RECURSION PHARMACEUTICALS INC

Current report

RISKS RELATED TO OUR PLATFORM AND DATA

Current report

Issues relating to the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in our offerings could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Current report

We incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning (“AI”) solutions into our platform, in applications that are important to our operations and our drug discovery processes. There are significant risks involved in utilizing AI. Issues relating to the use of new and evolving technologies, such as AI and machine learning, may cause us to experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, legal liability, and new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, and we may incur additional costs to resolve such issues. Known risks of AI currently include inaccuracy, bias, toxicity, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy and cybersecurity issues, and data provenance disputes. Perceived or actual technical, legal, compliance, privacy, security, ethical or other issues relating to the use of AI may cause public confidence in AI to be undermined, which could slow our customers’ adoption of our products and services that use AI. In addition, litigation or government regulation related to the use of AI may also adversely impact our and others’ abilities to develop and offer products that use AI, as well as increase the cost and complexity of doing so. See the section titled “—Regulatory and legislative developments related to the use of AI could adversely affect our use of such technologies in our products, services, and business.” Developing, testing and deploying AI systems may also increase the cost profile of our product offerings due to the nature of the computing costs involved in such systems, which could impact our project margin and adversely affect our business and operating results. In addition, AI may have or produce errors or inadequacies that are not easily detectable. If the data used to train AI or the content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications assist in producing are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, incomplete, overbroad or biased, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected. The legal landscape and subsequent legal protection for the use of AI and the collection and use of data used to train AI models remains uncertain, and development of the law in this area could impact our ability to enforce our proprietary rights or protect against infringing uses. If we do not have sufficient rights to collect or use the data on which our AI relies or to the outputs produced by AI applications, we may incur liability through the alleged violation of certain laws, third-party privacy rights, online terms of service, or other contracts to which we or our data providers are a party. Our use of AI applications may also, in the future, result in cybersecurity incidents that implicate the personal data of customers or patients. Any such cybersecurity incidents related to our use of AI applications could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.

Current report

RISKS RELATED TO GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Current report

Regulatory and legislative developments related to the use of AI could adversely affect our use of such technologies in our products, services, and business.

Current report

We use AI throughout our business, including in our drug discovery processes and technology. As the regulatory framework for AI (including generative AI) evolves, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. The regulatory framework for AI and similar technologies is changing rapidly. It is possible that new laws and regulations will be adopted in the United States and in non-U.S. jurisdictions, or that existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would affect the operation of our drug discovery platform and data analytics and the way in which we use AI and similar technologies. We may not be able to adequately anticipate or respond to these evolving laws and regulations, and we may need to expend additional resources to adjust our offerings in certain jurisdictions if applicable legal frameworks are inconsistent across jurisdictions. In addition, because these technologies are themselves highly complex and rapidly developing, it is not possible to predict all of the legal or regulatory risks that may arise relating to our use of such technologies. Further, the cost to comply with such laws or regulations could be significant and would increase our operating expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Current report

For example, in Europe, the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) entered into force on August 1, 2024. The AI Act establishes a risk-based governance framework for regulating high-risk AI systems operating in or being used by the EU market. The AI Act could impact our products, business, and use of AI, even if we do not have a direct presence in the EU. This framework categorizes AI systems based on the risks associated with such AI systems’ intended purposes as creating “unacceptable”, “high” or “limited” risks. While the AI Act has not yet been enforced, there is a risk that our current or future AI-powered software or applications may be categorized as “high” risk or “limited” risk, obligating us to comply with the applicable requirements of the AI Act, which may impose additional costs on us, increase our risk of liability, or adversely affect our business. For example, “high” risk AI systems are required, amongst other things, to implement and maintain certain risk and quality management systems, conduct certain conformity and risk assessments, use appropriate data governance and management practices, including in development and training, and meet certain standards related to testing, technical robustness, transparency, human oversight, and cybersecurity. Even if our AI systems are not categorized as “high” risk we may be subject to additional transparency and other obligations for “low” risk AI system providers. The AI Act sets forth certain penalties, including fines of the greater of EUR 35 million or 7% of worldwide annual turnover (as defined in the AI Act) for the prior year for violations related to offering prohibited AI-systems or data governance, fines of the greater of EUR 15 million or 3% of worldwide annual turnover for the prior year for violations related to the requirements for “high” risk AI systems, and fines of the greater of EUR 7.5 million or 1.5% of worldwide annual turnover for the prior year for violations related to supplying incorrect, incomplete or misleading information to the EU and member state authorities. The AI Act’s regulatory framework is expected to have a material impact on the way AI is regulated in the EU and across the world, and together with developing guidance and/or decisions in this area, may affect our use of AI and our ability to provide and to improve our services, require additional compliance measures and changes to our operations and processes, result in increased compliance costs and potential increases in civil claims against us, and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Previous report

Third parties that perform some of our research and preclinical testing or conduct our clinical trials may not perform satisfactorily or their agreements may be terminated.

Previous report

We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct some aspects of research and preclinical testing and clinical trials. The third parties include CROs, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions, and principal investigators. Any of these third parties may fail to fulfill their contractual obligations, including by not meeting deadlines for the completion of research, testing, or trials, or we or they may terminate their engagements with us. If any of our relationships with these third parties terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative third parties on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, such negotiations could delay product development activities. Termination of our relationships with foreign third parties can also occur if U.S. legislation, sanctions, trade restrictions, or other U.S. and foreign regulatory requirements, prohibitions or restrictions, limit or prevent our ability to enter into arrangements with such foreign third parties. For example, we currently rely on foreign CROs and CDMOs, including an affiliate/subsidiary of WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd. (WuXi AppTec) in China that has been listed as a biotechnology company “of concern” in proposed U.S. legislation known as the BIOSECURE Act (recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 7085 and in the U.S. Senate as S.3558). While the BIOSECURE Act as currently proposed would restrict purchasing of services or products from WuXI AppTec and other companies of concern in China, it would only impact U.S. companies that contract with or receive funding from the U.S. government, which means that our company would not be directly impacted by the BIOSECURE Act. However, passage of the BIOSECURE Act could potentially lead the way for further legislation, sanctions, or restrictions that could potentially impact our third-party arrangements with companies such as WuXi AppTec which could delay or impact clinical trials and consequently delay or obstruct regulatory approval of our drug candidates.

Previous report

Our reliance on third parties for research and development activities reduces our control over these activities, but does not relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our respective clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial, as well as applicable legal, regulatory, and scientific standards. We also are required to register ongoing clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials on a government-sponsored database within certain timeframes. In addition, the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities require compliance with good clinical practices (GCP) guidelines for conducting, recording, and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible, reproducible, and accurate, and that the rights, integrity, and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. Regulatory authorities enforce GCP compliance through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators, and trial sites.

Previous report

If we or any of the third parties fail to comply with applicable GCP regulations, some or all of the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional nonclinical or clinical trials or to enroll additional patients before approving our marketing applications. In addition, if we or the third parties fail to comply with our stated protocols or applicable laws and regulations during the conduct of clinical trials, we or the third parties could be subject to warning letters or enforcement actions by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, which could result in civil penalties or criminal prosecution, as well as adverse publicity that harms our business.

Previous report

We also will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for any drug candidates we may develop if these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines, or conduct clinical trials in accordance with our stated protocols or regulatory requirements. As a result, we may be delayed or unable to successfully commercialize our drug candidates.