SLN US Equity☆

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Investing in American Depositary Shares representing our ordinary shares, or ADSs, involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and all other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, before investing in the ADSs. The risks and uncertainties described below are those significant risk factors, currently known and specific to us, that we believe are relevant to an investment in the ADSs. If any of these risks materialize, our business, results of operations or financial condition could suffer, the price of the ADSs could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we now deem immaterial may also harm us and adversely affect your investment in the ADSs.

The risks described below are not intended to be exhaustive and are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including the risks described below. See also the section titled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” above.

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Need for Additional Capital

We have a history of net losses, and we anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. As of the date hereof, our operations have been primarily limited to developing our siRNA product platform, undertaking basic research around siRNA targets, conducting preclinical and clinical studies and out-licensing some of our intellectual property rights. We have not yet obtained marketing approval for any product candidates and may not for the foreseeable future, if ever. Consequently, any predictions about our future success or viability, or any evaluation of our business and prospects, may not be accurate.

We have incurred net losses in each year since our inception. Our net losses were $45.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, $54.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, and $50.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated loss of $474.0 million. Our losses have resulted primarily from costs related to our research and development programs, including our preclinical and clinical development activities.

We expect to continue incurring significant operating losses for the foreseeable future, although these losses may fluctuate significantly between periods. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially as we continue the research, preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates, both independently and under our collaboration agreements with third parties. We would also incur additional expenses in connection with seeking marketing approvals for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials, if any, and establishing a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval. We will also need to maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio, hire additional personnel, and create additional infrastructure to support our operations and our product development efforts. We expect that all of these additional expenses will cause our total expenses to substantially exceed our revenue over the near term, resulting in continuing operating losses and increasing accumulated deficits.

We have never generated any revenue from product sales and may never be profitable.

Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with collaboration partners, to successfully complete the development of, obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for and commercialize our product candidates. We do not anticipate generating revenues from sales of products for the

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foreseeable future, if ever. Our ability to generate future revenues from product sales will depend heavily on our success in:

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identifying and validating therapeutic targets;

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completing our research and preclinical development of product candidates;

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initiating and completing clinical trials for product candidates;

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seeking, obtaining and maintaining marketing approvals for product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;

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establishing and maintaining supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties, or establishing our own manufacturing capability;

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launching and commercializing product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval, either with a collaborator or, if launched independently, successfully establishing a sales force, marketing and distribution infrastructure;

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maintaining, expanding and protecting our intellectual property portfolio; and

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attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with pharmaceutical product development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses and when we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability, if ever. In addition, our expenses could increase if we were required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, or other regulatory authorities to perform studies and trials in addition to those that we currently anticipate.

Even if one or more of our product candidates is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product on our own. Even if we were able to generate revenues from the sale of any approved products, we may not become profitable and may need to obtain additional funding to continue operations.

We will require additional financial resources to continue the ongoing development of our product candidates and pursue our business objectives. If we are unable to obtain these additional resources when needed or on acceptable terms, we may be forced to delay or discontinue our planned operations, including clinical testing of our product candidates.

We have used substantial funds to develop our RNA interference, or RNAi, technologies and will require substantial funds to conduct further research and development, including preclinical testing and clinical trials of our product candidates, and to manufacture, market and sell any of our products that may be approved for commercial sale. Because the length of time, and the activities associated with, the successful development of our product candidates may be greater than we anticipate, we are unable to estimate the actual funds we will require to develop and commercialize them.

Developing pharmaceutical products, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, is expensive. We expect our research and development expenses and net losses to substantially increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance our product candidates towards or through clinical trials. We will need additional capital to fund our operations, including clinical trials for product candidates other than those which are funded by our collaboration partners, and such funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. In any event, we will require additional capital to obtain regulatory approval for, and to commercialize, future product candidates.

For the foreseeable future, we expect to rely primarily on additional non-dilutive strategic collaboration arrangements, as well as equity or debt financings, to fund our operations. Raising additional capital through the sale of securities could cause significant dilution to our shareholders. Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize

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our product candidates. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend, in part, on the success of our preclinical studies and clinical trials and other product development activities, regulatory events, our ability to identify and enter into licensing or other strategic arrangements, and other events or conditions that may affect our value or prospects, as well as factors related to financial, economic and market conditions, many of which are beyond our control. There can be no assurances that sufficient funds will be available to us when required or on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may be required to:

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significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of any current or future product candidates;

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seek strategic alliances for research and development programs at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available;

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dispose of technology assets, or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms, our rights to technologies or any future product candidates that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize; and

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file for bankruptcy or cease operations altogether.

Any of these events would have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects and could significantly impair the value of your investment in our ADSs.

We have historically funded our operations through upfront payments and milestones from collaboration agreements, equity offerings and proceeds from private placements, as well as management of expenses and other financing options. As of December 31, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $147.3 million. We expect that our existing cash and cash equivalents will provide sufficient funds to continue to meet our liabilities as they fall due and for at least the next twelve months. However, it is possible that our costs will be higher than expected, that our operating plan may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us, and that we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned, through public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, such as strategic collaborations or license and development agreements. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, like we did in February 2024 when we entered into a private placement with certain investors, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

There is no assurance that we will be successful in obtaining sufficient funding on terms acceptable to us, or if at all. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments will be able to fund our operations into 2027. The inability to obtain future funding could impact our financial condition and ability to pursue our business strategies, including being required to delay, reduce or eliminate some of our research and development programs, or being unable to continue operations or unable to continue as a going concern.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our holders, including holders of our ADSs, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

We expect that additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations, including expanded research and development activities and potential commercialization efforts. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through any or a combination of strategic collaboration arrangements, equity or debt financings, and research grants and tax credits.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may be required to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. In addition, we could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborators or others at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable.

To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, including in any at-the-market offering through the Sales Agreement, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a shareholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, could result in fixed payment obligations, and we may be

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required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, force us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios or restrict our ability to pay dividends or make acquisitions.

If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to a third party to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves. If we raise funds through research grants or take advantage of research and development tax credits, we may be subject to certain requirements, which may limit our ability to use the funds or require us to share information from our research and development. Raising additional capital through any of these or other means could adversely affect our business and the holdings or rights of our shareholders and may cause the market price of our ADSs to decline.

Risks Related to the Discovery, Development, Regulatory Approval and Potential Commercialization of Our Product Candidates

The approach we are taking to discover and develop drugs is novel and may never lead to marketable products.

We have concentrated our therapeutic product research and development efforts on siRNA technology, and our future success depends on the successful development of this technology and products based on our siRNA product platform.

The scientific discoveries that form the basis for our efforts to discover and develop product candidates based on siRNA technology are relatively new. The scientific evidence to support the feasibility of developing product candidates based on these discoveries is both preliminary and limited. If we do not successfully develop and commercialize product candidates based upon our technological approach, we may not become profitable, and the value of our ordinary shares may decline.

Further, our focus solely on siRNA technology for developing drugs as opposed to multiple, more proven technologies for drug development increases the risks associated with the ownership of our ordinary shares. If we are not successful in developing any product candidates using siRNA technology, we may be required to change the scope and direction of our product development activities. In that case, we may not be able to identify and successfully implement an alternative product development strategy.

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover potential product candidates.

The success of our business depends primarily upon our ability to identify, develop and commercialize siRNA therapeutics. Our clinical and pre-clinical research programs may show initial promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons, including:

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our research methodology or that of any strategic collaborator may be unsuccessful in identifying potential product candidates that are successful in clinical development;

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potential product candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects or may have other characteristics that may make the products unmarketable or unlikely to receive marketing approval;

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our current or future strategic collaborators may change their development profiles for potential product candidates or abandon a therapeutic area; or

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new competitive developments in the evolving field of RNAi, or in other nucleic acid-based approaches, including gene therapy or gene editing, may render our product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive.

If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential programs or product candidates that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

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We may not be successful in our efforts to increase our pipeline, including by pursuing additional indications for our current product candidates, identifying additional indications for our proprietary platform technology or in-licensing or acquiring additional product candidates for other indications.

We may not be able to develop or identify product candidates that are safe, tolerable and effective. Even if we are successful in continuing to build our pipeline, the potential product candidates that we identify, in-license or acquire may not be suitable for clinical development, including as a result of being shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate that they are unlikely to be products that will receive marketing approval and achieve market acceptance.

Preclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates may not be successful. If we are unable to generate successful results from these studies and trials, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business may be materially harmed.

We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the identification and development of siRNA-based product candidates. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates.

The success of our product candidates will depend on several factors, including, inter alia, the following:

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successfully designing preclinical studies which may be predictive of clinical outcomes;

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successfully conducting and completing clinical trials, including timely patient enrollment and acceptable safety and efficacy data;

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obtaining and maintaining marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities on a timely basis, if ever;

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obtaining and maintaining patent or trade secret protection for future product candidates;

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establishing and maintaining supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties or establishing our own manufacturing capability; and

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successfully commercializing our products, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others.

If we do not achieve one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully complete the development of, or commercialize, our product candidates, which would materially harm our business.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary or “topline” data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or clinical trial. As a result, the “topline” or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. “Topline” data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available.

We may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available or as patients from our clinical trials continue other treatments for their disease. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects. Further, disclosure of interim data by us or by our competitors could result in volatility in the price of our Ordinary Shares.

If the interim, “topline,” or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize,

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our product candidates may be harmed, which could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

If clinical trials of our product candidates fail to commence or, once commenced fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of regulatory authorities, or do not otherwise produce positive results, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.

In clinical development, the risk of failure for product candidates is high. It is impossible to predict when or if any of our product candidates will prove effective or safe in humans or will receive regulatory approval. We are the sponsor of Investigational Medicinal Product Dossiers in multiple jurisdictions and must achieve and maintain compliance with the requirements of various regulatory authorities. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of product candidates, we or a strategic collaborator must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product candidates in humans. As of the date hereof, we have two proprietary product candidates in clinical development, and our other product candidates are preclinical. Clinical trials are expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and are uncertain as to outcome. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The outcome of early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials. Moreover, clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval for their products.

Events which may result in a delay or unsuccessful completion of clinical development include, among other things:

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delays in reaching an agreement with the FDA, EMA, MHRA or other regulatory authorities on final trial design;

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imposition of a clinical hold on our clinical trial operations or trial sites by the FDA or other regulatory authorities;

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disruptions at the FDA and other regulatory agencies caused by funding shortages or future global health crises;

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delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, and clinical trial sites;

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inability to adhere to clinical trial requirements directly or with third parties such as CROs;

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delays in obtaining required Institutional Review Board, or IRB, approval at each clinical trial site;

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delays in recruiting suitable patients and clinical investigators to participate in a trial;

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delays in the testing, validation, manufacturing and delivery of the product candidates and patient samples to and from the clinical sites;

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delays in having patients complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up or ensuring patient compliance with trial protocols;

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delays caused by patients dropping out of a trial due to protocol procedures or requirements, product side effects or disease progression;

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clinical sites dropping out of a trial to the detriment of enrollment;

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time required to add new clinical sites;

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negative outcomes, including deficiencies in good clinical practices, or GCP, in routine inspections by regulatory authorities in the countries where our clinical trials are being conducted;

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investigator fraud, including data fabrication by clinical trial personnel;

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delays by our contract manufacturers to produce and deliver sufficient supply of clinical trial materials; or

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delays in delivering sufficient supply of clinical trial materials to clinical sites and challenges in patient recruitment, as well as challenges regarding global clinical trial supply shipments, importation and customs clearances.

If we or our current or future strategic collaborators are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of any product candidates beyond those that are currently contemplated, are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of any such product candidates or other testing, or if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only moderately positive, or if there are safety concerns, we and they may:

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be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our future product candidates;

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not obtain marketing approval at all;

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obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as originally intended or desired;

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obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings;

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be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements; or

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have the product removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.

Many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates. In addition, our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in testing or marketing approvals. We do not know whether any clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, which would impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations. Any inability to successfully complete clinical development, whether independently or with a strategic collaborator, could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenues from product sales, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments and royalties.

Conducting successful clinical trials requires the enrollment of large numbers of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit.

Patient enrollment in clinical trials and completion of patient participation and follow-up depends on many factors, including the size of the patient population; the nature of the trial protocol; the attractiveness of, or the discomforts and risks associated with, the treatments received by enrolled subjects; the availability of appropriate clinical trial investigators; support staff; the number of ongoing clinical trials in the same indication that compete for the same patients; proximity of patients to clinical sites and ability to comply with the eligibility and exclusion criteria for participation in the clinical trial and patient compliance; the impact of global health crises. For example, patients may be discouraged from enrolling in our clinical trials if the trial protocol requires them to undergo extensive post-treatment procedures or follow-up to assess the safety and effectiveness of our products or if they determine that the treatments received under the trial protocols are not attractive or involve unacceptable risks or discomforts. Patients may also not participate in our clinical trials if they choose to participate in contemporaneous clinical trials of competitive products.

Delays in subject enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our product candidates.

If we are unable to maintain any of our existing collaborations, or if these arrangements are not successful, or we are unable to enter into future licenses, our business could be adversely affected.

We have entered into collaborations with other parties, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies like Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Company Limited, or Hansoh, Mallinckrodt plc, or Mallinckrodt, and AstraZeneca

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PLC, or AstraZeneca, to develop products based on our RNAi technology, and such collaborations and licensing arrangements currently represent a significant portion of our product candidate pipeline. Certain of our collaborations have provided us with important funding for some of our development programs and we expect to receive additional funding under collaborations in the future if certain milestones are achieved although not all of our collaborations may result in funding to us, and certain collaborations, licenses and agreements may result in increased expenditures by us.

Our dependence on collaborators for capabilities and funding means that our business could be adversely affected if any collaborator materially amends or terminates its collaboration agreement with us or fails to perform its obligations under that agreement. Our current or future collaborations, if any, may not be scientifically or commercially successful. Disputes may arise in the future with respect to the ownership of rights to technology or products developed with collaborators, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to develop and commercialize any affected product candidate. Our current collaborations allow, and we expect that any future collaborations will allow, either party to terminate the collaboration for a material breach by the other party. In addition, our collaborators may have additional termination rights for convenience with respect to the collaboration or a particular program under the collaboration, under certain circumstances. For example, our collaboration agreements with Mallinckrodt, AstraZeneca and Hansoh may each be terminated by the respective collaborator at any time upon prior written notice to us. If we were to lose a collaborator, we may have to attract a new collaborator or develop expanded research and development, sales, distribution and marketing capabilities internally, which would require us to invest significant amounts of financial and management resources.

We are actively exploring licenses and other strategic collaborations with additional pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for development and potential commercialization of therapeutic products. However, we face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable collaborators on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a product candidate, reduce or delay our development programs, delay potential commercialization, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.

We rely on third parties to conduct some aspects of our manufacturing, research and development activities, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of research or clinical testing, or may terminate our agreements.

We do not expect to independently conduct all aspects of our manufacturing and drug discovery activities, research or preclinical and clinical studies of product candidates. We currently rely, and expect to continue relying, on third parties to conduct some aspects of our drug development studies and chemical syntheses. Any of these third parties may terminate their engagements with us at any time. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, it would delay our product development activities. Our reliance on these third parties for research and development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibilities. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our pre-clinical and clinical studies in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated study plans and protocols, we will not be able to complete, or may be delayed in completing, the necessary preclinical studies to enable us to progress viable product candidates for investigational new drug, or IND, submissions or comparable foreign submissions and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, advance our clinical trials which would prevent us from successfully developing and commercializing our product candidates.

Although our research and development services can only be performed by us or at our discretion, we rely on third party clinical investigators, CROs, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and consultants to design, conduct, supervise and monitor preclinical studies and clinical trials in relation to our product candidates. Because we rely on third parties and do not have the ability to conduct clinical trials independently, we have less control over the timing, quality and other aspects of clinical trials than we would if we conducted them on our own. These investigators, CROs and consultants are not our employees, and we have limited control over the amount of time and resources that they dedicate to our programs. These third parties may have contractual relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors, which may draw time and resources away from our programs. If we cannot contract with acceptable third parties on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or if these third parties do not carry out their contractual duties, satisfy legal and regulatory requirements for the conduct of clinical trials or

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meet expected deadlines, our clinical development program could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected. In all events, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. The FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities require us to comply with GCP, other applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible, accurate and complete and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. We rely, for example, on third parties for aspects of quality control which are especially important in monitoring compliance with GCP requirements and avoiding any investigator fraud or misconduct in clinical research, such as practices including adherence to an investigational plan; accurate recordkeeping; drug accountability; obtaining completed informed consent forms; timely reporting of any adverse drug reactions; notifying appropriate investigational review boards, or IRBs, and ethics committees of progress reports and any significant changes; and obtaining documented IRB approvals or positive ethics committee opinions. Our reliance on third parties that we do not control does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. The third parties with which we contract might not be diligent, careful or timely in conducting our clinical trials, as a result of which we could experience one or more lapses in quality controls or other aspects of clinical trial management, and the clinical trials could be delayed or unsuccessful. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We rely on third-party manufacturers to produce our preclinical, clinical product candidates and certain starting material components, and we intend to rely on third parties to produce future clinical supplies of product candidates that we advance into clinical trials and commercial supplies of any approved product candidates.

Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks, including risks that we would not be subject to if we manufactured the product candidates ourselves, including:

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the inability to meet any product specifications and quality requirements consistently;

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a delay or inability to procure or expand sufficient manufacturing capacity;

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manufacturing and product quality issues related to scale-up of manufacturing;

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costs and validation of new equipment and facilities required for scale-up;

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a failure to comply with applicable government regulations and regulatory requirements;

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the inability to negotiate manufacturing or supply agreements with third parties under commercially reasonable terms or at all;

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termination or non-renewal of manufacturing agreements with third parties in a manner or at a time that is costly or damaging to us;

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the reliance on a limited number of sources, such that if we were unable to secure a sufficient supply of these product components, we will be unable to manufacture and sell future product candidates in a timely fashion, in sufficient quantities or under acceptable terms; and

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the losses incurred by us if our insurance coverage is insufficient to cover any loss, contamination or damage of chemical materials, product components or products made by any of our CMOs, once the materials or products have been shipped to us and the risk of loss has been transferred to us.

We face risks inherent in relying on contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, as any disruption, such as a fire, natural hazards, pandemic, epidemic, war or outbreak of an infectious disease at a CMO could significantly interrupt our manufacturing capability. We, or our contract manufacturers, any future collaborators and their contract manufacturers could be subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA, competent authorities of EU Member States or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, to monitor and ensure compliance with cGMP. Despite our efforts to audit and verify regulatory compliance, one or more of our third-party manufacturing vendors may be found on regulatory inspection by the FDA, competent authorities of EU Member States or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities to be noncompliant with cGMP regulations. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including shutdown of the third-party vendor or invalidation of drug product lots or processes, fines, injunctions, civil penalties,

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delays, suspension, variation or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or drugs, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our products, if approved, and significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If necessary to avoid future disruption, we may have to establish alternative manufacturing sources. This would require substantial capital on our part, which we may not be able to obtain on commercially acceptable terms or at all. Additionally, we may experience manufacturing delays as we build or locate replacement facilities and seek and obtain necessary regulatory approvals. If this occurs, we will be unable to satisfy manufacturing needs on a timely basis, if at all. Also, operating any new facilities may be more expensive than operating the then existing facility. Further, business interruption insurance may not adequately compensate us for any losses that may occur and we would have to bear the additional cost of any disruption. For these reasons, a significant disruptive event affecting the manufacturing facility could have drastic consequences, including placing our financial stability at risk.

Even if we complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials, we cannot predict whether or when we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate and we cannot, therefore, predict the timing of any revenue from a future product.

Neither we nor any strategic collaborator can commercialize a product until the appropriate regulatory authorities, such as the FDA, European Commission or MHRA, have reviewed and approved the product candidate. The regulatory authorities may not complete their review processes in a timely manner, or we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval. Additional delays may result if an FDA Advisory Committee, or similar foreign governmental institution, recommends restrictions or conditions on approval or recommends non-approval. In addition, we or a strategic collaborator may experience delays or rejections based upon additional government regulation from future legislation or administrative action, or changes in regulatory agency or authority policy during the period of product development, clinical trials and the review process.

We cannot be sure that the FDA, the EMA or the European Commission or MHRA will accept the outcome of our preclinical testing and studies as sufficient to support the submission of an IND or a comparable foreign application or that the results of our clinical trials will be sufficient to support marketing approval. Furthermore, later clinical trials often produce unsatisfactory results even though prior clinical trials were successful. Moreover, the results of clinical trials may be unsatisfactory to the FDA, the EMA or European Commission, the MHRA or other comparable regulatory authorities even if we believe those clinical trials to be successful. The FDA, the competent authorities of EU Member States, the MHRA or other comparable regulatory authorities may suspend one or all of our clinical trials or the FDA, EMA or MHRA may require that we conduct additional clinical, preclinical, manufacturing, validation or drug product quality studies and submit that data before considering or reconsidering any new drug application, or NDA, or comparable foreign regulatory application that we may submit. Depending on the extent of these additional studies, approval of any applications that we submit may be significantly delayed or may cause the termination of such programs, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. Regulatory authorities can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidate for many reasons, including unsatisfactory efficacy and safety data from our trials disagreements over the design of our trial and/or manufacturing issues and a number of other factors which we and the regulators may disagree.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, we will still face extensive regulatory requirements, and our products may face future development and regulatory difficulties.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval in the United States and the European Union, the FDA and the European Commission may still impose significant restrictions on the indicated uses or marketing of our product candidates or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly post-approval studies or post-market surveillance. The holder of an approved NDA in the United States, or a marketing authorization, or MA, in the European Union is obligated to monitor and report adverse events, or AEs, or adverse reactions and any failure of a product to meet the specifications in the NDA, or MA. The holder of an approved NDA or MA must also submit new or supplemental applications and obtain regulatory approval in order to make certain changes to the approved product, product labeling or manufacturing process. Advertising and promotional materials must comply with the relevant regulatory rules and, in the United States and in some EU Member States, are subject to FDA review or national regulatory review, in addition to other potentially applicable federal, state and foreign laws.

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In addition, drug product manufacturers and their facilities are subject to payment of user fees or may require manufacturing and import authorizations, or MIAs, in the European Union, and continual review and periodic inspections by regulatory authorities for compliance with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, including quality control, quality assurance, and the maintenance of records and documentation to ensure that approved products are safe and consistently meet applicable requirements, and adherence to commitments made in the NDA or MA. We or any third party manufacturers we engage may be unable to comply with these cGMP and with other regulatory authority requirements. These requirements are enforced by regulatory authorities through periodic inspections of manufacturing facilities. If we or a regulatory authority discovers previously unknown problems with a product such as AEs of unanticipated severity or frequency, adverse reactions, or product quality issues, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, a regulatory authority may impose restrictions relative to that product or the manufacturing facility. A negative outcome from such inspection or a failure to provide adequate and timely corrective actions in response to deficiencies identified could result in enforcement action, including shutdown of the third-party vendor or invalidation of drug product lots or processes, warning letters, fines and civil penalties, suspension of production, suspension, variation or delay in product approval, license revocation, product seizure or recall of product candidates or approved products, plant shutdown, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions or the delay, withholding, variation or withdrawal of product approval. If the safety of any product is compromised due to a manufacturer’s failure to adhere to applicable laws or for other reasons, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our products, which would seriously harm our business.

If there are changes in the application of legislation or regulatory policies, or if problems are discovered with a product or our manufacture of a product, or if we or one of our distributors, licensees or co-marketers fails to comply with regulatory requirements that apply to the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing approval, marketing authorization of medicinal products and marketing of such products, both before and after grant of the marketing authorization, or with other applicable regulatory requirements, the regulators could take various actions such as:

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issuing a warning letter or untitled letter asserting that we are in violation of the law;

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seeking an injunction or imposing civil or criminal penalties or monetary fines;

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suspending, varying or withdrawing regulatory approval;

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suspending any ongoing clinical trials;

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refusing to approve a pending NDA or MA or supplements to an NDA or MA submitted by us;

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seizing product; or

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refusing to allow us to enter into supply contracts, including government contracts.

Any government investigation of alleged violations of law could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity. The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize our future products and generate revenues.

Even if we obtain and maintain approval for our product candidates in one jurisdiction, we may never obtain approval for our product candidates with other regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. Sales of our product candidates outside of the United States and the European Union will be subject to foreign regulatory requirements governing clinical trials and marketing approval and continual regulatory review. Failure to comply with EU and EU Member State laws that apply to the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing approval, marketing authorization of medicinal products and marketing of such products, both before and after grant of the marketing authorization, or with other applicable regulatory requirements may result in administrative, civil or criminal penalties. These penalties could include delays or refusal to authorize the conduct of clinical trials, or to grant marketing authorization, product withdrawals and recalls, product seizures, suspension, withdrawal or variation of the marketing authorization, total or partial suspension of production, distribution, manufacturing or clinical trials, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, fines and criminal penalties.

We will be subject to ongoing obligations and oversight by regulatory authorities, including adverse event reporting requirements, marketing restrictions and, potentially, other post-marketing obligations, all of which may result in significant expense and limit our ability to commercialize such products, if approved.

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We may not be able to obtain or maintain orphan drug designations for any of our product candidates, and we may be unable to maintain the benefits associated with orphan drug designation, including the potential for market exclusivity.

Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States, the EU and other European countries, may designate drugs or biologics for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. In the United States, under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug or biological product intended to treat a rare disease or condition. Such diseases and conditions are those that affect fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or if they affect more than 200,000 individuals in the United States, there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making a drug available in the United States for these types of diseases or conditions will be recovered from sales of the drug. However, orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an NDA and there can be no assurance that any such designation will be granted. If the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process.

In the United States, orphan drug designation recipients can take advantage of special incentives provided by the FDA such as (i) potential market exclusivity of the product for seven years as the first sponsor (ii) tax credits for qualified clinical research for a designated orphan product and (iii) waiver of associated fees when submitting a marketing application to the FDA.

Similarly, in the European Union, orphan designation is intended to promote the development of medicinal products that are intended for (i) the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions (ii) either (a) such conditions affect not more than 5 in 10,000 persons in the EU when the application is made, or (b) the product without the benefits derived from orphan status, would not generate sufficient return in the EU to justify the necessary investment in developing the medicinal product; and (iii) there exists no satisfactory authorized method of diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of the condition that has been authorized in the EU, or even if such method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by that condition. In EU, orphan designation entitles a party to a number of incentives, such as fee reductions or fee waivers, protocol assistance, and access to the centralized marketing authorization procedure. Upon grant of a marketing authorization, orphan medicinal products are entitled to a ten-year period of market exclusivity for the approved therapeutic indication, which means that the EMA cannot accept another marketing authorization application or accept an application to extend for a similar product and the European Commission cannot grant a marketing authorization for the same indication for a period of ten years. The period of market exclusivity is extended by two years for orphan medicinal products that have also complied with an agreed PIP. This marketing exclusivity period can however, be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria on the basis of which it received orphan medicinal product destination, including where it can be demonstrated on the basis of available evidence that the original orphan medicinal product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity or where the prevalence of the condition has increased above the threshold.

Our product candidate, divesiran (SLN124), has received orphan drug designation from the European Commission for the treatment of beta-thalassemia and from the FDA for the treatment of beta-thalassemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, and polycythemia vera, or PV. Our drug candidate, SLN501, has received orphan drug designation from the FDA for complement 3 glomerulopathy, or C3G. The EMA and the European Commission will reassess eligibility for divesiran orphan exclusivity at the time of MA review and can remove orphan status if the drug no longer meets the eligibility criteria, including offering a significant benefit to those affected, at that time. Moreover, even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity in the future for a product candidate for these or other indications, such exclusivity may not effectively protect the product candidate from competition because different therapies can be approved for the same condition and the same therapies can be approved for different conditions but used off-label. Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA or European Commission can subsequently approve a different or a similar drug for the same condition if such regulatory authority concludes that the later drug is clinically superior because it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. Orphan drug exclusivity may also be lost if the regulatory authority later determines that the initial request for designation was materially defective. In addition, orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the regulatory authority from approving competing drugs for the same disease or condition containing a different active ingredient. In addition, if a subsequent drug is approved for marketing for the same disease or condition as any of our product candidates that receive marketing approval, we may face increased competition and lose market share regardless of orphan drug exclusivity.

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We may use our financial and human resources to pursue a particular research program or product candidate and fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and human resources, we intend to leverage our existing licensing and collaboration agreements and may enter into new strategic collaboration agreements for the development and commercialization of our programs and potential product candidates in indications with potentially large commercial markets while focusing our internal development resources, and any future internal sales and marketing organization that we may establish, on research programs and product candidates intended for selected markets or patient populations, such as rare diseases. As a result, and even as we prioritize our current product candidates and clinical trials, we may forego or delay pursuit of other programs or product candidates or other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate, or we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a collaboration arrangement.

Any of our product candidates may cause adverse effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval or limit the scope of any approved label or market acceptance.

AEs caused by our product candidates could cause us, other reviewing entities, clinical trial sites or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in the denial of regulatory approval. Certain oligonucleotide therapeutics have been observed to result in injection site reactions and pro-inflammatory effects and may also lead to impairment of kidney or liver function. There is a risk that our future product candidates may induce similar AEs.

If AEs are observed in any clinical trials of our product candidates, including those that a strategic collaborator may develop under an agreement with us, our or our collaborators’ ability to obtain regulatory approval for product candidates may be negatively impacted.

Further, if any of our future products, if and when approved for commercial sale, cause serious or unexpected side effects, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

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regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product or impose restrictions on our distribution in the form of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy or comparable foreign strategy;

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regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as warnings or contraindications;

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we may be required to change the way the product is administered or conduct additional clinical trials;

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we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients; or

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our reputation may suffer.

Any of these events could prevent us or our collaborators from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product and could substantially increase the costs of commercializing our future products and impair our ability to generate revenues from the commercialization of these products either on our own or with the collaborator.

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Even if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, they may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third party payers and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

The product candidates that we are developing are based upon new technologies or therapeutic approaches. Key participants in pharmaceutical marketplaces, such as physicians, third-party payers and consumers, may not accept a product intended to improve therapeutic results based on RNAi technology. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to educate the medical community and third-party payers on the benefits of our product, or to provide favorable reimbursement and market access. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

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the efficacy, safety and potential advantages of any of our product candidates compared to alternative treatments;

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our ability to offer our products for sale at competitive prices;

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the stability, shelf life, convenience and ease of storage and administration compared to alternative treatments;

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the willingness of the target patient population to try new treatments and of physicians to prescribe these treatments;

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our ability to hire and retain a sales force, or to engage one or more third party distributors for our products;

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the strength of marketing and distribution support;

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the availability of third-party payer coverage and adequate reimbursement for our product candidates;

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the prevalence and severity of any side effects; and

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any restrictions on the use of our products together with other medications.

Risks Related to Our Business Operations and Compliance with Government Regulations

We face competition from other companies that are working to develop novel drugs and technology platforms using technologies similar to ours. If these companies develop drugs more rapidly than we do or their technologies, including delivery technologies, are more effective, our ability to successfully commercialize drugs may be adversely affected.

We face potential competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and public and private research institutions. Many of our competitors may have greater experience in research and development, manufacturing, managing clinical trials and/or regulatory compliance than we do, and may be better resourced financially. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing products and new products that may become available in the future. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and recruiting lead clinical trial investigators and establishing clinical study sites and patient registration for clinical studies, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Companies that complete clinical trials, obtain required regulatory authority approvals and commence commercial sale of their drugs before we do may achieve a significant competitive advantage, and our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any products that we may develop and commercialize. Because our products and many potential competing products are in various stages of preclinical and clinical development, and given the inherent unpredictability of drug development, it is difficult to predict which third parties may provide the most competition, and on what specific basis.

In addition to the competition we face from competing drugs in general, we also face competition from other companies working to develop novel drugs using technology that competes more directly with our own. We are aware

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of several other companies that are working to develop RNAi therapeutic products and other companies may develop alternative treatments for the diseases we have identified as being potentially treated with our siRNA molecules. To the extent those alternative treatments are more efficacious, less expensive, more convenient or produce fewer side effects, our market opportunity would be reduced.

Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are highly dependent on principal members of our executive team, the loss of whose services may adversely impact the achievement of our objectives. Certain of our executive officers are “at will” employees and may terminate their employment with us at any time upon prior written notice. Recruiting and retaining other qualified employees for our business, including scientific and technical personnel, will also be critical to our success. There is currently a shortage of skilled executives in our industry, which is likely to continue. As a result, competition for skilled personnel is intense and the turnover rate can be high. We may not be able to attract and retain personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous life sciences companies for individuals with similar skill sets. In addition, failure to succeed in preclinical studies and clinical trials may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel.

The inability to recruit or loss of the services of any executive or key employee might impede the progress of our research, development and commercialization objectives.

We may need to expand our organization and may experience difficulties in managing this growth, which could disrupt our operations.

As of December 31, 2024, we had 116 employees. In the future we may expand our employee base to increase our managerial, scientific, operational, commercial, financial and other resources and to hire more consultants and contractors. Future growth would impose significant additional responsibilities on our management, including the need to identify, recruit, maintain, motivate and integrate additional employees, consultants and contractors. Also, our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from its day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, give rise to operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. Moreover, if our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenues could be reduced, and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize product candidates and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth.

If we fail to introduce new products or keep pace with advances in technology, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We spend a relatively low amount on technological innovation compared to our larger competitors. There is a risk that competitors will be quicker to develop new technologies, new products for the same gene targets or new delivery methods of nucleic acids into novel cell types, particularly once competitors learn about new gene targets that we or our collaborators have selected for the development of siRNA molecules. We will need to successfully introduce new products to achieve our strategic business objectives. Our successful product development will depend on many factors, including our ability to attract strong talent to lead our research and development efforts, adapt to new technologies, obtain regulatory approvals on a timely basis, demonstrate satisfactory clinical results, manufacture products in an economical and timely manner, obtain appropriate intellectual property protection for our products, gain and maintain market acceptance of our products, and differentiate our products from those of our competitors. In addition, patents attained by others may preclude or delay our commercialization of a product. There can be no assurance that any products now in development or that we may seek to develop in the future will achieve technological feasibility, obtain regulatory approval or gain market acceptance. If we cannot successfully introduce new products or adapt to changing technologies, our products may become obsolete, and our revenue and profitability could suffer.

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We face potential product liability and other claims, and, if successful claims are brought against us, we may incur substantial liability and costs.

The use of our product candidates in clinical trials and the sale of any products for which we obtain marketing approval exposes us to the risk of product liability claims, including claims related to impurities in our products or potential product recalls. Certain single-stranded oligonucleotide therapeutics have led to injection site reactions and pro-inflammatory effects and may also lead to impairment of kidney or liver function. There is a risk that our current and future product candidates, although double-stranded, may induce similar or other adverse events. Product liability claims might be brought against us by consumers, healthcare providers, life sciences companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our products; other claims may be brought against us by third parties with whom we contract, or by current or former employees or consultants, including claims of wrongful terminations, discrimination, other violations of labor law or other alleged conduct. If we cannot successfully defend against such claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, such claims may result in, among other things:

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impairment of our business reputation;

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withdrawal of clinical trial participants with respect to product liability claims;

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costs due to related litigation;

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distraction of management’s attention from our primary business;

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substantial monetary awards to claimants;

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the inability to commercialize our product candidates; and

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decreased demand for our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale.

We maintain product liability insurance relating to the use of our therapeutics in clinical trials. However, such insurance coverage may not be sufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer. Moreover, insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive and in the future we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability. If and when we obtain marketing approval for product candidates, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products; however, we may be unable to obtain product liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or in adequate amounts. On occasion, large judgments have been awarded in class action lawsuits based on drugs that had unanticipated adverse effects. A successful product liability claim or series of claims brought against us could cause our share price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage, could adversely affect our results of operations and business.

Cybersecurity risks and the failure to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our computer hardware, software, data and internet applications and related tools and functions, or those of third parties with whom we work, could result in damage to our reputation and/or subject us to costs, fines or lawsuits.

Our business requires manipulating, analyzing and storing large amounts of sensitive data, and, as a result, we and the third parties with whom we work face a variety of evolving threats that could cause security incidents. Our business therefore depends on the continuous, effective, reliable, and secure operation of our computer hardware, software, networks, internet servers, third party technology service providers and related infrastructure. To the extent that our hardware or software, or the hardware or software of the third parties with whom we work, malfunctions or access to our data by internal research personnel is interrupted, our business could suffer. Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud, and other similar activities threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our sensitive data and information technology systems, and those of the third parties with whom we work. The regulatory environment governing information, security and privacy laws is increasingly demanding and continues to evolve, as further described below. Maintaining compliance with applicable security and privacy regulations has in the past and may in the future increase our operating costs. While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against security incidents, there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective.

We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to a variety of evolving cybersecurity threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which are increasingly more difficult to

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identify as fake, and phishing attacks), denial-of-service attacks, credential stuffing, credential harvesting, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI, fire, storm, flood, power loss, earthquakes, telecommunications failures, physical or software break-ins, software viruses, accidental or malicious insider-action and other similar threats. These events could lead to the unauthorized access, disclosure and use of our sensitive data and information technology systems. The techniques used by criminal elements to attack computer systems are sophisticated, change frequently and may originate from less regulated and remote areas of the world and increasingly involve highly resourced threat actors such as organized criminals and nation states. As a result, we cannot provide assurance that our efforts to address these techniques proactively or implement adequate preventative measures will always be successful.

Remote work has increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as more of our employees utilize network connections, computers, and devices outside our premises or network, including working at home, while in transit and in public locations. Additionally, future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities’ systems and technologies. We may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.

We rely on third-party service providers and technologies to operate critical business systems that process sensitive data. Our ability to monitor these third parties’ information security practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. Certain of our third-party service providers have, and may again in the future, experience a security incident or other interruption that results in adverse consequences to our operations. While we may be entitled to damages if our third-party service providers fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award.

We take steps designed to detect, mitigate, and remediate vulnerabilities in our informationsystems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties with whom we work). We may not, however, detect and remediate all such vulnerabilities including on a timely basis. Further, we may experience delays in deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address identified vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities could be exploited and result in a security incident.

Any of the previously identified or similar threats could cause a security incident or other interruption that could result in unauthorized, unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to our sensitive data or our information technology systems, or those of the third parties with whom we work. A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties with whom we work) to operate our business.

If we (or a third party with whom we work) experience a security incident or are perceived to have experienced a security incident, we could experience material adverse consequences, such as fines, damages, litigation and enforcement actions, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight, restrictions on processing sensitive data (including personal data), indemnification obligations; negative publicity, reputational harm, monetary fund diversions, diversion of management attention, and interruptions in our operations (including availability of clinical trial data). In addition, any sustained disruption in internet systems or network access provided by other companies could harm our business. Similarly, if a security incident were to occur, we may be required, or we may voluntarily choose, to notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, customers, regulators, and investors, of security incidents, or to take other actions, such as providing credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Such disclosures and related actions can be costly, and the disclosure or the failure to comply with such applicable requirements could lead to adverse consequences, including reputational damage, investigations and fines from regulators, as well as litigation. Furthermore, if we are required to disclose the occurrence of a cybersecurity incident, the price of our ADSs may be negatively impacted.

Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations.

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Additionally, sensitive data of the Company could be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with our employees’, personnel’s, or vendors’ use of generative artificial intelligence ("AI"), technologies.

We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign data privacy and security laws, regulationscontractual obligations, industry standards, policies, and other obligations, and our (or the third parties with whom we work)actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could lead to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation (including class actions); fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse business consequences.

In the ordinary course of business, we collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, process) personal data and other sensitive information, including proprietary and confidential business data, trade secrets, intellectual property, sensitive third-party data, business plans, transactions, clinical trial data and financial information (collectively, sensitive data).

Our data processing activities subject us to privacy and data protection obligations, such as various laws, regulations, guidance, industry standards, external and internal privacy and security policies, contractual requirements, and other obligations relating to data privacy and security.

Outside the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations, guidance and industry standards govern data privacy and security. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation ("EU GDPR") and the United Kingdom’s GDPR ("U.K. GDPR")(collectively, “GDPR”) impose strict requirements for processing personal data (including health data). Under GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions; fines of up to 20 million Euros under the EU GDPR, 17.5 million pounds sterling under the UK GDPR or, in each case, 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is greater; or private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests.

In the ordinary course of business, we may transfer personal data from Europe and other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries. Europe and other jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to third countries, including the United States, whose privacy laws it generally believes are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt similarly stringent interpretations of their data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with law (e.g., the EEA Standard Contractual Clauses, the United Kingdom’s International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum, and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the United Kingdom’s extension thereto (which allows for transfers to relevant U.S.-based organizations who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework)), these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States. If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally-compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions (such as Europe) at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties, and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business.Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants, and activist groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers out of Europe for allegedly violating the GDPR’s cross-border data transfer limitations. The United States is also increasingly scrutinizing certain data transfers and may also impose certain data localization requirements, particularly if we transfer personal data to, or process personal data of residents of, high risk or sanctioned jurisdictions.

In the United States, federal, state, and local governments have enacted numerous data privacy and security laws, including data breach notification laws, personal data privacy laws, consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws). For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) requires covered companies to provide disclosures to California residents,

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including consumers, business representatives, and employees, and requires businesses to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and honor requests of California residents to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA provides for statutory fines and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages. Although there are limited exemptions for clinical trial data under the CCPA, the CCPA may impact (possibly significantly) our business activities, should we become subject to the CCPA in the future. Numerous other U.S. states have also enacted comprehensive privacy laws, and similar laws are being considered in several other states, as well as at the federal and local levels. While many of these state laws, like the CCPA, exempt some data processed in the context of clinical trials, these developments further complicate compliance efforts, and increase legal risk and compliance costs for us and the third parties with whom we work. Failure to comply with federal and state laws in the United States regarding privacy and security of personal data could further expose us to penalties under privacy and data protection laws. Even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could harm our business.

In addition, on occasion our employees and personnel use generative AI technologies to perform their work, and the disclosure and use of personal data in generative AI technologies is subject to various privacy laws and other privacy obligations. Governments have passed and are likely to pass additional laws regulating generative AI. Our use of this technology could result in additional compliance costs, regulatory investigations and actions, and lawsuits. If we are unable to use generative AI, it could make our business less efficient and result in competitive disadvantages.

We are bound by contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. We also publish policies, marketing materials, and other statements concerning data privacy and security. Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing these statements, and if these policies, materials or statements are found to be deficient, lacking in transparency, deceptive, unfair, misleading, or misrepresentative of our practices, we may be subject to investigation, enforcement actions by regulators, or other adverse consequences.

Obligations related to data privacy and security (and individuals’ data privacy expectations) are quickly changing, becoming increasingly stringent, and creating uncertainty. Additionally, these obligations may be subject to differing applications and interpretations, which may be inconsistent or conflict among jurisdictions. Preparing for and complying with these obligations requires us to devote significant resources, which may necessitate changes to our services, information technologies, systems, and practices and to those of any third parties that process personal data on our behalf.

We may at times fail (or be perceived to have failed) in our efforts to comply with our data privacy and security obligations. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties with whom we work may fail to comply with such obligations, which could negatively impact our business operations and compliance posture. For example, any failure by a third party with whom we work to comply with applicable law, regulations, or contractual obligations could result in adverse effects, including inability to or interruption in our ability to operate our business and proceedings against us by governmental entities or others. If we or the third parties with whom we work fail, or are perceived to have failed, to address or comply with applicable data privacy and security obligations, we could face significant consequences, including but not limited to: government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, penalties, audits, inspections, and similar); litigation (including class-action claims); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; bans or restrictions on processing personal data (including clinical trial data); orders to destroy or not use personal data; and imprisonment of company officials.

Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, or financial condition, including but not limited to: loss of customers; interruptions or stoppages in our business operations (including, as relevant, clinical trials); inability to process personal data or to operate in certain jurisdictions; limited ability to develop or commercialize our products; expenditure of time and resources to defend any claim or inquiry; adverse publicity; or revision or restructuring of our operations.

Our employees, consultants and contractors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements or insider trading violations, which could significantly harm our business.

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We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees, consultants or contractors could include intentional failures to comply with governmental regulations, comply with healthcare fraud and abuse and anti-kickback laws and regulations in the United States, the EU Member States, the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions, or failure to report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Employee misconduct could also involve the improper use of, including improper trading based upon, information obtained in the course of clinical studies, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. We have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics and a robust compliance program, but it is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and results of operations, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

Our relationships with U.S. healthcare providers, including physicians, and third-party payers will be subject to applicable U.S. anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, anti-bribery and other healthcare laws and regulations,which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.

Healthcare providers and third-party payers play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our current and future arrangements with healthcare providers, third-party payers and customers may expose us to broadly applicable U.S. federal and state fraud and abuse, transparency, health data privacy, and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we research as well as market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. If we are found to be in violation of any of any healthcare laws or any other federal or state regulations, we may be subject to significant administrative, civil and/or criminal penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from federal health care programs, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

Healthcare legislative and other regulatory reform measures may have a negative impact on our business and results of operations.

In the United States, there have been, and continue to be, legislative and regulatory developments regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Additionally, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny in the United States of pharmaceutical pricing practices in light of the rising cost of prescription drugs and biologics. Such scrutiny has resulted in several recent congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, require direct price negotiations for certain high-expenditure, single-source prescription drugs and biologics covered by the Medicare program, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for products. While any proposed measures will require authorization through additional legislation to become effective, Congress and the current administration have each indicated that they will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. At the state level, legislatures are increasingly passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or successfully commercialize our drugs.

In addition, the policies of the FDA, the competent authorities of the EU Member States, the EMA, the European Commission and other comparable regulatory authorities responsible for clinical trials may change and additional government regulations may be enacted. For instance, the regulatory landscape related to clinical trials in the EU

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recently evolved. The EU Clinical Trials Regulation, or CTR, which was adopted in April 2014 and repeals the EU Clinical Trials Directive, became applicable on January 31, 2022. The CTR allows sponsors to make a single submission to both the competent authority and an ethics committee in each EU Member State, leading to a single decision for each EU Member State. The assessment procedure for the authorization of clinical trials has been harmonized as well, including a joint assessment by all EU Member States concerned, and a separate assessment by each EU Member State with respect to specific requirements related to its own territory, including ethics rules. Each EU Member State’s decision is communicated to the sponsor via the centralized EU portal. Once the clinical trial approved, clinical study development may proceed. The CTR foresees a three-year transition period. The extent to which ongoing and new clinical trials will be governed by the CTR varies. For clinical trials in relation to which application for approval was made on the basis of the Clinical Trials Directive before January 31, 2023, the Clinical Trials Directive will continue to apply on a transitional basis until January 31, 2025. By that date, all ongoing trials will become subject to the provisions of the CTR. The CTR will apply to clinical trials from an earlier date if the related clinical trial application was made on the basis of the CTR or if the clinical trial has already transitioned to the CTR framework before January 31, 2025. Compliance with the CTR requirements by us and our third-party service providers, such as CROs, may impact our developments plans. In light of the entry into application of the CTR on January 31, 2022, we may be required to transition clinical trials for which we have obtained regulatory approvals in accordance with the CTD to the regulatory framework of the CTR. Transition of clinical trials governed by the CTD to the CTR will be required for clinical trials which will have at least one site active in the E.U. on January 30, 2025. A transitioning application would need to be submitted to the competent authorities of E.U. Member States through the Clinical Trials Information Systems and related regulatory approval obtained to continue the clinical trial past January 30, 2025. This would require financial, technical and human resources. If we are unable to transition our clinical trials in time, the conduct of those clinical trials may be negatively impacted.

It is currently unclear to what extent the UK will seek to align its regulations with the EU in the future. The UKregulatory framework in relation to clinical trials is derived from existing EU legislation (as implemented intoUK law, through secondary legislation). On January 17, 2022, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, launched an eight-week consultation on reframing the UK legislation for clinical trials. The UK Government published its response to the consultation on March 21, 2023, confirming that it would bring forward changes to the legislation, and such changes were laid in parliament on December 12, 2024. These resulting legislative amendments will, if implemented in their current form, bring the UK into closer alignment with the CTR. Failure of the UK to closely align its regulations with the EU may have an effect on the cost of conducting clinical trials in the UK as opposed to other countries and/or make it harder to seek a marketing authorization for the Company's product candidates on the basis of clinical trials conducted in the United Kingdom.

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Moreover, in order to obtain reimbursement for our products in some European countries, including some EU Member States, we may be required to compile additional data comparing the cost-effectiveness of our products to other available therapies. This Health Technology Assessment, or HTA, of medicinal products is becoming an increasingly common part of the pricing and reimbursement procedures in some EU Member States, including those representing the larger markets. The HTA process is the procedure to assess therapeutic, economic and societal impact of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country. The outcome of an HTA will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU Member States. The extent to which pricing and reimbursement decisions are influenced by the HTA of the specific medicinal product currently varies between EU Member States. The HTA Regulation has applied from January 12, 2025, although it will enter into force iteratively and initially apply to new active substances to treat cancer and to all advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), it will then be expanded to orphan medicinal products in January 2028, and to all centrally authorized medicinal products as of 2030. Selected high-risk medical devices will also be assessed under the HTA Regulation as of 2026. The HTA Regulation is intended to harmonize the clinical benefit assessment of HTA across the EU and permits EU Member States to use common HTA tools, methodologies, and procedures across the EU, working together in four main areas, including joint clinical assessment of the innovative health technologies with the most potential impact for patients, joint scientific consultations whereby developers can seek advice from HTA authorities, identification of emerging health technologies to identify promising technologies early, and continuing voluntary cooperation in other areas. Individual EU Member States will continue to be responsible for assessing non-clinical (e.g., economic, social, ethical) aspects of health technologies, and making decisions on pricing and reimbursement. If we are unable to maintain favorable pricing and reimbursement status in EU Member States for product candidates that we may successfully develop and for which we may obtain regulatory approval, any anticipated revenue from and growth prospects for those products in the EU could be negatively affected. In light of the fact that the United Kingdom has left the EU, Regulation No 2021/2282 on HTA does not apply in the United Kingdom. However, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulation Agency, or MHRA, is working with UK HTA bodies and other national organizations, such as the Scottish Medicines Consortium, or SMC, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, and the All-Wales Medicines Strategy Group, to introduce new pathways supporting innovative approaches to the safe, timely and efficient development of medicinal products, including, effective as of 31 March 2025, relaunching the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway with more predicable timelines and closer involvement of the National Health Service.

In addition, on April 26, 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Directive and Regulation to revise the existing pharmaceutical legislation and on April 10, 2024, the Parliament adopted its related position. The proposed revisions remain to be agreed and adopted by the European Council. Moreover, on December 1, 2024, a new European Commission took office. The proposal could, therefore, still be subject to revisions. If adopted in the form proposed, the European Commission proposals to revise the existing EU laws governing authorization of medicinal products may result in a number of changes to the regulatory framework governing medicinal products, including a decrease in data and market exclusivity opportunities for our product candidates in the EU and make them open to generic or biosimilar competition earlier than is currently the case with a related reduction in reimbursement status.

If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, our development plans may be impacted.

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business, which could reduce the price of our common shares.

Following Brexit, the UK and the EU signed a EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or TCA, which became provisionally applicable on January 1, 2021 and entered into force on May 1, 2021. This agreement provides details on how some aspects of the UK and EU’s relationship will operate going forwards however there are still uncertainties. The TCA primarily focuses on ensuring free trade between the EU and the UK in relation to goods, including medicinal products. Among the changes that have occurred are that the United Kingdom is treated as a “third country,” a country that is not a member of the EU and whose citizens do not enjoy the EU right to free movement. Northern Ireland continues to follow certain limited EU regulatory rules, including in relation to medical devices, but not in relation to medicinal products. As part of the TCA, the EU and the UK recognize GMP inspections carried out by the other party and the acceptance of official GMP documents issued by the other party. The TCA also encourages, although it does not oblige, the parties to consult one another on proposals to introduce significant changes to technical regulations or

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inspection procedures. Among the areas of absence of mutual recognition are batch testing and batch release. The UK has unilaterally agreed to accept EU batch testing and batch release. However, the EU continues to apply EU laws that require batch testing and batch release to take place in the EU territory. This means that medicinal products that are tested and released in the UK must be retested and re-released when entering the EU market for commercial use.

On February 27, 2023, the UK government and the European Commission reached a political agreement on the so-called “Windsor Framework.” The Windsor Framework is intended to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol to address some of the perceived shortcomings in its operation. The agreement was adopted at the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee on March 24, 2023, and the arrangements under the Windsor Framework relating to medicinal products took effect on January 1, 2025. As it relates to marketing authorizations, the United Kingdom has a separate regulatory submission process, approval process and a separate national marketing authorization. Northern Ireland continued, until January 1, 2025, to be covered by the marketing authorizations granted by the European Commission but the Windsor Framework provides that the UK MHRA is the sole regulatory body responsible for granting marketing authorizations for Northern Ireland as of January 1, 2025.

A significant proportion of the regulatory framework in the UK applicable to medicinal products is currently derived from EU Directives and Regulations. The potential for UK legislation to diverge from EU legislation following Brexit could materially impact the regulatory regime with respect to the development, manufacture, import, approval, and commercialization of our product candidates in the UK or the EU. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies governing clinical trials, our development plans may be impacted.

All of these changes could increase our costs and otherwise adversely affect our business. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any regulatory approvals, as a result of Brexit or otherwise, would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates in the UK or the EU and restrict our ability to generate revenue and achieve and sustain profitability. In addition, we may be required to pay taxes or duties or be subjected to other hurdles in connection with the importation of our product candidates into the EU. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to restrict or delay efforts to seek regulatory approval in the UK or the EU for our product candidates, or incur significant additional expenses to operate our business, which could significantly and materially harm or delay our ability to generate revenues or achieve profitability of our business. Any further changes in international trade, tariff and import/export regulations as a result of Brexit or otherwise may impose unexpected duty costs or other non-tariff barriers on us. These developments, or the perception that any of them could occur, may significantly reduce global trade and, in particular, trade between the impacted nations and the UK. It is also possible that Brexit may negatively affect our ability to attract and retain employees, particularly those from the EU.

We may face uncertainty related to pricing, coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.

Sales of our product candidates in the U.S., if approved, will depend, in part, on the extent to which such products will be covered by third-party payers, such as government health care programs, commercial insurance and managed healthcare organizations. These third-party payers are increasingly limiting coverage and/or reducing reimbursements for medical products and services. A third-party payer’s decision to provide coverage for a drug product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Further, one payer’s determination to provide coverage for a drug product does not ensure that other payers will also provide coverage for the drug product. Coverage policies and third-party payer reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for products for which we receive marketing approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future. In addition, the U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governments have continued implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit our net revenue and results. Decreases in third-party payer reimbursement or a decision by a third-party payer to not cover any of our product candidates, if approved, could reduce physician usage of our product candidates, and have a material adverse effect on our sales, results of operations and financial condition. If we are unable to obtain adequate levels of reimbursement, our ability to successfully market and sell any product candidates will be harmed.

Exchange rate fluctuations may adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.

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The Company's consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars. The individual financial statements of each subsidiary is prepared in the currency of the primary economic environment in which the entity operates (its functional currency). Our transactions are commonly denominated in U.K pounds sterling, however we receive payments under our collaboration agreements in U.S. dollars and we incur a portion of our expenses in other currencies, primarily Euros. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly between the pound sterling on the one hand and the U.S. dollar and Euro on the other hand, may adversely affect our reported results of operations and cash flows. Our business and the price of our ADSs may be affected by fluctuations in foreign exchange rates between the pound sterling and these and other currencies, any of which may have a significant impact on our results of operations and cash flows from period to period.

If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials or other work-related injuries, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.

Inflation may adversely affect our operations, including increases in the prices of goods and services required for our operations.

High rates of inflation resulting from global events may adversely affect our operations in the event of increased prices of goods and services, such as energy and other operating costs, labor costs, materials costs and shipping costs, all of which may impact our direct costs. We are also experiencing increases in the cost of services provided by CMOs, CROs and other third parties with whom we do business, including significant increases in the cost of non-human primates required for studies. Such high inflation rates may result in unexpected and unbudgeted cost increases and may require changes to planned investments.

Risks Related to our Intellectual Property

If we are unable to obtain or protect intellectual property rights related to our current or future products and product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.

We rely upon a combination of patents, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our current and future products and product candidates. The strength of patents in the biotechnology and life sciences field involves complex legal and scientific questions and can be uncertain. The patent applications that we own may fail to result in patents with claims that cover our current and future product candidates in the United States, European countries or in other territories. Even if patents do successfully issue, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed or invalidated and our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property, or our current and future product candidates, and may not prevent others from designing around our claims.

If the patent applications we hold and/or have out-licensed with respect to our product candidates fail to issue or if their breadth or strength of protection is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to

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develop product candidates, and threaten our ability to commercialize, future products. We cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patents will issue or whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be threatened by third parties. A patent may be challenged through one or more of several administrative proceedings including Inter Partes Review, Post Grant Review, re-examination or opposition before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, or European Patent Office, or the EPO, and by way of similar proceedings in certain other jurisdictions. For example, re-examination of, or oppositions to, patents owned by us have previously been initiated, and while we believe these proceedings did not or will not result in a commercially relevant impact on the individual patents, any successful challenge of patents or any other patents owned by us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we or our strategic alliance partners may develop. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of up to 18 months after filing, and some remain confidential until issued, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file any patent application related to a product candidate or an siRNA related technology or method. Furthermore, in certain situations, if we and one or more third parties have filed patent applications in the United States claiming the same subject matter, an administrative proceeding, known as a derivation proceeding (previously known as an interference), can be initiated to determine which applicant is entitled to the patent on that subject matter. Such administrative proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by us may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patents or patent applications, or those of our alliance partners. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to us from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our defense of a patent or patent application in such a proceeding may not be successful and, even if successful, may result in narrowed claims, which may or may not cover our current or future products and product candidates, and at substantial costs and distraction to our management and other employees.

In addition, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States and many other countries and regions of the world including Europe, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after it is filed as a non-provisional patent application, or a PCT international patent application. Various extensions may be available, however, the life of a patent and the protection it affords is limited. Once the patent life has expired for a product, we may be open to competition from generic medications. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a product candidate under patent protection could be reduced.

In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our drug discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. Although each of our Silence Therapeutics GmbH employees either has to assign their inventions to us under German Employee Invention Law, or agrees to assign their inventions to us through an employee inventions agreement, and all of our employees, consultants, advisers and any third parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information or technology enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot provide any assurances that all such agreements have been duly executed or that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or confidential proprietary information, or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets, proprietary know-how and information. For example, the FDA, as part of its transparency initiative, is currently considering whether to make additional information publicly available on a routine basis, including information that we may consider to be trade secrets or other proprietary information, and it is not clear at the present time how the FDA’s disclosure policies may change and affect us adversely in the future, if at all.

Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property in Europe and in other jurisdictions outside the United States. If we are unable to prevent material disclosure of the non-patented intellectual property related to our technologies to third parties, and there is no guarantee that we will have any such enforceable trade secret protection, we may not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.

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Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and life sciences industries, including patent infringement lawsuits. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we and our strategic collaborators are pursuing development candidates and technologies.

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to sequences, structures, materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to the use or manufacture of our product candidates that are broad enough to cover one of our product candidates or use of our technologies. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications which may later result in patents with claims that our product candidates or use of our technologies may infringe. In addition, third parties may have or may obtain in the future patents and assert that our product candidates or use of our technologies infringes upon one or more claims of these patents. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be valid and enforceable and to cover the manufacturing process of any of our product candidates, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate, if approved, unless we obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire. Similarly, if any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be valid and enforceable and to cover aspects of our compositions, formulations or methods of use, including combination therapies, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtained a license or until such patent expires. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Parties making claims against us may seek to obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which if successful could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, could involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of our management, other employees and resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including up to treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.

We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our licensors. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming, even if we ultimately prevail. For example, in 2017, we commenced patent infringement litigation against Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., or Alnylam. In December 2018, we and Alnylam entered into a settlement and license agreement to settle the litigation, which was related to Alnylam’s RNAi product ONPATTRO. As part of the settlement, we licensed specified patents to Alnylam, and Alnylam paid us a tiered royalty of up to one percent of its net sales of ONPATTRO in the European Union through December 2023.

In addition to the costs and potential distraction associated with enforcing our patents in a lawsuit, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours or any future licensor is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing which could negatively impact our ability to develop and potentially commercialize our product candidates, if approved.

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Our efforts in a litigation may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management and other employees. We may not be able to prevent, alone or with our partners or future licensors, misappropriation of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our ADSs.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties.

We employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or life sciences companies. We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of our employees’ former employers or other third parties. We may also be subject to claims that former employers or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. There is no guarantee of success in defending these claims, and even if we are successful, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and other employees.

Risks Related to Our ADSs

The transition from foreign private issuer to U.S. domestic issuer status effective from January 1, 2025, requires us to comply with the U.S. domestic reporting requirements under the Exchange Act and will result in significant additional compliance activity and increase our costs and expenses.

Until December 31, 2024, we were a “foreign private issuer” as such term is defined in Rule 405 of Regulation C, under the Securities Act and Rule 3b-4 under the Exchange Act. The regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities laws as a U.S. domestic issuer are anticipated to be significantly more than costs we incurred as a foreign private issuer because we are now required to file periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms with the SEC, which are more detailed and extensive in certain respects than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, as opposed to the International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB. Such conversion and modifications incurred additional one-time costs to present our financial statements retrospectively. In addition, we have lost our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain requirements related to the preparation and solicitation of proxies (including compliance with full disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in proxy statements) and the exemption from filing beneficial ownership reports under Section 16. We expect the loss of our foreign private issuer status will increase our future legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

We no longer qualify as an “emerging growth company” as of December 31, 2024, and, as a result, we will no longer be able to avail ourselves of certain reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies.

We are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. We have previously taken advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including (i) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and (iii) exemptions from the requirements of holding nonbinding advisory shareholder votes on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not approved previously. In addition, as an emerging growth company, we were only required to provide two years of audited financial statements and two years of selected financial data in our periodic reports.

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Because the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of June 30, 2024, we ceased to qualify as an “emerging growth company” as of December 31, 2024, and as such, we are no longer be able to take advantage of any of the exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to emerging growth companies effective as of December 31, 2024. We expect that the loss of our “emerging growth company” status and our compliance with the additional requirements that we were previously exempt from as an “emerging growth company” will increase our legal and financial compliance costs. In addition, any failure to comply with these additional requirements in a timely manner, or at all, could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations and could cause a decline in the price of our ADSs.

We have incurred and will continue to incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management has devoted and will continue to be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not previously incur as a private company or as an emerging growth company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Once we are no longer able to take advantage of the exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to emerging growth companies, we will be required to comply with auditor attestation requirements, increased disclosure obligations and other reporting requirements which will likely increase our costs in the upcoming fiscal year. Our management and other personnel devote and will need to continue to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, particularly as we hire additional financial and accounting employees to meet public company internal control and financial reporting requirements and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly compared to when we were a private company. For example, as a public company it is more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantial costs. The impact of these events could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors.

Pursuant to Section 404, we are required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. When we lose our status as an “emerging growth company” as of December 31, 2024, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. At such time as we are required to obtain auditor attestation, if we then have an unremediated material weakness, we would receive an adverse opinion regarding our internal control over financial reporting from our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with Section 404 within the prescribed period, we will continue to engage in process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate or increase internal resources, including through hiring additional financial and accounting personnel, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that we will not be able to conclude, within the prescribed timeframe or at all, that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. If we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, it could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements.

The trading price of our ADSs may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

The trading price of our ADSs has been and will likely continue to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. The stock market in general and the market for biopharmaceutical companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may not be able to sell their ADSs at or above the price paid for the ADSs. In addition to the factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Annual Report, factors that are expected to affect the market price of our securities include:

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the commencement, enrollment or results of our planned and future clinical trials;

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positive or negative results, or perceived positive or negative results, from, or delays in, testing and clinical trials by us, collaborators or competitors;

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the results of our efforts to discover, develop, acquire or in-license additional product candidates and technologies;

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the loss of any of our key scientific or management personnel;

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regulatory, legal or tax developments in the United States, United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries;

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the success of competitive products or technologies;

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adverse actions taken by regulatory authorities with respect to our clinical trials or manufacturers;

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commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving the Company;

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changes or developments in laws or regulations applicable to our product candidates or technologies;

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changes to our relationships with collaborators, manufacturers or suppliers;

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concerns regarding the safety of our product candidates;

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announcements concerning our competitors or the pharmaceutical industry in general;

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actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;

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changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;

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potential acquisitions, financings, collaborations or other corporate transactions;

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the trading volume of our ADSs on Nasdaq;

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coordinated trading in our ADSs by third parties, including market manipulation;

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publication of information, including in the media, online blogs and social media, about our company by third parties, including equity research analysts;

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sales of our ADSs by us, members of our senior management and directors or our shareholders;

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general economic, political, and market conditions and overall fluctuations in the financial markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other countries, including impact of the wars in Ukraine and Israel and global and regional economic and political disruptions;

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stock market price and volume fluctuations of comparable companies and, in particular, those that operate in the biopharmaceutical industry; and

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investors’ general perception of us and our business and any failure to meet expectations of investors or equity research analysts.

These and other market and industry factors may cause the market price and demand for our ADSs to fluctuate substantially, regardless of our actual operating performance, which may limit or prevent investors from selling their ADSs at or above the price paid for the ADSs and may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of our ADSs.

Some companies that have experienced volatility in the trading price of their shares have been the subject of securities class action litigation. Any lawsuit to which we are a party, with or without merit, may result in an unfavorable judgment. We also may decide to settle lawsuits on unfavorable terms.

Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial damages or fines, damage to our reputation or adverse changes to our business practices. Defending against litigation is costly and time-consuming and could divert our management’s and key employees’ attention and our resources. Furthermore, during the course of litigation,

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there could be negative public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, which could have a negative effect on the market price of our ADSs.

Future sales, or the possibility of future sales, of a substantial number of our ADSs could adversely affect the price of such securities.

Future sales of a substantial number of ADSs, or the perception that such sales will occur, could cause a decline in the market price of our ADSs. If our shareholders sell substantial amounts of ADSs on Nasdaq, or if the market perceives that such sales may occur, the market price of the ADSs and our ability to raise capital through an issue of equity securities in the future could be adversely affected.

If equity research analysts do not publish research or reports, or publish unfavorable research or reports, about us, our business or our market, the price and trading volume of our ADSs could decline.

The trading market for our ADSs may be influenced by the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. As a company admitted to trading on Nasdaq, our equity securities are currently subject to coverage by a number of analysts. Equity research analysts may elect not to provide research coverage of our ADSs, and such lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our ADSs. We will not have any control over the analysts or the content and opinions included in their reports. The price of our ADSs could decline if one or more equity research analysts downgrade our ADSs or issue other unfavorable commentary or research about us. If one or more equity research analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our ADSs could decrease, which in turn could cause the trading price or trading volume of our ADSs to decline.

Concentration of ownership of our ordinary shares (including ordinary shares represented by ADSs) among our existing senior management, directors and principal shareholders may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions and matters submitted to shareholders for approval.

Members of our senior management, directors and current beneficial owners of 5% or more of our ordinary shares and their respective affiliates, in the aggregate, beneficially owned approximately 45% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, based on the number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2024. As a result, depending on the level of attendance at general meetings of our shareholders, these persons, acting together, would be able to significantly influence all matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election, re-election and removal of directors, any merger, scheme of arrangement, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other significant corporate transactions, and amendments to our articles of association. In addition, these persons, acting together, may have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership may harm the market price of our ADSs by:

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delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control;

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entrenching our management and/or the board of directors;

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impeding a merger, scheme of arrangement, takeover, or other business combination involving us; or

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discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.

In addition, some of these persons or entities may have interests different than yours. For example, because many of these shareholders purchased their shares at prices substantially below the current market price of our ordinary shares and have held their shares for a longer period, they may be more interested in selling our company to an acquirer than other investors, or they may want us to pursue strategies that deviate from the interests of other shareholders.

Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares (including ordinary shares represented by ADSs) in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gains and you may never receive a return on your investment.

You should not rely on an investment in our ADSs to provide dividend income. Under current English law, a company’s accumulated realized profits must exceed its accumulated realized losses (on a non-consolidated basis) before dividends can be paid. Therefore, we must have distributable profits before issuing a dividend. We have never

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declared or paid a dividend on our ordinary shares in the past, and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development of our technologies and product candidates and the growth of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, on our ADSs will be your sole source of gains for the foreseeable future. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our ADSs.

We may identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. If we experience material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business.

There can be no assurance that we will not identify additional control deficiencies or material weaknesses in the future.

In addition, if we identify material weaknesses in the future, if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404, in a timely manner, if we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting when required, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected, potentially resulting in restatements of our financial statements, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports and applicable Nasdaq listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, and our share price may decline as a result.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, shareholders could lose confidence in our financial and other public reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our ADSs.

Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, is designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, any testing by us conducted in connection with Section 404, or any subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses or that may require prospective or retroactive changes to our financial statements or identify other areas for further attention or improvement. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could harm our business and have a negative effect on the trading price of our ADSs.

Our independent registered public accounting firm is required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting starting from our annual report required to be filed with the SEC for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. An independent assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could detect problems that our management’s assessment might not. Undetected material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting could lead to financial statement restatements and require us to incur the expense of remediation, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our ADSs.

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Holders of our ADSs have fewer rights than our shareholders and must act through the depositary to exercise their rights.

Holders of our ADSs do not have the same rights as our shareholders who hold our ordinary shares directly and may only exercise their voting rights with respect to the underlying ordinary shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Holders of the ADSs will appoint the depositary or its nominee as their representative to exercise the voting rights attaching to the ordinary shares represented by the ADSs. When a general meeting is convened, if you hold ADSs, you may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting to permit you to withdraw the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs to allow you to vote with respect to any specific matter. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the depositary to extend voting rights to you in a timely manner, but we cannot assure you that you will receive voting materials in time to instruct the depositary to vote, and it is possible that you, or persons who hold their ADSs through brokers, dealers or other third parties, will not have the opportunity to exercise a right to vote. Furthermore, the depositary will not be liable for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and you may lack recourse if your ADSs are not voted as you request. In addition, in your capacity as an ADS holder, you will not be able to call a shareholders’ meeting.

You may be subject to limitations on transfers of your ADSs.

Your ADSs are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when deemed necessary or advisable by it in good faith in connection with the performance of its duties or at our reasonable written request, subject in all cases to compliance with applicable U.S. securities laws. In addition, the depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary deems it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason, subject to certain rights to cancel ADSs and withdraw the underlying ordinary shares. Temporary delays in the cancellation of ADSs and withdrawal of the underlying ordinary shares may arise because the depositary has closed its transfer books or we have closed our transfer books, the transfer of ordinary shares is blocked to permit voting at a shareholders’ meeting, or because we are paying a dividend on our ordinary shares or similar corporate actions.

In addition, holders of ADSs may not be able to cancel their ADSs and withdraw the underlying ordinary shares when they owe money for fees, taxes and similar charges and when it is necessary to prohibit withdrawals in order to comply with any laws or governmental regulations that apply to the ADSs or to the withdrawal of our ordinary shares or other deposited securities.