject to continual review and is rigorously monitored through periodic inspections by the FDA.
In the European community, we are required to maintain certain ISO certifications to sell our products and must undergo periodic inspections by notified bodies to obtain and maintain these certifications. Failure to comply with current governmental regulations and quality assurance guidelines could lead to temporary manufacturing shutdowns, product recalls or related field actions, product shortages or delays in product manufacturing. Efficacy or safety concerns, an increase in trends of adverse events in the marketplace, and/or manufacturing quality issues with respect to our products could lead to product recalls or related field actions, withdrawals, and/or declining sales.
We may be subject, directly, or indirectly, to U.S. federal and state health care fraud and abuse and false claims laws and regulations. Prosecutions under such laws have increased in recent years and we may become subject to such litigation. If we are unable to comply or have not fully complied with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.
Our operations are and will continue to be directly, or indirectly through our distributors, customers, and health care professionals, subject to various U.S. federal and state fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, federal False Claims Act, and the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act of 1977 (“FCPA”). These laws may impact, among other things, our proposed sales, and marketing and education programs. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving, or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing or arranging for a good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal health care program such as Medicare or Medicaid. Several courts have interpreted the statute’s intent requirement to mean that if any one purpose of an arrangement involving remuneration is to induce referrals of federal health care covered business, the statute has been violated. The Anti-Kickback Statute is broad and, despite a series of narrow safe harbors, prohibits many arrangements and practices that are lawful in businesses outside of the health care industry. Penalties for violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute include criminal penalties and civil and administrative sanctions such as fines, imprisonment, and possible exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs. An alleged violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute may be used as a predicate offense to establish liability pursuant to other federal laws and regulations such as the federal False Claims Act. Many states have also adopted laws like the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, some of which apply to the referral of patients for health care items or services reimbursed by any source, not only the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
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The federal False Claims Act prohibits persons from knowingly filing, or causing to be filed, a false claim to, or the knowing use of false statements to obtain payment from, the federal government. Suits filed under the False Claims Act, known as “qui tam” actions, can be brought by any individual on behalf of the government and such individuals, commonly known as “relators” or “whistleblowers,” may share in any amounts paid by the entity to the government in fines or settlement. The frequency of filing qui tam actions has increased significantly in recent years, causing greater numbers of medical device, pharmaceutical and health care companies to have to defend False Claim Act actions. The Affordable Care Act includes provisions expanding the ability of certain relators to bring actions that would have been previously dismissed under prior law. When an entity is determined to have violated the federal False Claims Act, it may be required to pay up to three times the actual damages sustained by the government, plus civil penalties for each separate false claim. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 encouraged states to enact or modify their state false claims act to be at least as effective as the federal False Claims Act by granting states a portion of any federal Medicaid funds recovered through Medicaid-related actions. Most states have enacted state false claims laws, and many of those states included laws with qui tam provisions.
The Affordable Care Act includes provisions known as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (section 6002), which require manufacturers of drugs, biologics, devices, and medical supplies covered under Medicare and Medicaid to disclose to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services any transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. Manufacturers must also disclose investment interests held by physicians and their family members. Failure to submit the required information may result in civil monetary penalties of up to $1 million per year for knowing violations and may result in liability under other federal laws or regulations.
Similar reporting requirements have also been enacted on the state level in the United States, and an increasing number of countries worldwide either have adopted or are considering similar laws requiring transparency of interactions with health care professionals. In addition, some states, such as Massachusetts and Vermont, impose an outright ban on certain gifts to physicians. These laws could affect our promotional activities by limiting the kinds of interactions we could have with hospitals, physicians or other potential purchasers or users of our products. Both the disclosure laws and gift bans will impose administrative, cost and compliance burdens on us. If we are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above and other applicable state and federal fraud and abuse laws, we may be subject to penalties, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, or an administrative action of suspension or exclusion from government health care reimbursement programs and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.
In addition, we are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and other countries’ anti-corruption/anti-bribery regimes, such as the U.K. Bribery Act. The FCPA prohibits improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials for 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, results of operations and financial condition.
We may be subject to product liability claims that are not fully covered by insurance and that could put Milestone Scientific under financial strain.
Milestone Scientific could be subject to claims for personal injury from the alleged malfunction or misuse of the dental and medical products. While Milestone Scientific carries liability insurance that is believed to be adequate, there is no assurance that the insurance coverage will be sufficient to pay such claims should they be successful. A partially or completely uninsured claim, if successful and of significant magnitude, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Excessive returns under our Distribution and Supply Agreement with Henry Schein, Inc. could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Under our Distribution and Supply Agreement with Henry Schein, Henry Schein has a right to return our products for full credit against the purchase price paid by them under limited circumstances in accordance with such agreement, including but not limited to, returns due to shipment error by us or factory defect. Excessive returns during any calendar year could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Changes in laws and regulations over which we have no control can significantly affect our business and results of operations.
Any governmental entity that regulates our operations in the country in which they are located may enact new legislation or adopt new laws and regulations or policies at any time, and new judicial decisions may change the interpretation of existing legislation or regulations at any time in any of the countries in which our operations or projects are located. We have no control over any such changes. Any new laws or regulations governing our operations could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and prospects.
We rely on the continuing services of our Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director of Clinical Affairs.
We depend on the personal efforts and abilities of our Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director of Clinical Affairs. Milestone Scientific maintains a key man life insurance policy in the amount of $1,000,000 on the life of its Interim Chief Executive Officer. However, the loss of his services or the services of our Director of Clinical Affairs, on whom we maintain no insurance, could have a materially adverse effect on our business results of operations and prospects.
Milestone Scientific is effectively controlled by a limited number of stockholders.
Milestone Scientific’s principal stockholders, Leonard Osser, and Gian Domenico Trombetta beneficially own approximately 23% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, they can exercise substantial control over our affairs and corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including electing directors, selling all or substantially all our assets, merging with another entity, or amending our certificate of incorporation. This control could delay, deter, or prevent a change in control and could adversely affect the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for Milestone Scientific’s securities. In addition, because of the concentration of ownership of our shares of common stock, our stockholders may from time to time, observe instances where there may be less liquidity in the public markets for our securities.
Failure to implement effective internal controls required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in the Company’s reported financial information and have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires management of public companies to develop and implement internal controls over financial reporting and evaluate the effectiveness thereof. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual and interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Any failure to complete the Company’s assessment of its internal controls over financial reporting or to remediate any material weaknesses that management may identify could harm the Company’s operating results, cause the Company to fail to meet its reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in the Company’s financial statements. Inadequate disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in the Company’s public disclosures and reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
The market price of our common stock may be volatile and may fluctuate in a way that is disproportionate to our operating performance.
Our stock price may experience substantial volatility because of many factors, including:
● our failure to meet analysts’ expectations.
● sales or potential sales of substantial amounts of our common stock;
● the success of our strategy to commercialize our CompuFlo Epidural System;
● developments concerning our licensors or product manufacturers;
● conditions in the medical device industry;
● governmental regulation and legislation;
● variations in our anticipated or actual operating results; and
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Many of these factors are beyond our control. The stock markets in general, and the market for small, medical device companies have historically experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market and industry factors could reduce the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, or the perception that such sales may occur, may adversely impact the price of our common stock.
Almost all our 64,138,102 outstanding shares of common stock at December 31, 2020, as well as a substantial number of shares of our common stock underlying outstanding warrants, are available for sale in the public market, either freely or pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In addition, we have an effective S-3 registration statement on file with the SEC covering the sale by us of up to $30 million of securities, including common stock, preferred stock, debt, convertible debt, and warrants. In February 2019 we issued 6,282,400 shares and 1,570,600 warrants to purchase common shares under our S-3 registration statement. During 2019 the Company issued 639,375 shares associated the warrants issued in February 2019. Since the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company issued 675,000 shares of common stock for warrants exercised at $0.50 for proceeds of $337,500. Additionally, in a private placement we issued 714,286 restricted common shares and 178,571 warrants to purchase common stock. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, or the perception that such sales may occur, may adversely impact the price of our common stock. In the second quarter of 2020, the Company completed two public offerings. In April 2020, a Common Stock offering generating gross proceeds of approximately $5.1 million (5,420,000 common shares and 2,710,000 warrants). The combined price of the shares and warrants was $0.95 per share. The warrants are exercisable at a price of $1.20 per share and have an expiration of three (3) years from the issue date. In June 2020, the Company completed a second Common Stock offering generating gross proceeds of approximately $14.6 million (6,770,000 common shares and 3,749,000 warrants). The combined price of the shares and warrants was $2.15 per share. The warrants are exercisable at $2.60 and expire three (3) years from the issue date.
We have never paid and do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.
We have never paid cash dividends on any of our capital stock and we currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, the terms of existing and future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our by-laws and Delaware law might discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, our by-laws and Delaware law may have the effect of deterring unsolicited takeovers or delaying or preventing a change in control of our company or changes in our management, including transactions in which our stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current market prices. In addition, these provisions may limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests. These provisions include:
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In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder, generally a person which together with its affiliates owns, or within the last three years, has owned 15% of our voting stock, for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. The existence of the forgoing provisions and anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our Company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.
If we fail to adhere to the strict listing requirements of NYSE American, we may be subject to delisting. As a result, our stock price may decline, and our common stock may be de-listed. If our stock were no longer listed on NYSE American, the liquidity of our securities likely would be impaired.
Our common stock currently trades on the NYSE American under the symbol “MLSS”. If we fail to adhere to NYSE American's strict listing criteria, including with respect to stock price, our market capitalization and stockholders’ equity, our stock may be de-listed. This could potentially impair the liquidity of our securities not only in the number of shares that could be bought and sold at a given price, which may be depressed by the relative illiquidity, but also through delays in the timing of transactions and the potential reduction in media coverage. As a result, an investor might find it more difficult to dispose of our common stock. Any failure at any time to meet the continuing NYSE American listing requirements could have an adverse impact on the value of and trading activity in our common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Description of Property
The headquarters for Milestone Scientific are located at 425 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland, New Jersey 07068, and our telephone number is (973) 535-2717. In August 2019, the Company signed a seven (7) year lease in a facility in Roseland, New Jersey (the “Roseland Facility”). The Roseland Facility carries monthly lease payments of $9,275, commencing April 1, 2020. The Company is also responsible for electric charges equal to $2.00 per square foot, which is equal to $11,130 annually, payable in equal monthly installments of $928. The Company will also be required to pay its proportionate share of certain operating costs and property taxes applicable to the leased premises in excess of new base year amounts. A third-party distribution and logistics center in Pennsylvania handles shipping and order fulfillment on a month-to-month basis.
Milestone Scientific does not own or intend to invest in any real property. Milestone Scientific currently has no policy with respect to investments or interests in real estate, real estate mortgages or securities of, or interests in, persons primarily engaged in real estate activities.
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Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Milestone Scientific is not involved in any material litigation.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Common Equity, and Related Stockholder Matters and Small Business Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
On June 1, 2015, our common stock was listed on the NYSE American under the symbol “MLSS”. The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices of Milestone’s common stock for the periods presented.
Holders
As of March 31, 2021, we had approximately 102 stockholders of record of our common stock. We believe that we have approximately 5,411 beneficial owners of our common stock.
Dividends
The holders of common stock are entitled to receive such dividends as may be declared by Milestone Scientific’s Board of Directors. Milestone Scientific has not paid and does not expect to declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future.
Sales of Unregistered Securities
During the year ended December 31, 2020 the Company issued 481,685 shares of common stock in payment of $838,460 of consulting expenses incurred by the Company.
The foregoing shares were issued in reliance upon the exemptions from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), pursuant to Sections 4(a)(2), Section 4(a)(5) and/or Regulation D promulgated there-under. These securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under or exemption from the Act and any applicable state securities laws. A legend restricting resale, transfer, or other disposition of these shares other than in compliance with the Act was imprinted on the stock certificates evidencing such shares.
ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data
Milestone Scientific is a “smaller reporting company” as defined by Regulations S-K and as such, is not required to provide the information contained in this item pursuant to Regulation S-K.
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ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussions of the financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes to those statements included elsewhere in this annual report. Certain statements in this discussion and elsewhere in this report constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of section 21E of the Exchange Act, that involve risks and uncertainties. The actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. See "Risk Factors" elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
OVERVIEW
Our common stock was listed on the NYSE American on June 1, 2015 and trades under the symbol “MLSS”. We have developed a proprietary, computer-controlled anesthetic delivery instrument, using The Wand, a single use disposable handpiece. The instrument is marketed in dentistry under the trademark CompuDent®, and STA Single Tooth Anesthesia System and in medicine under the trademark CompuMed. CompuDent is suitable for all dental procedures that require local anesthetic. CompuMed is suitable for many medical procedures regularly performed in plastic surgery, hair restoration surgery, podiatry, colorectal surgery, dermatology, orthopedics, and several other disciplines. The dental instruments are sold in the United States, US territories, Canada, and in over 58 other countries abroad. In June 2017, the FDA approved our 510(k) applications for marketing clearance in the United States of our CompuFlo Epidural System. We are in the process of introductory meetings with medical device distributors within the United States and Europe. There have been 27 medical instruments sold in the United States through December 2020, and limited amounts sold internationally as of the reporting date. Certain of our medical instruments have obtained European CE mark approval and can be marketed and sold in most European countries.
Milestone Scientific remains focused on advancing efforts to achieve the following four primary objectives:
Wand STA Dental Instrument Growth
Since its market introduction in early 2007, the Wand/STA Instrument and prior C-CLAD products have been used to deliver over 66 million safe, effective, and comfortable injections. The instrument has also been favorably evaluated in numerous peer-reviewed, published clinical studies and associated articles. Moreover, there appears to be a growing consensus among users that the STA Instrument is proving to be a valuable and beneficial instrument that is positively impacting the practice of dentistry worldwide.
Global Distribution Network
Beginning January 1, 2016, Milestone Scientific entered into a non-exclusive distribution agreement with Henry Schein, Inc. (“Henry Schein”). In June 2016, that agreement was replaced with an exclusive distribution arrangement for our dental products for the United States and Canada with Henry Schein. Under this arrangement we have a semi-dedicated independent sales force visiting dentists.
In December 2020, the Henry Schein Exclusive Distribution Agreement was replaced with a non-exclusive distribution agreement in the USA and Canada. Beginning in January 2021, the Company began enrollment of new dental non-exclusive regional distributors throughout the USA and Canada. As of this report date the Company has signed non-exclusive distributor agreements with eight regional dental distributors.
On the global front, we have granted exclusive marketing and distribution rights for the Wand/STA Instrument to select dental suppliers in various international regions in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. They include FM Produkty Dla Stomatologii in Poland and Unident AB in the countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland.
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The following table shows a breakdown of Milestone Scientific’s product sales (net), domestically and internationally, by business segment product category:
Domestic: US Dental Medical Grand Total
International: Rest of World Dental Medical Grand Total
International: China Dental Medical Grand Total
Handpieces - - -
Domestic: US/Canada Dental Medical Grand Total
International: Rest of World Dental Medical Grand Total
International: China Dental Medical Grand Total
Accessories - - -
Current Product Platform
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See Item 1. Description of Business.
Summary of Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments andEstimates
The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, Milestone Scientific evaluates its estimates, including those related to accounts receivable, inventories, stock-based compensation, and contingencies. Milestone Scientific bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not clear from other sources. Actual results may differ from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
While significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note C to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report, Milestone Scientific believes that the following accounting policies and significant judgment and estimates are most critical in understanding and evaluating the reported financial results.
Principles of Consolidation
Milestone Scientific's discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of operations is based upon its consolidated financial statements that have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") and include the accounts of its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries including, Wand Dental, Milestone Advanced Cosmetic and Milestone Medical. All significant, intra-entity transactions and balances are eliminated in the consolidation.
Variable Interest Entities
A variable interest entity ("VIE") is an entity that either (i) has insufficient equity to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or (ii) has equity investors who lack the characteristics of a controlling financial interest. A VIE is consolidated by its primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary has both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE.
Because Milestone Scientific has a variable interest in Milestone China it considered the guidance in ASC 810, “Consolidation” as it relates to determining whether Milestone China is a VIE and, if so, identifying the primary beneficiary. Milestone Scientific would be considered the primary beneficiary of the VIE if it has both of the following characteristics:
In first quarter 2020, Milestone China and certain marketing affiliates entered into a plan to merge (the Transaction) into an affiliated manufacturing company, Anhui Maishida Medical Technology, Co. Ltd. (Anhui). Anhui will be the surviving entity after the merger and will have complete responsibility for sales, marketing, and distribution for the Company’s dental products in China. However, as of the filing date of this Quarterly Report, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the regulatory documentation for the planned merger has been placed in suspense since applicable government offices are still closed in China and Hong Kong. After completion of the Transaction, Milestone Scientific is expected to have an approximate 28.4% direct ownership in Anhui. Milestone China and certain marketing affiliates are expected to be dissolved upon completion of the merger and upon the required regulatory filings in China and Hong Kong.
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Milestone Scientific does not have the ability to control the activities that most significantly impact Milestone China's economics and, therefore, the power criterion has not been met. Management placed the most weight on the relationship and significance of activities of Milestone China to the CEO and a group of significant shareholders, including the Milestone China CEO, who has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of Milestone China. Management has concluded that Milestone Scientific is not the primary beneficiary under ASC 810. Accordingly, Milestone China has not been consolidated into the financial statements of Milestone Scientific and continues to be accounted for under the equity method. See Note F.
Assessment of our Ability to Continue as a Going Concern
In accordance with Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern”, the Company continually evaluates whether there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the consolidated financial statements are issued. Milestone Scientific has incurred operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities in virtually each year since its inception.
In the second quarter of 2020, the Company was successful in raising approximately $19.7 million in public offerings. Based on the expected cash needed for operating activities, the Company’s current cash and liquidity is sufficient to finance the operating requirements for at least the next 12 months from the filing date of this annual report.
Other Uncertainties
The coronavirus (COVID-19) that was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and that has now spread to other countries throughout the world has adversely impact our operations and those of our third-party partners. As a result of the reduced hours and closings of dental offices throughout the country and the rest of the world due to the continuing spread of COVID-19, revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020 was adversely affected.
There has been a slow pick up in dental instrument and disposable sell through to dentists beginning in the third quarter. In addition, it is uncertain as to what the effect will be on the anticipated commercialization of our CompuFlo Epidural and CathCheck system as a medical device . The extent to which the coronavirus impacts our operations, our third-party partners, the dental offices and hospital operations and demand depends on future developments which are still highly uncertain. Such future developments could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and our ability to conduct business as expected.
Accounts Receivable
Milestone Scientific sells a significant amount of its products on credit terms to its major distributors. Milestone Scientific estimates losses from the ability or inability of its customers to make payments on amounts billed. Most of credit sales are due within ninety days from invoicing.
Inventories
Inventories principally consist of finished goods and component parts stated at the lower of cost (first-in, first-out method) or net realizable value. Inventory quantities on hand are reviewed on a quarterly basis and a provision for excess and obsolete inventory is recorded if required based on past and expected future sales, potential technological obsolescence and product expiration requirement and regulations.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
Milestone Scientific reviews long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or circumstances (i.e. a triggering event) indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable.
The Company’s impairment review process is based upon an estimate of future undiscounted cash flow. Factors the Company considers that could trigger an impairment review include the following:
• significant negative industry or economic trends, and
• significant technological changes, which would render the technology obsolete
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Recoverability of assets that will continue to be used in the Company's operations is measured by comparing the carrying value to the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset or asset group. Future undiscounted cash flows include estimates of future revenues, driven by market growth rates, and estimated future costs.
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To perform revenue recognition the Company performs the following five steps:
i. identification of the promised goods or services in the contract;
The Company derives its revenues from the sale of its products, primarily dental instruments, handpieces, and other related products. The Company sells its products through a global distribution network and that includes both exclusive and non-exclusive distribution agreements with related and third parties.
Revenue from product sales is recognized upon transfer of control of a product to a customer, generally upon date of shipment. For certain arrangements where the shipping terms are FOB destination, revenue is recognized upon delivery. The Company has no obligation on product sales for any installation, set-up, or maintenance, these being the responsibility of the buyer. Milestone Scientific's only obligation after sale is the normal commercial warranty against manufacturing defects if the alleged defective unit is returned within the warranty period.
Results of Operations.
The following table sets forth the consolidated results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 2019 . The trends suggested by this table may not be indicative of future operating results:
Operating results:
Operating expenses:
Change in fair value of derivative liability - (3,635,580 )
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests (51,539 ) (55,872 )
Net loss attributable to Milestone Scientific Inc. $ (7,337,273 ) $ (7,524,368 )
Net cash used in investing activities (21,438 ) (9,916 )
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Year ended December 31, 2020 compared to year ended December 31, 2019.
Net sales for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Consolidated revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $5.4 million and $8.3 million, respectively. Dental revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $5.4 million and $8.4 million, respectively. Dental revenues decreased by approximately $2.9 million, which is related to COVID-19 pandemic affecting the Company’s customers and other business partners. As a result of the reduced hours and closings of dental offices throughout the country and the rest of the world due to the continuing spread of COVID-19, our revenue for the year ending December 31,2020 was materially and adversely affected. In December 2020, the Exclusive Distribution Arrangement with Henry Schein was replaced with a non-exclusive distribution arrangement. Under the non-exclusive arrangement, Henry Schein will purchase dental instruments and handpieces in the United States and Canada. Beginning in January 2021, the Company began a process of signing non-exclusive dental distribution arrangements with dental distributors in specific geographical locations in the United States and Canada. To date there are eight (8) new non-exclusive dental distributors engaged in the USA and Canada. The goal is to add additional non-exclusive distributors in three main cities in the USA. The goal of changing our marketing plan from a sole exclusive distributor in the USA and Canada, to a large number of non-exclusive distributors is to increase placement of our Wand/STA instrument and thus the expansion of our dental disposables.
Medical revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, were approximately $16,000 and $38,000, respectively. In June 2017, the Company announced that the CompuFlo Epidural System received 510(k) marketing clearances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Milestone is in the process of attending virtual medical device trade shows and attending introductory meetings with medical facilities and medical device distributors within the United States and European markets. The Company is focusing the marketing its Epidural devices principally in the United States. In 2020, the Company began to build an internal sales force to market the Epidural devices to hospitals and medical center throughout the United States. The 2020 COVID - 19 Pandemic has substantially reduced access to many medical facilities for further research projects and as such, trade shows were cancelled through 2020. The Company is now in the process of re-energizing its direct sales efforts with select hospitals and end user meetings as the Pandemic surge has slowed in the USA. The Company’s focus will be on marketing the Epidural medical instruments in the United States.
Gross Profit for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Consolidated gross profit for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately 67% and 68%, respectively.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
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Consolidated selling, general and administrative expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $10.7 million and $9.5 million, respectively. This increase of approximately $1.2 million is categorized in several areas. Employee salaries, and benefits expenses increased approximately $1.0 million for twelve months s ended December 31, 2020, as the Company hired additional employees to work on the commercialization of the CompuFlo® Epidural System. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 D&O insurance increased approximately $169,000 due to the increase of premiums. The Company expensed approximately $370,000 of bad debt related to a settlement with United Systems, see Note F. Office expense increased approximately $143,000 for the relocation of the Company's office and other related costs. Due to Covid-19 Pandemic, the Company's travel expenses, marketing, trade shows, quality control, and general expenses decreased approximately $560,000 while professional and consulting expense increased approximately $75,000.
Research and Development for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
Dental $ - $ - $ - 0 %
Consolidated research and development expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, were approximately $308,000 and $190,000, respectively. The increase approximately $118,000 is associated with the Company developing software upgrades and enhancement for the CompuFlo® Epidural System and handpieces.
Profit (Loss) from Operations for 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
The loss from operations was approximately $7.4 million and $4.0 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, an increase of $3.4 million. The increase is the result of decreased dental revenue, due to reduced hours and closings of dental and medical offices throughout the country and the rest of the world due to the continuing spread of COVID-19.
Change in Derivative Liability
In 2019, the Company incurred a non-cash expense of approximately $3.65 million due to the shares and warrants issued in the public and private offerings as well as other issuance of common stock during 2019 for which the Company did not have a sufficient number of authorized shares of common stock to cover the exercise and issuance of approximately 5,850,000 outstanding equity instruments. All warrants issued in the public and private placements during 2019 and 2016, all shares-to-be-issued, and certain employee options were classified as liabilities during part of year ended December 31, 2019. The Company received shareholder approval to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock on December 17, 2019. At that time, the Company extinguished the liability for insufficient number of authorized shares of common stock. At December 31, 2019, all outstanding warrants, shares to be issued and options are not classified as a liability.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Milestone Scientific has incurred annual operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities since its inception. Milestone Scientific is actively pursuing the generation of positive cash flows from operating activities through an increase in revenue from its dental business and the medical business worldwide, and a reduction in operating expenses.
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In the second quarter of 2020 the Company completed two capital raises. In April 2020, the Company completed a Common Stock Offering generating gross proceeds of approximately $5.1 million (5,420,000 common shares and 2,710,000 warrants). The combined price of the shares and warrants was $0.95 per share. The warrants are exercisable at a price of $1.20 per share and have an expiration of three years from the issue date. In June 2020, the Company completed a second Common Stock Offering generating gross proceeds of approximately $14.6 million (6,770,000 common shares and 3,749,000 warrants). The combined price of shares and warrants of was $2.15 per share. The warrants are exercisable at a of $2.60 and expire three years from the issue date. See Note I. With the combination of these two Common Stock Offerings, the Company has sufficient liquidity to support operations for at least a year after the consolidated financial statements issue date.
Management believes that the Company has sufficient cash, along with the current cash flow and support from the dental business to mitigate the expected selling expenditures for commercialization of the Epidural medical device, as well as other operating expenditures and planned new product development programs, over the next twelve months from the filing date of this report. Dental offices in the USA and world-wide are in the process of reopening to near pre Covid-19 volumes. For the medical sector, hospitals in the USA are opening for elective procedures and as such we ae looking for new and innovative medical solutions. The positive movement in the hospitals will be a benefit step to our sales efforts for the Epidural instrument.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Milestone Scientific does not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that are currently material or reasonably likely to be material to the financial position or results of operations.
Contractual Obligations
The impact of the consolidated contractual obligations at December 31, 2020 , expected on the liquidity and cash flows in future periods, is as follows:
Payments Due by Period
Total Less than 1 Year 1-3 Years 3-5 Years
(1) Purchase obligations include agreements for the purchase of dental and medical devices, including purchase obligations entered into post year end, which will require payment in during the year ended 2021.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See “Note C - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to the consolidated financial statements for explanation of recent accounting pronouncements impacting Milestone Scientific.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Milestone Scientific is a “smaller reporting company” as defined by Regulation S-K and, as such, is not required to provide the information required by this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements
The financial statements of Milestone Scientific required by this Item are set forth beginning on page F-1.
Item 9. Change in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting andFinancial Disclosure
None.
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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Milestone Scientific’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of Milestone Scientific’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, Milestone Scientific’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020 are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports Milestone Scientific files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to Milestone Scientific's management, including the Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Milestone Scientific management is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls over financial reporting. The internal controls over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. All internal control instruments, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those instruments determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Because of the inherent limitations of internal control, there is a risk that material misstatements may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by internal control over financial reporting. However, these inherent limitations are known features of the financial reporting process. Therefore, it is possible to design into the process safeguards to reduce, though not eliminate, this risk.
Milestone Scientific management assessed the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, management used the framework in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) adopted in 2013. Based on the assessment and the criteria set forth by COSO, management believes that Milestone Scientific maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. There have been no changes in Milestone Scientific’s internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation that occurred during Milestone Scientific’s last fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2020 that have materially affected, or that are reasonably likely to materially affect, Milestone Scientific’s internal controls over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information
None.
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PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, Promoters, Control Persons and CorporateGovernance; Compliance with Section 16 (a) of the Exchange Act.
Milestone Scientific’s directors are elected annually by the stockholders and serve for one-year terms until his/her successor is elected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation, or removal. The executive officers and key personnel are appointed by and serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors The current executive officers and directors of Milestone Scientific and their respective ages, as of March 29, 2021 are as follows:
NAME AGE POSITION DIRECTOR SINCE
Leslie Bernhard (1) (2) (3) 76 Chairman of the Board 2003
Leonard Osser 73 Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director 1991
Jan Adriaan (Arjan ) Haverhals 59 President
Joseph D'Agostino 69 Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Gian Domenico Trombetta 60 Director 2014
1. Member of the Audit Committee
2. Member of the Compensation Committee
3. Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The following are the names of individuals who are not executive officers of Milestone Scientific but are deemed key personnel of Milestone Scientific, their respective ages and positions as of March 29, 2021 .
NAME AGE POSITION
Eugene Casagrande, D.D.S. 76 Director of International Professional Relations
Mark Hochman, D.D.S. 61 Director of Clinical Affairs
Leonard Osser, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director
Leonard Osser has been Interim Chief Executive Officer since December 2017. From July 2017 to December 2017, he had been Managing Director –China Operations. Prior to that, he served as Milestone Scientific’s Chairman from 1991 until September 2009, and during that time, from 1991 until 2007, was also Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Scientific. In September 2009, he resigned as Chairman of Milestone Scientific, but remained director, and assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer. From 1980 until the consummation of Milestone Scientific’s public offering in November 1995, Mr. Osser was primarily engaged as the principal owner and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Asian Consulting Group, Inc., a New Jersey-based provider of consulting services specializing in distressed or turnaround situations in both the public and private markets. Mr. Osser’s knowledge of our business and background with us since 1980 provides the Board with valuable leadership skills and insight into our business and accordingly, the expertise needed to serve as one of our directors.
Jan Adriaan (Arjan) Haverhals , President
Mr. Haverhals has been Milestone Scientific's President since September 2020 and as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Scientific’s Dental Division (Wand Dental Inc.) since June 2020. He brings more than 30 years of sales, marketing, product development, and international expansion experience within the medical device, pharmaceutical, and other industries. Prior to joining Wand Dental and Milestone Scientific, Mr. Haverhals was senior vice president of sales at Xcentric Mold & Engineering from 2019 until 2020 where he was instrumental in increasing sales productivity and efficiency for the company's prototype injection molding services, which included leading healthcare company clients. From 2012 until 2018, Mr. Haverhals worked at Straumann, LLC, a global leader in manufacturing medical and dental devices, where he held a series of senior sales and marketing roles including vice president of customer marketing & education, where he oversaw all product franchises and led the launch of more than 30 products in the North American market. He also served as senior vice president for the Nordic Region at Straumann AB, senior vice president of global sales digital solutions, which included oversight of the strategic acquisition of Etkon; and served as vice president of the Prosthetics Business Unit, where he introduced a new implant and prosthetics product line within a new market segment.
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He also served as senior vice president for the Nordic Region at Straumann AB, senior vice president of global sales digital solutions, which included oversight of the strategic acquisition of Etkon; and served as vice president of the Prosthetics Business Unit, where he introduced a new implant and prosthetics product line within a new market segment. He also served as vice president of global marketing & sales at Elkem AS, one of Norway's largest industrial companies. Previously, Mr. Haverhals served as executive vice president of marketing & sales at Cresco Ti Systems Sàrl, a global dental implant company, where he was responsible for turning around and managing global sales, marketing, international business. Mr. Haverhals holds an MS in Pharmacy from the University of Leyden in the Netherlands.
Joseph D’Agostino, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Joseph D'Agostino has been Milestone Scientific's Chief Financial Officer since October 2008 and Chief Operating Officer since September 2011. Mr. D'Agostino joined Milestone Scientific in January 2008 as Acting CFO and has over 25 years of finance and accounting experience serving both publicly and privately held companies. A results-oriented and decisive leader, he has specific proven expertise in treasury and cash management, strategic planning, information technology, internal controls, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, operations, and financial and tax accounting. Mr. D'Agostino served as Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Summit Global Logistics, a publicly traded, full service international freight forwarder and customs broker with operations in the United States and China.
Previous executive posts also included Executive Vice President and CFO of Haynes Security, Inc., a leading electronic and manned security solutions company serving government agencies and commercial enterprises; Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration for Casio, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Casio Computer Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of consumer electronics with subsidiaries throughout the world; and Manager of Accounting and Auditing for Main Hurdman's National Office in New York City (merged into KPMG). Mr. D'Agostino is a Certified Public Accountant and holds memberships in the American Institute of CPA's, New Jersey Society of CPA's, Financial Executive Institute, He is a graduate of William Paterson University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Science.
Leslie Bernhard, Chairman of the Board
Leslie Bernhard has served as Milestone Scientific’s Chairman of the Board since October 2009 and served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from October 2017 to December 2017. In addition, Ms. Bernhard has also had been serving as an independent director of Milestone Scientific since May 2003. Since 2017, Ms. Bernhard has been an independent director of Sachem Capital Corp a Connecticut based real-estate investment trust. From 2007, Ms. Bernhard served as an independent director of Universal Power Group, Inc., a global supplier of power solutions until it became a private company in 2018. In 1986 she co-founded AdStar, Inc., an electronic ad intake service to the newspaper industry, and served as its president, chief executive officer and executive director until 2012. Ms. Bernhard holds a BS Degree in Education from St. John’s University. Ms. Bernhard’s professional experience and background with AdStar and with us, as one of our directors since 2003, have given her the expertise needed to serve as Chairman of the Board, and Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Gian Domenico Trombetta, Director
Gian Domenico Trombetta has been a director of Milestone Scientific in May 2014 and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Scientific’s Dental Division (Wand Dental Inc.) from October 2014 until May 2020. He founded Innovest S.p.A in 1993, a special situation firm acting in development and distressed capital investments. He has been its President and Chief Executive Officer since its inception. He served as the Chief Executive Officer or a board member of several private commercial companies in different industries including both industrial (e.g. IT, media, web, and fashion) and holding companies. Before founding Innovest, Mr. Trombetta was Project Manager for Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc., a management consulting firm from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Trombetta holds a degree in business administration from the Luiss University in Rome, Italy, and an MBA degree from INSEAD-Fontainbleau-France. Mr. Trombetta business background and experience has given him the expertise needed to serve as one of our directors.
Leonard M. Schiller, Director
Leonard Schiller has been a director of Milestone Scientific since April 1997. Mr. Schiller has been a partner in the Chicago law firm of Schiller Law P.C. and it's predecessors since 1977 and since 2002, its President. Mr. Schiller also serves as a director on the board of Creatd, Inc., a Nasdaq listed social media company since February 2016. He also is a general partner of Gravitas Capital LP, a hedge fund. Mr. Schiller’s professional experience and background have given him the expertise needed to serve as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and as one of our directors.
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Neal Goldman
Mr. Goldman is the President and Founder of Goldman Capital Management, Inc., a family office since 2018, which was previously an investment advisory firm founded in 1985. He was First Vice President of Research at Shearson Lehman Hutton. He has also held senior positions as a money manager and research analyst with a variety of firms including Neuberger Berman, Moseley Hallgarten Estabrook and Weeden, Bruns Nordeman, and Russ and Company. Mr. Goldman serves as Chairman of Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (Nasdaq: CTHR) since 2016 and serves on the board of Imageware Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: IWSY). He also serves on the board of Deep-Down Inc. (DPDW). Prior to their acquisition, he served on the boards of Blyth Industries and IPASS Corporation. Mr. Goldman is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He also serves on numerous non-profit boards. Mr. Goldman received his B.A. degree in Economics from The City University of New York (City College).
Michael McGeehan
Michael McGeehan has been a director of Milestone Scientific since October 2017. Mr. McGeehan is a business consultant with 30 years of experience in a variety of business domains, including financial services, medical and healthcare products, consumer package goods and the software technology industry. Mr. McGeehan started his career at Metaphor Computer Systems in 1988 and then went to work at Microsoft Corporation in 1991. In 1995, Mr. McGeehan left Microsoft and founded Forefront Information Strategies, an information technology consulting firm. In 2002, Mr. McGeehan returned to Microsoft where he worked until 2017, when he returned to and re-started Forefront. Mr. McGeehan professional experience and background have given him the expertise needed to serve as Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and as one of our directors.
Mr. McGeehan was on the Board of Directors of Wand Dental Inc., (subsidiary of Milestone Scientific) a maker of a painless, anesthetic injection system for dentists. Mr. McGeehan has a Master’s in Business Administration from Pace University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Marquette University. Mr. McGeehan background has given him the experience needed to serve as one of our directors.
Mark Hochman, D.D.S., Director of Clinical Affairs
Mark Hochman, D.D.S. has served as Milestone Scientific’s Director of Clinical Affairs and Director of Research and Development since 1999. He has a Doctor of Dental Surgery with advanced training in the specialties of Periodontics and Orthodontics from New York University of Dentistry and has been practicing dentistry since 1984. He is a former clinical associate professor at NYU School of Dental Surgery. Recognized as a world authority on Advanced Drug Delivery Instruments, Dr. Hochman has published numerous articles in this area, and shares in the responsibility for inventing much of the technology currently available from Milestone Scientific.
Dr. Eugene Casagrande, Director of International & Professional Relations
Since 1998, Eugene Casagrande, D.D.S. has served as Director of International and Professional Relations, charged with pursuing a broad range of clinical and industry-related strategic business opportunities for Milestone Scientific. Dr. Eugene R. Casagrande has practiced Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry for over 30 years in Los Angeles. He is past president of the California State Board of Dentistry and the Los Angeles Dental Society and is a Fellow of the American and International Colleges of Dentists. Dr. Casagrande was a member of the faculty of the University of Southern California, School of Dentistry. He was also the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Oral Health Foundation and the Program Director of the Los Angeles Pediatric Oral Health Access Program. As the Director of International & Professional Relations for Milestone Scientific for over 20 years, he has published multiple articles and has lectured both nationally and internationally at over 100 dental schools and in over 50 countries on Computer-Controlled Local Anesthesia.
Director Independence and Committees of the Board
The Board has determined that Leslie Bernhard, Leonard M. Schiller, Neal Goldman, and Michael McGeehan (the “Independent Directors”) are independent as that term is defined in the listing standards of the NYSE American. As disclosed above, Leslie Bernhard, Leonard M. Schiller, and Michael McGeehan are members of the Audit Committee and are independent for such purposes. Leslie Bernhard, Leonard M. Schiller, and Neal Goldman are members of the Compensation Committee and are independent for such purposes.
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Milestone Scientific’s Board of Directors has established a compensation, audit, nominating and corporate governance committees (respectively, “Compensation Committee,” “Audit Committee,” and “Nominating Committee”.) The Compensation Committee reviews and recommends to the Board of Directors the compensation and benefits of all the officers of Milestone Scientific, reviews general policy matters relating to compensation and benefits of employees of Milestone Scientific and administers the issuance of stock options to Milestone Scientific’s officers, employees, directors, and consultants. All compensation arrangements between Milestone Scientific and its directors, officers and affiliates are reviewed by the Compensation Committee.
The Audit Committee meets with management and Milestone Scientific’s independent auditors to determine the adequacy of internal controls and other financial reporting matters; all the members are independent directors. The Board of Directors has determined that, Leslie Bernhard qualifies as an Audit Committee Financial Expert pursuant to Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K, Leslie Bernhard is independent, as that term is defined in the listing standards of the NYSE American.
The Nominating Committee has dual responsibilities. The Nominating Committee will assist the board by identifying and recommending individuals qualified to become member of the board. Additionally, the committee will evaluate the size and composition of the board and its members, reviewing governance issues and making recommendations to the board regarding possible changes and reviewing and monitoring compliance with the code of ethics and insider trading policy.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our executive officers and directors, and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities, to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Executive officers, directors and greater than ten-percent stockholders are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely on review of the copies of such forms furnished to us, or written representations that no Forms 5 were required, we believe that all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our officers and director were complied with during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.
Code of Ethics
Milestone Scientific has adopted a code of ethics that applies to its directors, principal executive officer, principal financial officer and other persons performing similar functions. This code of ethics is posted on Milestone Scientific’s web site at www.milestonescientific.com. Milestone Scientific will also provide a copy of the Code of Ethics to any person without charge, upon written request addressed to the Chief Financial Officer, Joseph D’Agostino at the principal executive office, located at 425 Eagle Rock road Roseland, NJ 07068.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
The following Summary Compensation Table sets forth all compensation earned, in all capacities, during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 by Milestone Scientific’s (i) Interim CEO and (ii) two most highly compensated executive officers other than the Interim CEO who were serving as executive officers at the end of the 2020 fiscal year and whose salary as determined by Regulation S-K, Item 402, exceeded $100,000 (the individuals falling within categories (i) and (ii) are collectively referred to as the “Named Executive Officers”).
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SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
Leonard A. Osser (1) (8)
Gian Domenico Trombetta (2)
Chief Executive Officer - Wand Dental Inc 2020 $ 80,000 $ - $ - $ - $ 80,000
Jan Adriaan (Arjan) Haverhals (3)
Chief Executive Officer - Wand Dental Inc
Joseph D'Agostino (4) (8)
Brent Johnston (5)
Sharon Smith (6)
Executive Vice President Global Marketing 2020 $ - $ - $ -
Eric Gilbert (7)
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6. Sharon Smith resigned from her position with the Company in October 2019.
Employment Contracts
In July 2017, Milestone Scientific entered into a ten-year employment agreement with Leonard Osser, who previously served as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, to serve as Managing Director – China Operations. This agreement provides for annual compensation of $300,000 consisting of $100,000 in cash and $200,000 in the Company’s common stock valued at the average closing price of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE or such other market or exchange on which its shares are then traded during the first fifteen (15) trading days of the last full calendar month of each year during the term of this agreement. This agreement supersedes all prior employment agreements between Mr. Osser and Milestone Scientific. If the Company terminates Mr. Osser’s employment “Without Cause,” other than due to his death or disability, or if Mr. Osser terminates his employment for “Good Reason” (both as defined in the agreement), Mr. Osser is entitled to be paid in one lump sum payment as soon as practicable following such termination: an amount equal to the aggregate present value (as determined in accordance with Section 280G(d)(4) of the Code) of all compensation pursuant to this agreement from the effective date of termination hereunder through the remainder of the Employment Term.
In July 2017, Mr. Osser resigned from his positions of Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Office and President of Milestone Medical. Upon his resignation, Milestone Medical entered in a consulting agreement with U.S. Asian Consulting Group LLC, an entity controlled by Mr. Osser, pursuant to which he will provide specific services to Milestone Medical for a ten- year term. Pursuant to the consulting agreement, U.S. Asian Consulting Group, LLC, is entitled to receive $100,000 per year for Mr. Osser's services.
On December 19, 2017, the Board of Directors appointed Leonard Osser Interim Chief Executive Office, replacing Leslie Bernhard. Mr. Osser placed on hold his position as Managing Director-China Operations and his consulting agreement with Milestone Medical to rejoined Milestone Scientific Inc. as Interim Chief Executive Officer and will not receive or earn any compensation under those agreements until he is no longer Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Osser as Interim Chief Executive Officer receives a base salary and may receive bonus determined by the compensation committee of Company.
On March 2, 2021, Milestone Scientific Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Royalty Sharing Agreement with Leonard Osser, the Company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to which Mr. Osser sold, transferred and assigned to the Company all of his rights in and to a certain patent application as to which he is a co-inventor with Mark Hochman, a consultant to the Company, and the Company agreed to pay to Mr. Osser, beginning May 9, 2027, half of the royalty (2.5%) on net sales that would otherwise be payable to Mark and Claudia Hochman under their existing Technology Sale Agreement, dated January 1, 2005 and amended from time to time, with the Company, the Hochman's having agreed with the Company pursuant to an addendum to such Technology Sale Agreement dated February 25, 2021 to reduce from five percent (5%) to two and one-half percent (2.5%) the payments due to them under their Technology Sale Agreement on May 9th, 2027 and thereafter, with respect to dental products. The Agreement confirms an understanding of the Company, Leonard Osser, and the Hochman's on sharing the five percent (5%) royalty to be paid by the Company beginning on May 9, 2027 with respect to dental products embodying the new invention.
Objective of Executive Compensation Program
The primary objective of the executive compensation program is to attract and retain qualified, energetic managers who are enthusiastic about the mission and culture of Milestone Scientific. A further objective of the compensation program is to provide incentives and reward each manager for their contribution. In addition, Milestone Scientific strives to promote an ownership mentality among key leadership and the Board of Directors.
The Compensation Committee reviews and approves, or in some cases recommends for the approval of the full Board of Directors, the annual compensation procedures for the Named Executive Officers.
The compensation program is designed to reward teamwork, as well as each manager’s individual contribution. In measuring the Named Executive Officers’ contribution, the Compensation Committee considers numerous factors including the growth, strategic business relationships and financial performance. Regarding most compensation matters, including executive and director compensation, management provides recommendations to the Compensation Committee; however, the Compensation Committee does not delegate any of its functions to others in setting compensation. Milestone Scientific does not currently engage any consultant to advise on executive and/or director compensation matters.
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Stock price performance has not been a factor in determining annual compensation because the price of Milestone Scientific’s common stock is subject to a variety of factors outside of Milestone Scientific’s control. Milestone Scientific does not have an exact formula for allocating between cash and non-cash compensation.
Annual CEO Compensation consists of a base salary component and periodic stock option grants. It is the Compensation Committee’s intention to set totals for the CEO for cash compensation sufficiently high enough to attract and retain a strong motivated leadership team, but not so high that it creates a negative perception with the other stakeholders. The CEO receives stock option grants under the stock option plan. The number of stock options granted to the executive officer is made on a discretionary rather than a formula basis by the Compensation Committee.
The CEO’s current and prior compensation is considered in setting future compensation. To some extent, the compensation plan is based on the market and the companies that compete for executive management. The elements of the plan (e.g., base salary, bonus, and stock options) are like the elements used by many companies. The exact base pay, stock option grant, and bonus amounts are chosen to balance the competing objectives of fairness to all stakeholders and attracting and retaining executive managers.
Outstanding Equity Awards at December 31, 2020
The following table includes certain information with respect to all unexercised stock options and unvested shares of common stock of Milestone Scientific outstanding owned by the Named Executive Officers at December 31, 2020.
Options Awards Stock Awards
1. Represents stock option grants at fair market value on the date of grant.
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Director Compensation
The following table shows the compensation earned by or awarded or paid in 2020 to the individuals who served as our non-employee directors during such period. Neither Mr. Osser nor Mr. Trombetta received any additional compensation for their services as a director.
NAME Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) Fees Earned or Paid in Common Stock
Michael McGeehan $ - 46,000
Gian Domenico Trombetta $ - 36,000
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The following table, together with the accompanying footnotes, sets forth information, as of March 29, 2020 , regarding stock ownership of all persons known by Milestone Scientific to own beneficially more than 5% of Milestone Scientific’s outstanding common stock, Named Executives, all directors, and all directors and officers of Milestone Scientific as a group:
Executive Officers and Directors
Jan Adriaan (Arjan) Haverhals (4) 25,478 *
All directors & executive officers as group (8 persons) 18,159,553 23.82 %
* Less than 1%
4. Includes 25,478 shares to be issued at the termination of his employment.
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6. Includes 70,000 shares held by Ms. Bernhard.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
Equity Compensation Plan Information
The following table summarizes, as of December 31, 2020, the (i) options granted under the Milestone Scientific 2004 Stock Option Plan (the “2004 Plan”), (ii) options granted under the Milestone Scientific 2011 Equity Compensation Plan (f/k/a Milestone Scientific 2011 Stock Option Plan) (the “2011 Plan”) and (iii) options granted under the Milestone Scientific 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”). The shares covered by outstanding options and warrants are subject to adjustment for changes in capitalization, stock splits, stock dividends and similar events. No other equity compensation has been issued.
Grants under our 2004 Stock Option Plan (1) - $ - -
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13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and DirectorIndependence.
As of December 31, 2020, Milestone Scientific owned a 40% interest in Milestone China. See Note F.
In January 2017, Milestone Scientific entered into a twelve-month agreement with Innovest S.p.A., a significant stockholder of Milestone Scientific, to provide consulting services. This agreement will renew for successive twelve-month terms unless terminated by Innovest S.p.A or Milestone Scientific. Expenses recognized on this agreement were $60,000 and $80,000 for years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. This agreement was terminated September 30, 2020.
The Director of Clinical Affairs’ royalty fee was approximately $267,000 and $403,000 for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Additionally, Milestone Scientific expensed consulting fees to the Director of Clinical Affairs of $156,000 for the years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019 Milestone Scientific owed the Director Clinical Affairs for royalties of approximately $127,000 and $390,000, respectively, which is included in accounts payable, related party and accrued expense, related party.
The Company engaged Gian Domenico Trombetta, former CEO of Wand Dental Inc. as a consultant to Leonard Osser, Interim – Chief Executive Officer of Milestone Scientific for a period of twelve months (beginning October 1, 2020 and ending September 30, 2021). Gian Domenico Trombetta will provide historical International Business, Dental Segment information and business contacts to Mr. Osser and provide consulting services for new International Business and Dental Segment concepts during this twelve-month consulting period. Under this agreement, Mr. Trombetta is to receive $60,000 payable in Milestone Scientific shares.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
Audit Fees and Audit Related
Milestone Scientific incurred audit and financial statement review fees of approximately $330,000 and $302,000, respectively from Friedman LLP, its principal accountant for 2020 and 2019. These fees include fees for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements and the review of financial statements included in our report on Form 10-Q's or services that are normally provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings and fees related to registration statements.
Tax Fees
Milestone Scientific incurred tax fees of approximately $34,000 and $36,000 respectively from Friedman LLP, its principal accountant for 2020 and 2019.
All Other Fees
Milestone Scientific did not incur other accounting fees from Friedman LLP, its principal accountant in either 2020 or 2019.
Audit Committee Administration of the Engagement
The engagement with Friedman LLP, the principal accountants, was approved in advance by the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee. No non-audit or non-audit related services were approved by the Audit Committee in 2020.
Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures
The Audit Committee charter provides that the Audit Committee will pre-approve audit services and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors before the accountant is engaged to render these services. The Audit Committee may consult with management in the decision-making process but may not delegate this authority to management. The Audit Committee may delegate its authority to preapprove services to one or more committee members, provided that the designees present the pre-approvals to the full committee at the next committee meeting. All audit and non-audit services performed by the independent accountants have been pre-approved by the Audit Committee to assure that such services do not impair the auditors’ independence from us.
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
The following documents are filed as part of this Report:
1 Financial Statements. See Index to Financial Statements on page F-1.
2 Financial Statement Schedule
3 Exhibits
Exhibit No Description
3.2 Form of Certificate of Designation filed on April 18, 2014 (12)
3.4 Amended and Restated By-laws of Milestone filed April 1, 2019 (23)
3.5 Certificate of Amendment to Restated Certificate of Incorporation (24)
4.1 Specimen stock certificate (2)
4.6 Description of Registrant’s Securities*
10.5 Agreement with Mark Hochman, dated July 2015 (13)
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21.1 List of Subsidiaries*
23.1 Consent of Friedman, LLP*
31.1 Rule 13a-14(a) Certification-Chief Executive Officer*
31.2 Rule 13a-14(a) Certification-Chief Financial Officer*
32.1 Section 1350 Certifications-Chief Executive Officer***
32.2 Section 1350 Certifications-Chief Financial Officer***
101.INS XBRL Instance Document*
101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document*
101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document*
101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document*
101.PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document*
101.DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document*
* Filed herewith.
** Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
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SIGNATURES
In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Milestone Scientific Inc.
By: /s/ Leonard Osser
Interim Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)
Date: March 31, 2021
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature Date Title
/s/ Leonard Osser March 31, 2021 Interim Chief Executive Officer
Leonard Osser (Principal Executive Officer)
Joseph D'Agostino (Principal Financial Officer)
March 31, 2021 Chairman and Director
/s/ Leslie Bernhard
Leslie Bernhard
/s/ Gian Domenico Trombetta
Gian Domenico Trombetta
/s/ Leonard Schiller March 31, 2021 Director
Leonard Schiller
/s/ Michael McGeehan March 31, 2021 Director
Michael McGeehan
/s/ Neal Goldman March 31, 2021 Director
Neal Goldman
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REPORT INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm F-2
Consolidated Financial Statements:
Consolidated Balance Sheets F-4
Consolidated Statements of Operations F-5
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity F-6
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows F-7
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-8- F-28
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and
Stockholders of Milestone Scientific, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Milestone Scientific, Inc., and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, and 2019, and the related consolidated statements of operations, statements of changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020, and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Critical Audit Matter Description
Certain inventory requires management to make significant assumptions and subjective judgments about the net realizable value when such medical devices are approved by the appropriate regulatory agencies, but also represent new technology with unproven market acceptance. These estimates include future demand, comparable market data and other assumptions within the sales forecasts without the benefit of historical experience. Given the subjectivity of these estimates, performing audit procedures to evaluate whether inventory was appropriately recorded at December 31, 2020 required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort.
F-2
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
The following are the most relevant procedures :
/s/ Friedman LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2016.
East Hanover, New Jersey
March 31, 2021
F-3
MILESTONE SCIENTIFIC AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
ASSETS
Current assets:
Furniture, fixtures and equipment, net 30,729 44,976
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Current portion of finance leases liabilities 7,796 3,904
Current portion of operating lease right-of-use liabilities 72,031 12,073
Finance lease liabilities 28,607 -
Operating lease liabilities 557,981 -
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity
See notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
F-4
MILESTONE SCIENTIFIC AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND 2019
Change in fair value of derivative liability - (3,635,580 )
Earnings from equity method investment 97,887 81,324
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 51,539 55,872
Net loss attributable to Milestone Scientific Inc. (7,337,273 ) (7,524,368 )
Net loss per share applicable to common stockholders—
Weighted average shares outstanding and to be issued—
See notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
F-5
MILESTONE SCIENTIFIC AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND 2019
See notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
F-6
MILESTONE SCIENTIFIC AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND 2019
Cash flows from operating activities:
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Non-cash operating lease expense 34,332 -
Earnings on China joint venture (97,887 ) (81,324 )
Change in fair value of derivative liability - 3,635,580
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Decrease in accounts receivable, related party - 100,000
Decrease (increase) in other assets 11,755 (9,027 )
Decrease (increase) in advances on contracts 296,460 (61,879 )
Decrease in accounts payable, related party (973,614 ) (303,346 )
Decrease in deferred cost, related party - 50,000
(Decrease) in accrued expenses, related party (233,959 ) (70,200 )
(Decrease) in deferred revenue, related party - (100,000 )
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of property and equipment (21,438 ) (9,916 )
Net cash used in investing activities (21,438 ) (9,916 )
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments finance lease obligations (7,622 ) -
Common stock issued to employee for option exercised 384,146 -
Net proceeds from note payable 276,180 -
Net proceeds from Private Placement Offering - 250,000
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 12,707,645 772,843
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 1,516,272 743,429
Supplemental non-cash disclosure of cash flow information:
See notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
F-7
MILESTONE SCIENTIFIC INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTE A — ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS
All references in this report to “Milestone Scientific,” “us,” “our,” “we,” the “Company” or “Milestone” refer to Milestone Scientific Inc., and its consolidated subsidiaries, Wand Dental, Inc., Milestone Advanced Cosmetic Systems, Inc., Milestone Medical, Inc. and Milestone Education LLC (all described below), unless the context otherwise indicates. Milestone Scientific is the owner of the following registered U.S. trademarks: CompuDent®; CompuMed®; CompuFlo®; DPS Dynamic Pressure Sensing technology®; Milestone Scientific ®; the Milestone logo ®; SafetyWand®; STA Single Tooth Anesthesia System®; and The Wand ®.
Milestone Scientific was incorporated in the State of Delaware in August 1989. Milestone Scientific has developed a proprietary, computer-controlled anesthetic delivery device, using The Wand®, a single use disposable handpiece. The device is marketed in dentistry under the trademark CompuDent®, and STA Single Tooth Anesthesia System® and in medicine under the trademark CompuMed®. CompuDent® is suitable for all dental procedures that require local anesthetic. CompuMed® is suitable for many medical procedures regularly performed in Plastic Surgery, Hair Restoration Surgery, Podiatry, Colorectal Surgery, Dermatology, Orthopedics, and many other disciplines. The dental devices are sold in the United States, Canada and in 60 other countries. Certain medical devices have obtained CE mark approval and can be marketed and sold in most European countries. In June 2017, Milestone Scientific received 510(k) marketing clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the CompuFlo® Epidural Computer Controlled Anesthesia System (“Epidural”). Through December 31, 2020 date there have been seven (7) medical devices sold in the United States and limited amounts sold internationally.
In December 2016, we received notification from the FDA that based upon the 510(k)-application submitted for intra- articular injections, we did not adequately document that the device met the equivalency standard required for 510(k) clearances. Following consultation with the FDA Office of Device Evaluation, we intended to file a new 510(k) application for the device in 2019, however, due to financing constraints, a new 510(k) application was not filed in 2019. The Company plans to file a new 510(k) application for the device in 2021, subject to sufficient funds being available.
In February 2019, Milestone Scientific consummated a public offering and a private placement of common stock. The public offering generated gross proceeds of approximately $2.0 million for the issuance of 5,715,000 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 1,428,750 shares of common stock. Subsequently the underwriter exercised its over-allotment option and paid approximately $198,000 for 567,400 additional shares of common stock and 141,850 warrants. Also, in February 2019, the Company generated gross proceeds from a private placement of approximately $250,000 for 714,286 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 178,571 shares of common stock from Bp4 S.p.A., a principal stockholder of Milestone Scientific, that exercised its right to participate on a pro-rata basis on the aforementioned public offering.
In April and June of 2020, the Company completed two Common Stock Offerings generating net proceeds of approximately $4.6 million and $13.4 million, respectively (see Note I).
NOTE B- LIQUIDITY AND UNCERTAINTIES
The Company has evaluated whether there are conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the consolidated financial statements are issued.
In April and June of 2020, the Company completed two Common Stock Offerings generating net proceeds of approximately $4.6 million and $13.4 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, cash on hand was approximately $14.2 million, an increase of $12.7 million from December 31, 2019. With the combination of these two Common Stock Offerings, the Company has sufficient liquidity to support operations beyond one year from the consolidated financial statement filing date.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) that was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and that has now spread to other countries throughout the world has adversely impact our operations and those of our third-party partners. As a result of the reduced hours and closings of dental offices throughout the country and the rest of the world, revenues for the 12 months ended December 31, 2020 were adversely affected.
F-8
Although there was an increase in dental instrument and disposable sell through to dentists beginning in the third quarter of 2020, it is too early to determine what the continuing effect COVID-19 may have on the Company. In addition, it is uncertain as to what the effect will be on our commercialization effort of our CompuFlo Epidural and CathCheck system as a medical device. Such future developments could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and our ability to conduct business as expected. See Note N- Concentrations
NOTE C — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
1. Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") and include the accounts of Milestone Scientific and its wholly owned and majority owned subsidiaries, including, Wand Dental (wholly owned), Milestone Advanced Cosmetic (majority owned) and Milestone Medical (majority owned). All significant, intra-entity transactions and balances have been eliminated in the consolidation.
2. Reclassifications
Certain reclassifications have been made to the 2019 financial statements to conform to the condensed consolidated 2020 financial statement presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on net loss or cash flows as previously reported.
3. Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions in determining the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The most significant estimates relate to the allowance for doubtful accounts, inventory valuation, and cash flow assumptions regarding evaluations for impairment of long-lived assets and going concern considerations, and valuation allowances on deferred tax assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
4. Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To perform revenue recognition, the Company performs the following five steps:
i. identification of the promised goods or services in the contract;
The Company derives its revenues from the sale of its products, primarily dental instruments, handpieces, and other related products. The Company sells its products through a global distribution network and that includes both exclusive and non-exclusive distribution agreements with related and third parties.
Revenue from product sales is recognized upon transfer of control of a product to a customer, generally upon date of shipment. For certain arrangements where the shipping terms are FOB destination, revenue is recognized upon delivery. The Company has no obligation on product sales for any installation, set-up, or maintenance, these being the responsibility of the buyer. Milestone Scientific's only obligation after sale is the normal commercial warranty against manufacturing defects if the alleged defective unit is returned within the warranty period.
Sales Returns
The Company records allowances for product returns as a reduction of revenue at the time product sales are recorded. Several factors are considered in determining whether an allowance for product returns is required, including the customers’ return rights and the Company’s historical experience with returns and the amount of product in the distribution channel not consumed by end users and subject to return. The Company relies on historical return rates to estimate returns. In the future, if any of these factors and/or the history of product returns change, adjustments to the allowance for product returns may be required.
F-9
Financing and Payment
Our payment terms differ by geography and customer, but payment is generally required within 90 days from the date of shipment or delivery.
Disaggregation of Revenue
We operate in two operating segments: dental and medical. Therefore, results of our operations are reported on a consolidated basis for purposes of segment reporting, consistent with internal management reporting. See Note M for revenues by geographical market, based on the customer’s location, and product category for the years December 31, 2020 and 2019.
5. Variable Interest Entities
A variable interest entity ("VIE") is an entity that either (i) has insufficient equity to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or (ii) has equity investors who lack the characteristics of a controlling financial interest. A VIE is consolidated by its primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary has both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE.
If Milestone Scientific determines that it has operating power and the obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits, Milestone Scientific consolidates the VIE as the primary beneficiary. Milestone Scientific’s involvement constitutes power that is most significant to the entity when it has unconstrained decision-making ability over key operational functions within the entity.
Because Milestone Scientific has a variable interest in Milestone China, it considered the guidance in ASC 810, “Consolidation” as it relates to determining whether Milestone China is a VIE and, if so, identifying the primary beneficiary. Milestone Scientific would be considered the primary beneficiary of the VIE if it has both of the following characteristics:
Milestone Scientific does not have the ability to control the activities that most significantly impact Milestone China's economics and, therefore, the power criterion has not been met. Management placed the most weight on the relationship and significance of activities of Milestone China to the CEO and a group of significant shareholders, including the CEO, of Milestone China who have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of Milestone China. Management has concluded that Milestone Scientific is not the primary beneficiary under ASC 810. Accordingly, Milestone China has not been consolidated into the financial statements of Milestone Scientific and is accounted for under the equity method. See Note F.
6. Cash and Cash Equivalents
Milestone Scientific considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019 Milestone Scientific has approximately $13.1 million and $302,000 of investments with short term maturities classified as cash equivalents. At times, such cash, may be more than the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limit. As of December 31, 2020, the Company has approximately $700,000 of cash in excess of FDIC coverage.
7. Accounts Receivable
Milestone Scientific sells a significant amount of its product on credit terms to its major distributors. Milestone Scientific estimates losses from the ability or inability of its customers to make payments on amounts billed. Most credit sales are due within 90 days from invoicing. There have not been any significant credit losses incurred to date. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, accounts receivable was recorded, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $10,000.
8. Inventories
Inventories principally consist of finished goods and component parts stated at the lower of cost (first-in, first-out method) or net realizable value. Inventory quantities on hand are reviewed on a quarterly basis and a provision for excess, slow moving, defective, and obsolete inventory is recorded if required based on past and expected future sales, potential technological obsolescence, and product expiration requirements.
F-10
The valuation allowance creates a new cost basis for the inventory, and it is not subsequently marked up through a reduction in the valuation allowance based on any changes in the underlying facts and circumstances. When the valuation allowance is initially recorded, the increase to the allowance is recognized as an increase in cost of sales. The valuation allowance is only reduced if or when the underlying inventory is sold or destroyed, at which time cost of sales recognized would include the previous adjusted cost basis.
9. Equity Method Investments
Investments in which Milestone Scientific can exercise significant influence, but do not control, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting and are included in the long-term assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Under this method of accounting, Milestone Scientific's share of the net earnings or losses of the investee is presented below the income tax line on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Milestone Scientific evaluates its equity method investments whenever events or changes in circumstance indicate that the carrying amounts of such investments may be impaired. If a decline in the value of an equity method investment is determined to be other than temporary, a loss is recorded in earnings in the current period.
10. Furniture, Fixture and Equipment
Equipment is recorded at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation expense is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which range from two to seven years. The costs of maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred.
11. Intangible Assets – Patents and Developed Technology
Patents are recorded at cost to prepare and file the applicable documents with the US Patent Office, or internationally with the applicable governmental office in the respective country. The costs related to these patents are being amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the patent. Patents and other developed technology acquired from another business entity are recorded at acquisition cost and be amortized at the estimated useful life. Patent defense costs, to the extent applicable, are expensed as incurred.
12. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
Long-lived assets with finite lives are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The Company’s impairment review process is based upon an estimate of future undiscounted cash flow. Factors the Company considers that could trigger an impairment review include the following:
• significant negative industry or economic trends
• significant technological changes, which would render the technology obsolete
Recoverability of assets that will continue to be used in the Company's operations is measured by comparing the carrying value to the future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset or asset group. Future undiscounted cash flows include estimates of future revenues, driven by market growth rates, and estimated future costs.
13. Note Payable
On April 27, 2020, the Company, was granted a loan (the “Loan”) from Savoy Bank. in the aggregate amount of approximately $276,000, pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) under Division A, Title I of the CARES Act, which was enacted March 27, 2020.
The Loan, which was in the form of a Note dated April 27, 2020, matures on April 27, 2022, and bears interest at a rate of 1.00% per annum, payable monthly commencing on November 26, 2020. The Note may be prepaid by the Borrower at any time prior to maturity with no prepayment penalties. Funds from the Loan may only be used for payroll costs, costs used to continue group health care benefits, mortgage payments, rent, utilities, and interest on other debt obligations incurred before February 15, 2020. The Company intends to use the entire Loan amount for qualifying expenses. Under the terms of the PPP, certain amounts of the Loan may be forgiven if they are used for qualifying expenses as described in the CARES Act. The company is in the process of applying for loan forgiveness.
F-11
14. Research and Development
Research and development costs, which consist principally of new product development costs payable to third parties, are expensed as incurred. Advance payments for the research are amortized to expense either as services are performed or over the relevant service period using the straight-line method.
15. Income Taxes
Milestone Scientific accounts for income taxes pursuant to the asset and liability method which requires deferred income tax assets and liabilities to be computed for temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities that will result in taxable or deductible amounts in the future based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
At December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had no uncertain tax positions that required recognition in the consolidated financial statements. Milestone Scientific's policy is to recognize interest and penalties on unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. No interest and penalties are present for periods open. Tax returns for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 years are subject to audit by federal and state jurisdictions.
16. Basic and diluted net loss per common share
Milestone Scientific presents “basic” earnings (loss) per common share applicable to common stockholders and, if applicable, “diluted” earnings (loss) per common share applicable to common stockholders pursuant to the provisions of ASC 260, “Earnings per Share”. Basic earnings (loss) per common share is calculated by dividing net income or loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and to be issued during each period. The calculation of diluted earnings per common share is like that of basic earnings per common share, except that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional common shares that would have been outstanding if all potentially dilutive common shares, such as those issuable upon the exercise of stock options and warrants were issued during the period.
Since Milestone Scientific had net losses in the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the assumed effects of the exercise of potentially dilutive outstanding stock options, and warrants, were not included in the calculation as their effect would have been anti-dilutive. Such outstanding options, and warrants totaled 8,397,836 and 2,336,611 on December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
17. Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants in the principal market at the measurement date (exit price). We are required to classify fair value measurements in one of the following categories:
Financial assets and liabilities are classified based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Our assessment of the significance of an input to the fair value measurement requires judgment and may affect the valuation of the fair value of assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy levels. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019 the Company does not have any assets or liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
During the year ended December 31, 2019 the Company did not have sufficient authorized shares to support the exercise of outstanding securities and reclassified all outstanding warrants and certain employee stock options to liability classification, measured using level 3 inputs and reclassified all shares-to-be-issued measured using level 1 inputs, the trading price of the Company’s stock. At December 17, 2019, the Company increased the number of authorized shares available, extinguishing the derivative liability. The roll forward of the liability associated with certain outstanding warrants and stock options which use level 3 inputs is as follows. Refer to Note I for more detail.
F-12
Balance at beginning of year $ -
Warrants issued in connection with public offering (See Note I) 376,497
Change in fair value of derivative liability 422,484
Employee options reclassified as derivative liability 500,000
Change in value of derivative securities – exercised (655,000 )
Reversal of derivative liability for exercised warrants 820,954
Balance at end of period $ -
18. Derivative Liability
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks; however, the Company has certain financial instruments that qualify as derivatives and are classified as liabilities on the balance sheet. The Company evaluates all its financial instruments to determine if those instruments or any potential embedded components of those instruments qualify as derivatives that need to be separately accounted for in accordance with FASB ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. Derivatives satisfying certain criteria are recorded at fair value at issuance and marked-to-market at each balance sheet date with the change in the fair value recorded as income or expense. In addition, upon the occurrence of an event that requires a derivative liability to be reclassified to equity, the derivative liability is revalued to fair value at that date. See Note I, Outstanding Equity Instruments in Excess of Authorized Shares.
19. Stock-Based Compensation
Milestone Scientific accounts for stock-based compensation under ASC Topic 718, Share-Based Payment. ASC Topic 718 requires all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, to be recognized in the Statements of Operations over the service period, as an operating expense, based on the grant-date fair values.