QT IMAGING HOLDINGS, INC.
For the period ended Dec 31, 2025. Filed Mar 25, 2026.
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FY2025 · Filed Mar 25, 2026
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Item 1A. : Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. In addition to the other information contained in this annual report, including the matters addressed under the heading “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Summary of Risk Factors,” together with all of the other information contained in this annual report, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and in our other public filings, in evaluating our business. The risk factors described below are not intended to be exhaustive and are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows in future periods or are not identified because they are generally common to businesses. The occurrence of one of more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, along or in combination with other events or circumstances, could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the respective consolidated financial statements of the Company, and the notes to the consolidated financial statements included therein.
Risks Related to Our Business, Financial Condition, and Need for Additional Capital
We are a development-stage company with limited operating history and significant losses since inception which may make it difficult to evaluate prospects for our future viability and predict our future performance. We may never be able to effectuate our business plan or achieve any meaningful revenue or reach profitability.
We have a limited operating history and only a preliminary and unproven business plan upon which investors may evaluate our prospects. We have demonstrated the commercial viability of our breast imaging platform at scales of tens of scanners but not yet demonstrated the commercial viability on larger scales. The QT Breast Scanner is deployed at facilities in the United States and abroad. Even if we are able to do so, we may not be able to manufacture the QT Breast Scanner device at the costs needed to support our business model. Even if we are able to commercialize some of our products or product candidates, there can be no assurance that we will generate significant revenues or ever achieve profitability. We expect to continue to incur significant sales and marketing, research and development, regulatory and other expenses as we expand our marketing efforts to increase adoption of our products, expand existing relationships, obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates, conduct clinical studies on our existing and planned product candidates and develop new product candidates or add new features to our existing products. There is no assurance that our distribution partners will succeed in selling and servicing devices in sufficient volumes to help the company meet its business plan, revenue objectives or profitability.
Furthermore, even if our technology and product become commercially viable and deployed at scale, we may not generate sufficient revenue necessary to support our business. We may never successfully stimulate market interest in our QT Breast Scanner in the near-to-mid-term at any level or at all, which may cause our business to fail. The medical imaging industry is also highly competitive, and our technology, products, services or business models may not achieve widespread market acceptance. If we are unable to address any issues mentioned above, or encounter other problems, expenses, difficulties, complications, and delays in connection with the starting and expansion of our business, our entire business may fail, in which case you may lose your entire investment.
We have a history of net losses and negative cash flow from operations since inception and we expect such losses and negative cash flows from operations to continue in the foreseeable future. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $53.0 million and $31.9 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, we incurred net losses attributable to the Company of approximately $21.1 million and $9.0 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, we used cash in operations of $9.0 million and $10.0 million, respectively. We anticipate our losses will continue to increase from current levels because we expect to incur additional costs related to developing our business, including research and development costs, manufacturing costs, employee-related costs, costs of complying with government regulations, intellectual property development and prosecution costs, marketing and promotion costs, capital expenditures, general and administrative expenses, and costs associated with operating as a public company.
Our ability to generate revenue from our operations and ultimately achieve profitability will depend on factors including but not limited to whether we can complete the development and commercialization of our QT Breast Scanner breast imaging technology and our future products, whether we can manufacture the QT Breast Scanner and future products on a commercial scale in such amounts and at such costs as we anticipate, and whether we can achieve market acceptance of our products, services and business models. The net losses that we incur may fluctuate significantly from period to period. As a result of these increased expenditures, we will need to generate significant additional revenue in order to offset our operating expenses and achieve and sustain profitability. Accordingly, we may not achieve or maintain profitability, and we may continue to incur significant losses in the future. Even if we achieve profitability, we cannot be sure that we will remain profitable for any substantial period of time. If we do not achieve or sustain profitability, it will be more difficult for us to finance our business and accomplish our strategic objectives, either of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and may cause the market price of the common stock to decline.
We may not be able to successfully execute our business model.
We are a company with limited operating history and we may not have the necessary resources, expertise and experience to successfully execute our business model on a global scale, such as obtaining the necessary approvals or clearances from the regulatory agencies of our target markets. Our ability to execute our model is dependent on a number of factors, including the ability of our senior management team to execute our model, our ability to incentivize, train and support international distribution partners in different geographic regions, our ability to begin or maintain our pace of product development, manufacturing and commercialization, our ability to meet the changing needs of the medical imaging market, and the ability of our employees to perform at a high-level. If we are unable to execute our model, or if our model does not drive the growth that we anticipate, or if our market opportunity is not as large as we have estimated, it could adversely affect our business and our prospects.
We have a limited operating history. If we successfully commercially launch the QT Breast Scanner, products under development that are cleared by the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and they do not achieve widespread market acceptance, we will not be able to generate the revenue necessary to support our business.
We have a limited operating history of two years as a public company, and limited market adoption our breast-imaging technology, the QT Breast Scanner or any other product using our 3D transmission ultrasound technology. We may fail to generate significant interest in the QT Breast Scanner, or other imaging products using our technology. These and other factors, including the following, may affect the rate and level of market acceptance:
effectiveness of the sales and marketing efforts of us, and our distribution partners;
perception by medical professionals and patients of the convenience, safety, efficiency and benefits of the QT Breast Scanner or products under development using our technology, compared to competing methods of medical imaging;
opposition from certain industry leaders, which may limit our ability to promote the QT Breast Scanner or products under development that are cleared by the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and to penetrate into the medical imaging market in the U.S. or other geographical areas;
the level of commitment and support that we receive from our partners, such as cloud storage providers, as well as medical professionals such as radiologists;
coverage determinations and reimbursement levels of third-party payors;
the changing and volatile U.S. and global economic environments;
timing of market introduction of competing products, and the sales and marketing initiatives of such products;
press and blog coverage, social media coverage, and other publicity and public relations factors by others; and
lack of financing or other resources to successfully develop and commercialize our technology and implement our business plan.
The technology underlying the QT Breast Scanner may be perceived as inferior or inaccurate and patients may be unwilling to undergo medical screening using the QT Breast Scanner or other products under development using our technology. Moreover, patients and medical professionals may be unwilling to depart from the current medical imaging technology. Medical professionals tend to be slow to change their medical diagnostic practices because of perceived liability risks arising from the use of new technology or products, and they may not recommend medical imaging using the QT Breast Scanner or other products under development using our technology until there is long-term clinical evidence to convince them to alter or modify their existing imaging methods. Our efforts to educate patients, radiologists and other members of the medical community on the benefits of our products require significant resources and may not be successful. Our efforts to educate the marketplace may require more resources than are required by conventional technologies marketed by our competitors. In the event that the QT Breast Scanner or other products under development using our technology are the subject of guidelines, clinical studies or scientific publications that are unfavorable or damaging, or otherwise call into question their benefits, we may have difficulty in convincing market participants to adopt our products. In addition, payors may not adopt or reimburse the use of the QT Breast Scanner or products under development in the near term or at all. Among other things, we need radiologists or other medical professionals to be trained to read the images that the QT Breast Scanner generates, and there are a limited number of such professionals currently trained and even fewer who are capable of providing such training. If we are unable to have a sufficient number of trained readers, then clinics will be less likely to purchase QT Breast Scanners as they will have difficulty using them to provide services to patients.
If we are unable to achieve or maintain an adequate level of market acceptance, we may not generate significant revenue or become profitable and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be significantly harmed.
The success of our business model is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties.
We expect sales to hospitals, academic medical centers, cancer centers, and imaging centers to be our primary end customers. We may not be successful in achieving these goals for various reasons, including:
the process of manufacturing and deploying the QT Breast Scanner and our products under development is a complex, multi-step process that depends on factors outside our control, and could cause us to expend significant time and resources prior to earning associated revenues;
the manufacturing cost of the QT Breast Scanner and our products under development may be higher than we expect, may increase significantly, or may increase at a higher rate than anticipated;
the manufacturing of the QT Breast Scanner and our future products may take longer than we expected, and we may have insufficient manufacturing capacity and experience delays in manufacturing and deployment, which would have a negative impact on the timing of our revenues;
deployment and full utilization of the QT Breast Scanner may not be achieved if insurance and other reimbursements and patient co-pays are not sufficient to defray costs incurred in providing and interpreting scans by hospital imaging centers, cancer centers or other women’s health-care centers that purchase our devices and services, and we may not be able to sustain these relationships unless our devices can be profitable to these providers;
a QT Breast Scanner device may perform fewer scans per day than our estimates due to a number of factors, including low market acceptance rate, technical failures and downtime, service disruptions, outages or other performance problems, which would have a negative impact on our revenues and our ability to recover costs; and
our customers may not be able to find or retain a sufficient number of radiologists to review the images generated by the QT Breast Scanner device especially as we deploy additional systems and the volume of scans increases.
Any of the above factors may negatively affect the successful commercialization and implementation of our business model, causing our business to fail.
We may need to raise additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms, if at all, and which may cause dilution to stockholders, restrict our operations or adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
Our ability to raise additional capital may be significantly affected by general market conditions, the market price of our common stock, our financial condition, uncertainty about the future commercial success of our products, regulatory developments, the status and scope of our intellectual property, any ongoing arbitration or litigation, our compliance with applicable laws and regulations and other factors, many of which are outside our control. We cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain additional financing on favorable terms or at all. If we are unable to obtain needed financing on acceptable terms, or otherwise, we may not be able to implement our business plan, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including a decline in the trading price of our common stock. Any additional equity financings could result in additional dilution to our then existing stockholders. In addition, we may enter into additional financings that restrict our operations or adversely affect our ability to operate our business and, if we issue equity, debt or other securities to raise additional capital or restructure or refinance our existing indebtedness, the new equity, debt or other securities may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our existing stockholders.
Our ability to generate the amount of cash needed to pay interest and principal on any indebtedness and our ability to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness or obtain additional financing depends on many factors beyond our control.
Our ability to make scheduled payments on, or to refinance our obligations under, any indebtedness depends on our financial and operating performance and prevailing economic and competitive conditions. Certain of these financial and business factors, many of which may be beyond our control, are described above.
If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets, raise additional equity capital, or restructure our debt. However, there is no assurance that such alternative measures may be successful or permitted under the agreements governing our indebtedness and, as a result, we may not be able to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. Even if successful, actions taken to improve short-term liquidity to meet our debt service and other obligations could harm our long-term business prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to refinance our indebtedness or obtain additional financing on satisfactory terms or at all, including due to existing guarantees on our assets or our level of indebtedness and the debt incurrence restrictions imposed by the agreements governing our indebtedness. Further, the cost and availability of credit are subject to changes in the economic and business environment. If conditions in major credit markets deteriorate, our ability to refinance our indebtedness or obtain additional financing on satisfactory terms, or at all, may be negatively affected.
The loan agreement with Lynrock Lake Master Fund LP (“Lynrock Lake”) and related documents contain, and instruments governing any future indebtedness of ours would likely contain, a number of covenants that will impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions on our ability to, among other things:
create liens on certain assets;
incur additional debt;
sell certain assets.
Any of these restrictions could limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions and could otherwise restrict corporate activities. Any failure to comply with these covenants could result in a default under our secured credit facility or instruments governing any future indebtedness of ours. Additionally, our credit facility is secured by substantially all of our assets. Upon a default, unless waived, the lenders under our secured credit facility could elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans, foreclose on our assets pledged to such lenders to secure our obligations under our credit agreement and force us into bankruptcy or liquidation. In addition, a default under our secured credit facility could trigger a cross default under agreements governing any future indebtedness. Our results of operations may not be sufficient to service our indebtedness and to fund our other expenditures, and we may not be able to obtain financing to meet these requirements. In February 2026, we obtained waivers from Lynrock Lake in connection with non-compliance to certain of our debt covenants related to information reporting during the first three quarters of 2025. If we experience a default under our secured credit facility or instruments governing our future indebtedness, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely impacted.
We are highly dependent on the successful development, marketing and sale of our breast imaging device and on other products and product candidates which are still in the development stage.
Our breast imaging technology is the basis of our business. The QT Breast Scanner is currently deployed in a limited number of cancer and other health centers, and is undergoing field testing and broad acceptance is uncertain. As a result, the success of our business plan is highly dependent on acceptance of our products, and on our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize the technology and related products and services and our failure to do so could cause our business to fail. As part of our effort to build the sales and marketing capabilities of the Company, on May 31, 2023, the Company entered into the NXC Sales Agent Agreement, pursuant to which the Company appointed NXC as the non-exclusive agent for the sale of the Company products and services in non-exclusive territories: the U.S., U.S. territories, and U.S. Department of Defense installations. Subsequently, effective June 10, 2024, we replaced the NXC Sales Agent Agreement with the NXC Distribution Agreement, and since then, on December 11, 2024, we and NXC entered into the Amended NXC Distribution Agreement, which we further amended on March 28, 2025. Under the terms of the Amended NXC Distribution Agreement, NXC shall provide us with a forecast of the anticipated purchases of QT Breast Scanners during the subsequent twelve month period. The Amended NXC Distribution Agreement further provides that the forecast for 2026 shall be no less than the MOQs set forth in an exhibit to the Amended NXC Distribution Agreement, by quarter and by year. Furthermore, all purchase orders from NXC shall be for no less than the MOQs, which NXC must order on the quarterly and annual basis as set forth in an exhibit to the Amended NXC Distribution Agreement.
Successful commercialization of medical imaging devices is a complex and uncertain process, dependent on the efforts of management, manufacturers, local operators, integrators, medical professionals, third-party payors, as well as general economic conditions, among other factors. Any factor that adversely impacts the development and commercialization of our imaging technology or related products and services, including the QT Breast Scanner, will have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Some potential factors that could adversely impact the development and commercialization of our imaging technology or related products and services include:
our inability to achieve sufficient market acceptance by hospitals and clinics, providers of medical imaging services, medical professionals such as radiologists, third-party payors, and others in the medical community;
our inability to compete with existing medical imaging technology companies with ultrasound, mammography and MRI systems, who have well entrenched market-share worldwide and significantly more resources than we do;
our inability to hire, train and retain qualified sales and marketing personnel;
our inability to establish, maintain and expand our sales, marketing and distribution networks;
our inability to obtain and/or maintain necessary regulatory approvals; and
our inability to effectively protect our intellectual property.
Our inability to successfully obtain additional clearances or approval from the FDA and other regulatory agencies worldwide, and commercialize the QT Breast Scanner and related products and services, and/or successfully develop, secure clearances and approvals, and commercialize additional products or any enhancements to the products which we may develop would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Products utilizing our technology may need to be approved or cleared by the FDA and similar regulatory agencies worldwide. We may not receive additional clearances and approvals from the FDA for the QT Breast Scanner, or may be delayed in receiving the necessary approval or clearance for our future products, which would adversely affect business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
On October 31, 2018, the FDA granted the Company’s Breakthrough Device designation request (Q181785) for the QT Breast Scanner. Unlike traditional breast imaging modalities, the QT Breast Scanner has no radiation, no injections, and no compression, potentially offering new opportunities for earlier and more frequent screening for young women at high risk for breast cancer who have no available FDA-cleared screening options. The Company has the following regulatory clearances:
“The QT Breast Scanner is for use as an ultrasonic imaging system to provide reflection-mode and transmission-mode images of a patient’s breast. The QT Breast Scanner software also calculates the breast fibroglandular volume and total breast volume. The device is not intended to be used as a replacement for screening mammography”—FDA 510(k) K162372 and K220933
“The QT Breast Scanner Model 2000A satisfies the requirements of the Certification Mark of the ECM [CE Mark Certification of the European Union]—No. 0P210730.QTUTQ02”
The Company has initiated engagement with the FDA to determine the most appropriate regulatory pathway for its premarket submission and to align on the clinical studies necessary to support such submission. The regulatory review process is inherently iterative, and the FDA may provide additional feedback requiring modifications or further evidence in response to the Company's initial submission. There can be no assurance that the Company will obtain the necessary regulatory clearances or approvals in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. The process of seeking FDA clearance or approval is resource-intensive, time-consuming, and subject to significant uncertainty. Delays, unexpected costs, or failure to obtain such regulatory authorizations could materially and adversely affect the Company's ability to commercialize its technology and generate revenue. Furthermore, even if regulatory clearance or approval is obtained, the Company’s products will remain subject to extensive post-market regulatory requirements, including compliance with quality system regulations, post-market surveillance, and reporting obligations. Any failure to comply with these requirements, or the identification of previously unknown issues related to the approved product, manufacturing processes, or manufacturers, could result in administrative or judicial enforcement actions by regulatory authorities, including but not limited to warning letters, fines, injunctions, product recalls, market withdrawal, or civil and criminal penalties. Even if the products containing our technology receive the required regulatory clearance or approval, such products will remain subject to extensive regulatory requirements. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements of the FDA and other applicable U.S. and foreign regulatory authorities (as described below), or previously unknown problems with any approved commercial products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes are discovered, we could be subject to administrative or judicially imposed sanctions. Even if we obtain FDA approval of our product candidates, or new indications for our products, market acceptance of our products in the healthcare community, including physicians, patients and third-party payors will depend on many factors, including, without limitation: our ability to provide incremental clinical and economic data that shows the safety and clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of, and patient benefits from, our products and product candidates; whether our products and product candidates are included on insurance coverage plans; the willingness and ability of patients and the healthcare community to adopt new technologies; the pricing and reimbursement of our products relative to other products; and the marketing and distribution support for our products and product candidates.
Following entry into the Gulf Medical Distribution Agreement, the Company has also begun the regulatory approval process with the SFDA, and has done the same with the MOHAP, from which the Company received approval on March 17, 2026. The Company also intends to do the same in the European Union in 2026 to obtain a CE Mark.
In addition, the cost of compliance with new laws or regulations governing our technology or future products could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. New laws or regulations may impose restrictions or obligations on us that could force us to redesign our technology or other future products or services, and may impose restrictions that are not possible or practicable to comply with, which could cause our business to fail. See“—Risks Related to Healthcare Industry Shifts and Government Regulation.”
Our industry is highly competitive and is subject to technological change, which may result in new products or solutions that are superior to our technology or other future products we may bring to market from time to time.
The medical imaging industry is rapidly evolving and subject to intense and increasing competition. To compete successfully and to be able to establish and maintain a competitive position in current and future technologies, we will need to demonstrate the advantages of our technology over well-established alternative solutions, products and technologies, such as HHUS, ABUS, mammography and MRI, as well as newer methods of medical imaging and early detection. We believe that effectively engaging market interest for the QT Breast Scanner can be challenging. To achieve this, we will need to raise or develop financial resources, technical expertise, marketing, distribution or support capabilities and we may not be successful in doing so. Many of our current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, manufacturing, marketing and technical resources than we do. Larger competitors may have substantially larger sales and marketing operations than we or our partners have or plan to have and may have greater name recognition. This may allow those competitors to spend more time with potential customers and to focus on a larger number of potential customers, which would give them a significant advantage over the sales and marketing team we would use and our distributors in making sales.
Larger competitors may also have broader product lines, which enable them to offer customers bundled purchase contracts and quantity discounts. These competitors may have more experience than we have in research and development, marketing, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical studies, obtaining FDA and foreign regulatory approvals and marketing approved products. Our competitors may discover technologies and techniques, or enter into partnerships and collaborations, to develop competing products that are more effective or less costly than our products or the products we may develop. There can be no assurance that other companies will not succeed in developing or marketing devices and products that are more effective than our technology or products or that would render our technology or products obsolete or noncompetitive. Academic institutions, government agencies, and other public and private research organizations may seek patent protection regarding potentially competitive products or technologies and may establish exclusive collaborative or licensing relationships with our competitors. Our competitors may be better equipped than we are to respond to competitive pressures. Competition will likely intensify. To our knowledge at the time of filing this annual report, we are not aware of any technologies approved for primary screening clearance by the FDA except for various types of technology related to X-ray mammography.
We expect to depend on third parties to manufacture a portion of the QT Breast Scanners that we sell and products under development and to supply certain component parts. Our reliance on third-party manufacturers and suppliers involves certain risks that may result in, among others, increased costs, quality or compliance issues, or failure to timely manufacture the QT Breast Scanner and products under development, any of which could materially harm our business.
If cleared, we expect to rely on third-party suppliers for the commercial production of the QT Breast Scanner and products under development. Our current ability to successfully produce the QT Breast Scanner is limited and if our attempts at commercialization and deployment are successful, we will need the resources of well-established contract manufacturers to manufacture the QT Breast Scanner and products under development at scale. We have entered into the Canon Manufacturing Agreement with CMSC for the manufacture of the QT Breast Scanner in Japan but production under that agreement has been limited to date. In addition, we are dependent on a number of key suppliers for components and sub-assemblies to be able to successfully manufacture the QT Breast Scanner and products under development in limited quantities, and any disruption in the supply of these components and sub-assemblies will have a material impact on our business. Our dependence on such third-party manufacturers and suppliers involves a number of risks, including:
insufficient capacity or delays in meeting our demand;
inadequate manufacturing yields, inferior quality and excessive costs;
inability to manufacture products that meet the agreed upon specifications;
inability to obtain an adequate supply of materials;
trade restrictions and changes in tariffs;
inability to comply with the relevant regulatory requirements for the manufacturing process;
limited warranties on products supplied to us;
inability to comply with our contractual obligations;
potential increases in prices; and
increased exposure to potential misappropriation of our intellectual property.
If any of our manufacturers or suppliers breach their agreements, are unable to meet their contractual or quality requirements, or become unwilling to perform for any reason, we may be unable, or may be unable in a timely manner, to locate alternative acceptable manufacturers or suppliers and enter into favorable agreements with them.
In addition, if we are required to change the manufacturer of a critical component of our products, we will be required to verify that the new manufacturer maintains facilities, procedures and operations that comply with our quality and applicable regulatory requirements, which could further impede our ability to manufacture our products in a timely manner. Transitioning to a new supplier could be time-consuming and expensive, may result in interruptions in our operations and product delivery, could affect the performance specifications of our products or could require that we modify the design of those systems. If the change in manufacturer results in a significant change to any product, a new clearance or approval from the FDA or similar international regulatory authorization may be necessary before we implement the change, which could cause substantial delays. The occurrence of any of these events could harm our ability to meet the demand for our products in a timely or cost-effective manner. See “—Risks Related to Healthcare Industry Shifts and Government Regulation.”
We may experience development or manufacturing problems and higher costs, or delays that could limit our revenue, if any, or increase our losses.
Developing manufacturing procedures for new products requires developing specific production processes for those products. Developing such processes could be time consuming, and any unexpected difficulty in doing so could delay the successful commercialization and deployment of the QT Breast Scanner and products under development. Moreover, difficulties associated with adapting our technology and product design to the proprietary process technology and design rules of outside manufacturers can lead to reduced yields. Since low yields may result from either design or process technology failures, yield problems may not be effectively determined or resolved until an actual product exists that can be analyzed and tested to identify process sensitivities relating to the design rules that are used. As a result, yield problems may not be identified until well into the production process, and resolution of yield problems may require cooperation between our manufacturers and us. This risk could be compounded by any future offshore location of our manufacturers, increasing the effort and time required to identify, communicate and resolve manufacturing yield problems. Manufacturing defects that we do not discover during the manufacturing or testing process may lead to costly product recalls. These risks may lead to increased costs or delayed product delivery, which would harm our profitability and customer relationships. Furthermore, our, our manufacturers’ or our suppliers’ production processes and assembly methods may have to change to accommodate any significant, future expansion of our manufacturing capacity, which may increase the manufacturing costs, delay production of our products, reduce our product margin, require supplemental filings with the FDA or other regulatory authorities, any of which may adversely impact our business. If we are unable to keep up with demand for our products by successfully manufacturing and shipping our products in a timely manner, our revenue could be impaired, and market acceptance for our products could be adversely affected.
We plan to do business globally, including in certain countries where we might have limited resources and would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and other risks and uncertainties.
We expect to do business globally, including in North America and certain countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. Commercialization of the QT Breast Scanner and products under development in foreign markets, either directly or through third parties, is subject to additional risks and uncertainties, including:
reimbursement and insurance coverage;
our inability to find agencies, dealers or distributors in specific countries or regions;
our inability to directly control commercial activities of third parties;
limited resources to be deployed to a specific jurisdiction;
the burden of complying with complex and changing regulatory, tax, accounting and legal requirements;
different medical imaging practice and customs in foreign countries affecting acceptance in the marketplace;
import or export licensing and other requirements that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject our company to liability if we violate such laws and regulations;
longer accounts receivable collection times;
longer lead times for shipping;
language barriers for technical training;
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; and
interpretations of contractual provisions governed by foreign laws in the event of a contract dispute.
Sales of the QT Breast Scanner and products under development in foreign markets could also be adversely affected by the imposition of governmental controls, political and economic instability, trade restrictions and changes in tariffs, any of which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We conduct business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE and military conflicts and geopolitical instability in the Middle East, including U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran, could disrupt global markets and adversely affect our business and finances.
Armed conflicts and heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, including ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran launched on February 28, 2026, pose risks to the global economy and to our business, particularly as we have distribution arrangements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Iran has retaliated across the Gulf region, including attacks against targets in Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A significant escalation of hostilities in this or other global conflicts may have a material adverse impact on our business. The current military conflict may affect our ability to continue our projects in these regions due to lack of resources, local support, and safety for the workers of our distribution partners. Any disruption to our ability to distribute our products to this region will likely result in an impact on our finances. Furthermore, although the length and impact of the ongoing conflict is in the Middle East is highly unpredictable, it could lead to global market disruptions. The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting measures that have been taken, and could be taken in the future, by the United States, NATO (or member countries), the European Union, Israel and its neighboring states and other countries have created global security concerns that could have a lasting impact on regional and global economies. For example, any disruption to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz or other critical shipping lanes, could result in a rapid and sustained increase in global oil and energy prices, which would increase transportation and logistics costs and the cost of petroleum-based production materials. Higher energy and fuel prices would also be disruptive for the global economy and our end user customers. In addition, an escalation of military action in the Middle East could disrupt global shipping routes, increase transit times and freight costs, and create broader supply chain bottlenecks similar to those experienced during prior periods of global disruption. Any macroeconomic deterioration resulting from an escalation in Middle Eastern hostilities could compound the existing challenges facing our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity.
The extent and duration of the ongoing conflict, resulting sanctions and any related market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial, particularly if current or new sanctions continue for an extended period of time or if geopolitical tensions result in expanded military operations on a global scale. Any such disruptions may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this section. If these disruptions or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, to the extent that we have material operations or assets in a conflict zone, they may be materially adversely affected.
If in the future we are approved for and are otherwise able to commercialize any of our products or services, but are unable to obtain adequate reimbursement or insurance coverage from third-party payors, we may not be able to generate significant revenue, in which case we may need to obtain additional financing.
Coding and coverage determinations as well as reimbursement levels and conditions are important to the commercial success of an imaging product or offering. The Company achieved approval of a new Category III CPT code, X579T, for 3D quantitative transmission volumetric ultrasound tomography of the breast from the AMA. This code recognizes the distinct clinical service enabled by the Company’s Breast Acoustic CT system’s radiation-free, compression-free, 3D breast imaging platform, and becomes effective January 1, 2027. The future availability of insurance coverage and reimbursement for newly approved medical devices is highly uncertain, and our future business will be greatly impacted by the level of reimbursement provided by third-party payors. In the United States, third-party payors decide which imaging products and services they will cover, how much they will pay and whether they will continue reimbursement. Third-party payors may not cover or provide adequate reimbursement for imaging services using the QT Breast Scanner and our products under development, assuming we are able to fully develop and obtain all regulatory approvals and clearances to market it in the United States or other geographies. To date, we have not had any discussions with any third-party payors, including any regulatory agencies administering any government funded healthcare programs, regarding the coding, coverage or reimbursement for imaging services using the QT Breast Scanner or other products under development. Accordingly, unless government and other third-party payors provide coverage and reimbursement for the use of our products and services, patients may not use them, which would cause investors to lose their entire investment. A primary trend in the United States healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and other third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular products and services. Reimbursement may not be available, or continue to be available, for imaging services using the QT Breast Scanner, our SaaS Cloud Platform, other products under development or any other products we may develop in the future. Even if reimbursement is available, such reimbursement may not be adequate. We also will be subject to foreign reimbursement policies in the international markets we expect to enter. Decisions by health insurers or other third-party payors in these markets not to cover, or to discontinue reimbursing, our products could materially and adversely affect our business. If such decisions are made, they could also have a negative impact on our ability to generate revenues, in which case we may need to obtain additional financing.
Recent changes in the United States related to payment policies for imaging procedures could have a negative impact on the utilization of our imaging services.
In the United States, over the past several years, the CMS, the federal agency responsible for administering the Medicare program, has implemented numerous changes to payment policies for imaging procedures in both the hospital setting and non-hospital settings, which include physician offices and freestanding imaging facilities. Some of these changes have had a negative impact on utilization of imaging services. Examples of these changes include:
limiting payments for imaging services in physician offices and free-standing imaging facility settings based upon rates paid to hospital outpatient departments;
reducing payments for certain imaging procedures when performed together with other imaging procedures in the same family of procedures on the same patient on the same day in the physician office and free-standing imaging facility setting;
making significant revisions to the methodology for determining the practice expense component of the Medicare payment applicable to the physician office and free-standing imaging facility setting which results in a reduction in payment; and
revising payment policies and reducing payment amounts for imaging procedures performed in the hospital outpatient setting.
We also expect increased regulation and oversight of advanced diagnostic testing. One provision in the Protecting Access to Medicare Act requires CMS to develop AUC that professionals must consult when ordering advanced diagnostic imaging services MRI, CT, nuclear medicine (including position emission tomography) and other advanced diagnostic imaging services that the Secretary of HHS may specify. Beginning in 2020, payment will be made to the furnishing professional for an applicable advanced diagnostic imaging service only if the claim indicates that the ordering professional consulted a qualified clinical decision support mechanism, as identified by HHS, as to whether the ordered service adheres to the applicable AUC. To the extent that these types of changes have the effect of reducing the aggregate number of diagnostic medical imaging procedures performed in the United States, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows would be adversely affected.
Billing complexities associated with obtaining payment or reimbursement may negatively affect our revenue, cash flow and profitability.
Billing for imaging services is complex. Payment is provided by individual patients and from a variety of payors, such as commercial insurance carriers, managed care organizations and governmental programs. Each payor typically has different billing requirements, and the billing requirements of many payors have become increasingly stringent.
Among the factors complicating our customers’ ability to bill and receive reimbursement from third-party payors are:
disputes among payors as to which party is responsible for payment;
disparity in coverage among various payors;
disparity in information and billing requirements among payors; and
incorrect or missing billing information, which is required to be provided by the ordering physician.
In addition, we may be required to seek new billing codes for imaging services using the QT Breast Scanner, and regulatory authorities may not approve the creation of separate codes. Additionally, even if we are successful, these billing codes or the payment amounts associated with such codes may change in the future.
Any key supplier or distribution agreements that we have established or may establish in the future may not be successful or we may otherwise not realize the anticipated benefits from these agreements. We do not control third parties with whom we have or may have agreements, and we will rely on them to achieve results which may be significant to us. In addition, any current or future agreements may place the development and commercialization of our technology outside our control, may require us to relinquish important rights or may otherwise be on terms unfavorable to us.
We have entered into certain key distribution agreements, and expect to enter into additional, key supplier and distribution agreements with respect to the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of our technology with different relevant industry participants, including, among others, manufacturers of sub-assemblies and boards, cloud storage providers, distribution partners engaged in selling, marketing and servicing our products in their respective countries, and others as we develop our products including integrators, radiologists, cloud storage and third-party payors. See “The Company’s Business—Key Agreements.” We refer to these third parties that we have agreements with or engage with for future potential agreements as collaborators. For a discussion of the Company’s Approved Supplier List and engagements with suppliers, see “Business — Manufacturing.” Any future potential relationships with collaborators may require us to rely on external consultants, advisors, and experts for assistance in several key functions, including research and development, manufacturing, regulatory and intellectual property. We cannot and will not control these third parties, but we may rely on them to achieve results, which may be significant to us. Relying upon these collaborative arrangements for our technology subjects us to a number of risks, including:
we may not be able to control the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators may devote to our technology;
should a collaborator fail to comply with applicable laws, rules or regulations when performing services for us, we could be held liable for such violations;
our collaborators may have a shortage of qualified personnel, particularly radiologists who can review the medical images generated by the QT Breast Scanner and products and services under development, especially as we deploy additional devices and new products and the volume of scans increases;
we may be required to relinquish important rights, such as marketing and distribution rights;
under certain circumstances, a collaborator could move forward with a competing product developed either independently or in collaboration with others, including our competitors;
our current or future collaborators may utilize our proprietary information in a way that could expose us to competitive harm;
our collaborators could obtain ownership or other control over intellectual property that is material to our business; and
collaborative arrangements are often terminated or allowed to expire, which could delay the ability to commercialize our technology.
In addition, if disputes arise between us and any of our collaborators, it could result in the delay or termination of the development, manufacturing or commercialization of products containing our technology, lead to protracted and costly legal proceedings, or cause collaborators to act in their own interest, which may not be in our interest. As a result, the collaborative arrangements that we may enter into, may not achieve their intended goals.
If any of these scenarios materialize, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We also may have other future products where it is desirable or essential to enter into agreements with a collaborator who has greater financial resources or different expertise than us, but for which we are unable to find an appropriate collaborator or are unable to do so on favorable terms. If we fail to enter into such collaborative agreements on favorable terms, it could materially delay or impair our ability to develop and commercialize, and increase the costs of development and commercialization of, our technology.
Even if we obtain all necessary FDA approvals, our products and product candidates may not achieve or maintain market acceptance.
Even if we obtain FDA approval of our products and product candidates, market acceptance of our products in the healthcare community, including physicians, patients and third-party payors, will depend on many factors, including:
our ability to provide incremental clinical and economic data that shows the safety and clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of, and patient benefits from, our products;
the availability of alternative products;
whether our products or the use thereof are included on insurance company formularies or coverage plans;
the willingness and ability of patients and the healthcare community to adopt our technologies;
customer demand;
liability risks generally associated with the use of new product candidates;
the training required to use new product candidates;
perceived inadequacy of evidence supporting clinical benefits or cost-effectiveness over existing alternatives;
the convenience and ease of use of our products relative to other treatment methods;
the pricing and reimbursement of our products relative to other treatment methods; and
the marketing and distribution support for our products.
Even if we obtain all necessary FDA approvals, our products may fail to achieve market acceptance. If our products achieve market acceptance, they may not maintain that market acceptance over time if competing products or technologies are introduced that are received more favorably or are more cost-effective. Failure to achieve or maintain market acceptance would limit our ability to generate revenue and would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The outcome of any future claims and litigation could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may, from time to time, be subject to claims and may become party to litigation in the normal course of business, including class action lawsuits. Such claims and litigation proceedings may be brought by third parties, including our customers, competitors, advisors, service providers, partners or collaborators, employees, and governmental or regulatory bodies. The final outcome of these claims and litigation, including any settlements, may be significant and may differ substantially from our expectations. We may not be able to determine the amount of any potential losses and other costs we may incur due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation and settlement negotiations. In the event we are required or decide to pay amounts in connection with any claims or lawsuits, such amounts could be significant and could have a material adverse impact on our liquidity, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could become subject to product liability claims, product recalls, and warranty claims that could be expensive, divert management’s attention and harm our business reputation and financial results.
Our business exposes us to potential liability risks that are inherent in the marketing and sale of products used in patient care. We may be held liable if the QT Breast Scanner or our products and services under development causes injury or death or is found otherwise unsuitable during usage. The QT Breast Scanner and products and services currently under development incorporate sophisticated components and computer software. Complex software can contain errors, particularly when first introduced. In addition, new products or enhancements may contain undetected errors or performance problems that, despite testing, are discovered only after installation. Patients could allege or possibly prove defects of our products or other products that integrate our technology.
A product liability claim, regardless of its merit or eventual outcome, could result in significant legal defense costs and divert management’s attention. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
injury to our reputation;
costs of related litigation and substantial monetary awards to patients and others;
decreased demand for our products and services;
loss of revenue; and
the inability to commercialize future products.
Any of these outcomes may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and may increase the volatility of our share price.
The coverage limits of our insurance policies we may choose to purchase to cover related risks may not be sufficient to cover future claims. If sales of the QT Breast Scanner and other products and services under development suffer future product liability claims, we may be unable to maintain product liability insurance at satisfactory rates or with adequate amounts or at all. A product liability claim, any product recalls or excessive warranty claims, whether arising from defects in design or manufacture or otherwise, could negatively affect our sales or require a change in the design or manufacturing process, any of which could harm our relationship with our customers and partners, and have a material adverse impact on our reputation and business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
In addition, if the QT Breast Scanner or other products integrating our technology are defective, we, our future customers or partners may be required to notify regulatory authorities and/or to recall the products and discontinue any services See “ —Risks Related to Healthcare Industry Shifts and Government Regulation—Our products may cause or contribute to adverse medical events or be subject to failures or malfunctions that we are required to report to the FDA, and if we fail to do so, we would be subject to sanctions that could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. The discovery of serious safety issues with our products, or a recall of our products either voluntarily or at the direction of the FDA or another governmental authority, could have a negative impact on us.” Any recall would divert management’s attention and financial resources and harm our reputation with customers, patients, medical professionals and third-party payors. A recall involving the QT Breast Scanner or our products under development, would be particularly harmful to our business. The adverse publicity resulting from any of these actions could adversely affect the perception of our customers or partners. These investigations or recalls, especially if accompanied by unfavorable publicity, could result in our incurring substantial costs, losing revenues and damaging our reputation, each of which would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We do not expect to carry any business interruption insurance or any other insurance (except for director and officer, property and product liability insurance). As a result, we may incur uninsured losses, increasing the possibility that you would lose your entire investment in our company.
Our products and services are in the medical imaging field and so may be subject to claims. We are not immune from product liability or other product claim risks, and we may not be able to maintain insurance on acceptable terms against such risks or that such insurance will be sufficient to protect us against potential claims or that insurance will be available in the future in amounts sufficient to protect us. A product liability claim or other claim, as well as any claims for uninsured liabilities or in excess of insured liabilities, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The mishandling or the perceived mishandling of sensitive information, or the occurrence of data security breaches, could harm our business.
We expect that the QT Breast Scanner and our products under development will enable us to accumulate a significant amount of highly sensitive and/or confidential information, including medical images and other medical information. These images could be received by our customers or collaborators, such as radiologists and other professionals at cancer screening and other healthcare facilities, to increase the probability of early disease detection. While employee contracts generally contain standard confidentiality provisions, our employees, customers or collaborators may not properly handle or process sensitive or confidential data. The improper handling of sensitive or confidential data, or even the perception of such mishandling (whether or not valid), or other security lapses by us, our customers or collaborators, could reduce demand for such products or otherwise expose us to financial or reputational harm or legal liability. In addition, any security breach, including personal data breaches, or incident, including cybersecurity incidents, that we experience could result in unauthorized access to, misuse of, or unauthorized acquisition of the sensitive or confidential information and data (including medical information), the loss, corruption, or alteration of this data, interruptions in our operations, or damage to our systems. Any such incidents could expose us to claims, litigation, regulatory or other governmental investigations, administrative fines and potential liability. An increasing number of digital platforms have disclosed breaches of their security, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks on portions of their services. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not foreseeable or recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. If an actual or perceived breach of our security occurs, public perception of the effectiveness of our security measures and brand could be harmed and our results of operations could be negatively affected. Data security breaches and other incidents may also result from non-technical means (e.g., actions by employees or contractors). Any compromise of our security could result in a violation of applicable security, privacy or data protection, consumer and other laws, regulatory or other governmental investigations, enforcement actions, and legal and financial exposure, including potential contractual liability. Any such compromise could also result in damage to our reputation and a loss of confidence in our security and privacy or data protection measures. Any of these effects could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to execute our business strategy depends, in part, on the continued and uninterrupted performance of our IT systems, which support our operations. Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems, and those of third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage from, among others, computer viruses, malware, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the internet, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization or similar disruptive problems. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our product development programs. Any such security breach may compromise information stored on our networks and may result in significant data losses or theft of personally identifiable information. A cybersecurity breach could also hurt our reputation by adversely affecting the patients’ perception of the security of their information. A number of proposed and enacted federal, state and international laws and regulations obligate companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving particular personally identifiable information, which could result from breaches experienced by us or by third parties, including collaborators, vendors, contractors or other organizations with which we expect to form strategic relationships. In addition, a cybersecurity attack could result in other negative consequences, including disruption of our internal operations, increased cyber security protection costs, lost revenue, regulatory actions or litigations.
Cyber-attacks and security vulnerabilities could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to our competitive position.
Increased sophistication and activities of perpetrators of cyber-attacks have resulted in an increase in information security risks in recent years. Hackers develop and deploy viruses, worms, and other malicious software programs that attack products and services and gain access to networks and data centers. In addition to extracting sensitive information, such attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. The prevalent use of mobile devices also increases the risk of data security incidents. If we experience difficulties maintaining existing systems or implementing new systems, we could incur significant losses due to disruptions in our operations.
Additionally, these systems contain valuable proprietary and confidential information and may contain personal data of our customers. While we believe we have taken reasonable steps to protect such data, techniques used to gain unauthorized access to data and systems, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to anticipate such techniques or implement adequate preventative measures to avoid unauthorized access or other adverse impacts to such data or our systems. In addition, some of our third-party service providers and partners also collect and/or store our sensitive information and our customers’ data on our behalf, and these service providers and partners are subject to similar threats of cyber-attacks and other malicious internet-based activities, which could also expose us to risk of loss, litigation, and potential liability. A security breach could result in disruptions of our internal systems and business applications, harm to our competitive position from the compromise of confidential business information, or subject us to liability under laws that protect personal data. Additionally, actual, potential or anticipated attacks may cause us to incur increasing costs, including costs to deploy additional personnel and protection technologies, train employees, and engage third-party experts and consultants. Specifically, as cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to continue to enhance our information security measures and/or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities. Any of these consequences would adversely affect our revenue and margins. Additionally, even if we purchase cybersecurity insurance coverage, we cannot be certain that such coverage will be adequate for data security liabilities actually incurred, will cover any indemnification claims against us relating to any incident, will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
We are exposed to data and cybersecurity risks that could result in data breaches, service interruptions, ransomware and demands, harm to our reputation, protracted and costly litigation or significant liability.
In connection with the products and services that we provide, we collect, use, store, transmit and otherwise process certain confidential, proprietary and sensitive information, including personally identifiable information and PHI of customers, employees and others. We rely on the efficient, uninterrupted and secure operation of complex information technology systems and networks to operate our business and securely store, transmit and otherwise process such information. In the normal course of business, we also share information with our service providers and other third parties. A failure to safeguard the integrity, confidentiality, availability and authenticity of personal information, customer data and our proprietary data from cyber-attacks, unauthorized access, fraudulent activity (e.g., check “kiting” or fraud, wire fraud or other dishonest acts), data breaches, ransomware and other security incidents that we, our third-party service providers or our customers may experience may lead to modification, destruction, loss of availability or theft of critical and sensitive data pertaining to us, our customers or other third parties. While we have taken extensive precautions to protect such confidential, proprietary and sensitive information, including personal information, these risks were heightened due to our remote workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there can be no assurance that such actions will be sufficient to prevent cyber-attacks or security breaches or mitigate all potential risks to our systems, networks and data, particularly with the recent proliferation of ransomware attacks around the world. All such protective measures, as well as additional measures that may be required to comply with rapidly evolving data privacy and security standards and protocols imposed by law, regulation, industry standards or contractual obligations, have and will continue to cause us to incur substantial expenses. Failure to timely upgrade or maintain computer systems, software and networks as necessary could also make us or our third-party service providers susceptible to breaches and unauthorized access and misuse. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify, investigate or remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures arising from data and cybersecurity risks.
Improper access to our or our third-party service providers’ systems or databases could result in the theft, publication, deletion or modification of confidential, proprietary or sensitive information, including personal information. An actual or perceived breach of our security systems or those of our third-party service providers may require notification under applicable data privacy regulations or contractual obligations. The accidental or unauthorized access to or disclosure, loss, destruction, disablement, corruption or encryption of, use or misuse of or modification of our, our customers’ or other third parties’ confidential, proprietary or sensitive information, including personal information, by us or our third-party service providers could result in significant fines, penalties, orders, sanctions and proceedings or actions against us by governmental bodies and other regulatory authorities, customers or third parties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any such proceeding or action, and any related indemnification obligations, could damage our reputation, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceeding or action, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business or result in the imposition of financial liability.
Despite our efforts to ensure the integrity, confidentiality, availability, and authenticity of our proprietary systems and information, it is possible that we may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive measures against all cyber threats. No security solution, strategy, or measures can address all possible security threats or block all methods of penetrating a network or otherwise perpetrating a security incident. The risk of unauthorized circumvention of our security measures or those of our third-party providers, customers and partners has been heightened by advances in computer and software capabilities and the increasing sophistication of hackers, including those operating on behalf of nation-state actors, who employ complex techniques involving the theft or misuse of personal and financial information, counterfeiting, “phishing” or social engineering incidents, account takeover attacks, denial or degradation of service attacks, malware, fraudulent payment and identity theft. Because the techniques used by hackers change frequently and are increasingly complex and sophisticated, and new technologies may not be identified until they are launched against a target, we and our third-party service providers may be unable to anticipate these techniques or detect an incident, assess its severity or impact, react or appropriately respond in a timely manner or implement adequate preventative measures. Our systems are also subject to compromise from internal threats, such as theft, misuse, unauthorized access or other improper actions by employees, service provides and other third parties with otherwise legitimate access to our systems or databases. The latency of a compromise is often measured in months, but could be years, and we may not be able to detect a compromise in a timely manner.
Due to applicable laws and regulations or contractual obligations, we may also be held responsible for any failure or cybersecurity breaches attributed to our third-party service providers as they relate to the information that we share with them. Although we generally have agreements relating to data privacy and security in place with our third-party service providers, they are limited in nature and we cannot guarantee that such agreements will prevent the accidental or unauthorized access to or disclosure, loss, destruction, disablement, corruption or encryption of, use or misuse of or modification of confidential, proprietary or sensitive information, including personal information, or enable us to obtain reimbursement from third-party service providers in the event we should suffer incidents resulting in accidental or unauthorized access to or disclosure, loss, destruction, disablement or encryption of, use or misuse of or modification of confidential, proprietary or sensitive information, including personal information. In addition, because we do not control our third-party service providers and our ability to monitor their data security is limited, we cannot ensure the security measures they take will be sufficient to protect confidential, proprietary or sensitive information (including personal information).
Regardless of whether a security incident or act of fraud involving our solutions is attributable to us or our third-party service providers, such an incident could, among other things, result in improper disclosure of information, harm our reputation and brand, reduce the demand for our products and services, lead to loss of customer business or confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures, disrupt normal business operations or result in our systems or products and services being unavailable. In addition, such incidents may require us to spend material resources to investigate or correct the incident and to prevent future security incidents, expose us to uninsured liability, increase our risk of regulatory scrutiny, expose us to protracted and costly litigation, trigger indemnity obligations, result in damages for contract breach, divert the attention of management from the operation of our business and otherwise cause us to incur significant costs or liabilities, any of which could affect our financial condition, results of operations and reputation. Moreover, there could be public announcements regarding any such incidents and any steps we take to respond to or remediate such incidents, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these announcements to be negative, it could, among other things, have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. In addition, our remediation efforts may not be successful. Further, any adverse findings in security audits or examinations could result in reputational damage to us, which could reduce the use and acceptance of our solutions, cause our customers to cease doing business with us or have a significant adverse impact on our revenue and future growth prospects. Furthermore, even if not directed at us specifically, attacks on other financial institutions could disrupt the overall functioning of the financial system or lead to additional regulation and oversight by federal and state agencies, which could impose new and costly compliance obligations.
If we fail to maintain properly the integrity or availability of our data or successfully consolidate, integrate, upgrade or expand our existing information systems, or if our technology products do not operate as intended, our business could be materially and adversely affected.
Our business depends on the integrity and timeliness of the data we use to serve our members, customers and health care professionals and to operate our business. If the data we rely upon to run our businesses is found to be inaccurate or unreliable or if we fail to maintain or protect our information systems and data integrity effectively, we could experience failures in our health, wellness and information technology products; lose existing customers; have difficulty attracting new customers; experience problems in determining medical cost estimates and establishing appropriate pricing; have difficulty preventing, detecting and controlling fraud; have disputes with customers, physicians and other health care professionals; become subject to regulatory sanctions, penalties, investigations or audits; incur increases in operating expenses; or suffer other adverse consequences. The volume of health care data generated, and the uses of data, including electronic health records, are rapidly expanding. Our ability to implement new and innovative services, automate and deploy new technologies to simplify administrative processes and clinical decision making, price our products and services adequately, provide effective service to our customers and consumers in an efficient and uninterrupted fashion, provide timely payments to care providers, and report accurately our results of operations depends on the integrity of the data in our information systems. In addition, connectivity among technologies is becoming increasingly important and recent trends toward greater consumer engagement in health care require new and enhanced technologies, including more sophisticated applications for mobile devices. Our information systems require an ongoing commitment of significant resources to maintain, protect and enhance existing systems and develop new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology, evolving systems and regulatory standards and changing customer preferences. We periodically consolidate, integrate, upgrade and expand our information systems’ capabilities as a result of technology initiatives, recently enacted regulations, changes in our system platforms and integration of new business acquisitions. Our process of consolidating the number of systems we operate, upgrading and expanding our information systems’ capabilities, enhancing our systems and developing new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology may not be successful. Failure to protect, consolidate and integrate our systems successfully could result in higher than expected costs and diversion of management’s time and energy, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Certain of our businesses sell and install software products which may contain unexpected design defects or may encounter unexpected complications during installation or when used with other technologies utilized by the customer. A failure of our technology products to operate as intended and in a seamless fashion with other products could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Uncertain and rapidly evolving U.S. federal and state, non-U.S. and international laws and regulations related to health data and the health information technology market may alter the competitive landscape or present compliance challenges and could materially and adversely affect the configuration of our information systems and platforms, and our ability to compete in this market.
If significant tariffs or other restrictions related to “trade wars” are placed on U.S. made products or any related counter-measures are taken by any of the countries in which we operate or expect to operate, our revenue and results of operations may be materially harmed.
We have entered into the Canon Manufacturing Agreement with CMSC for the manufacture of the QT Breast Scanner in Japan, and may also have agreements we expect to enter into with manufacturers and/or suppliers in Asia for the volume production of components, sub-assemblies or the full assembly of the QT Breast Scanner and other products under development. If significant tariffs or other restrictions are placed by the United States government on imports or any related counter-measures are taken by the countries in which we have such manufacturing and outsourcing agreements, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially harmed. Alternatively, we may seek to shift production outside of the affected countries subject to tariffs or other restrictions, resulting in significant costs and disruption to our operations and business. Our business could also be impacted by retaliatory trade measures taken by other countries in response to existing or future tariffs, causing us to raise prices or make changes to our operations, any of which could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business may be impacted by changes in general economic conditions.
Our business is subject to risks arising from changes in domestic and global economic conditions, including adverse economic conditions in markets in which we operate, which may harm our business. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant volatility and uncertainty in U.S. and international markets. Similar volatility and uncertainty could result from the imposition of tariffs and other trade restrictions intended to have an impact on global supply chains, which may harm our business. If our manufacturers and supplies cannot supply us with materials and product at the cost that we have planned upon, we could see increased expense in the production of the QT Breast Scanner. If our future customers significantly reduce spending in areas in which our technology and products are utilized, or prioritize other expenditures over our technology and products, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be materially adversely affected.
Disruption to the global economy could also result in a number of follow-on effects on our business, including a possible slow–down resulting from lower customer expenditures; inability of customers to pay for products, solutions or services on time, if at all; more restrictive export regulations which could limit our potential customer base; negative impact on our liquidity, financial condition and share price, which may impact our ability to raise capital in the market, obtain financing and secure other sources of funding in the future on terms favorable to us.
In addition, the occurrence of catastrophic events, such as hurricanes, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, medical epidemics and other catastrophes that adversely affect the business climate in any of our markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Technological change may adversely affect sales of our products and may cause our products to become obsolete.
The medical device market is characterized by extensive research and development, and rapid technological change. Technological progress or new developments in our industry could adversely affect clinical adoption of QT Breast Scanner and our other products under development, which could be rendered obsolete because of future innovations by our competitors with traditional methods like MRI, HHUS or mammography. We may be limited by resources, including qualified personnel, funds for capital investments, and other constraints from offering improvements to our products and services and our business, operating results and financial condition will suffer as a result.
Employee attrition may have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations or internal controls.
Our ability to attract, retain and develop qualified and experienced employees, including key executives and other talent, is critical for us to meet our business objectives. We compete with many other businesses to attract and retain employees. It is possible that we could experience loss of key personnel for a variety of causes. If we do not adequately plan for succession of key roles or if we are not successful in attracting or retaining new talent, our performance or internal control over financial reporting could be adversely impacted.
We plan to expand our operations and may not be able to manage our growth effectively, which could strain our resources and delay or derail implementation of our business objectives.
We will need to significantly expand our operations to implement our longer-term business plan and growth strategies, including building and expanding our internal organizational infrastructure to manage the regulatory approval process with the FDA for our product candidates. We will also be required to manage and form new relationships with various strategic partners, technology licensors, customers, manufacturers and suppliers, consultants and other third parties. This expansion and these new relationships will require us to significantly improve or replace our existing managerial, operational and financial systems, and procedures and controls; to improve the coordination between our various corporate functions; and to manage, train, motivate and maintain a growing employee base. The time and costs to effectuate these steps may place a significant strain on our management personnel, systems and resources, particularly if there are limited financial resources and skilled employees available at the time. We cannot assure that we will institute, in a timely manner or at all, the improvements to our managerial, operational and financial systems, procedures and controls necessary to support our anticipated increased levels of operations and to coordinate our various corporate functions, or that we will be able to properly manage, train, motivate and retain our anticipated increased employee base. If we cannot manage our growth initiatives, we will be unable to commercialize our products on a large-scale in a timely manner, if at all, and our business could fail.
If we do not manage our growth or control costs related to growth, our financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects will suffer.
Our existing systems, facilities, procedures and personnel may not be adequate to support our future growth and operations. We intend to grow our business by expanding our customer base, sales force, and product offerings. Growth could place significant strain on our management, employees, operations, financial systems, and other resources. To accommodate significant growth, we could be required to open additional facilities, expand and improve or information systems and procedures, and hire, train, motivate and manage a growing workforce, all of which would increase our costs. Further, we may not succeed in our plans to accelerate or manage growth by expanding operations, personnel and other resources, or achieve results that are timely and profitable.
If we are unable to anticipate or keep pace with changes in the marketplace and the direction of technological innovation and customer demands, our technology may become less useful or obsolete and our operating results and financial condition will suffer.
Companies offering traditional medical imaging systems, such as General Electric, Siemens, Philips, Hologic, Varian, Fuji, Canon and Hitachi, are better established in the market than we are, have greater corporate, financial, operational, sales and marketing resources than we do, or have more experience in research and development than we have. Successful developments by these companies using 3D ultralow frequency transmitted sound imaging or other technologies by competitors resulting in new approaches for medical imaging, including technologies, products or services that are more effective or commercially attractive, could make our technology less useful or obsolete. We may also face opposition from certain industry leaders, who may have political influence and the ability to delay deployment of QT Breast Scanner and other products under development in certain geographical areas.
Our competitive position also depends on our ability to:
generate widespread awareness, acceptance and adoption of our technology and future products or services;
develop new or enhanced technologies or features that improve the convenience, efficiency, safety or perceived safety, and productivity of our technology and future products or services;
properly identify customer needs and deliver new products or services or product enhancements to address those needs;
limit the time required from prototype development to commercial production;
limit the timing and cost of regulatory approvals;
attract and retain qualified personnel and collaborators;
protect our inventions with patents or otherwise develop proprietary products and processes; and
secure sufficient capital resources to expand both our continued research and development, and sales and marketing efforts.
If our technology is not, or our future products or services are not, competitive based on these or other factors, our business would be harmed.
We may be unable to sustain revenue growth or profitability.
Our ability to increase revenue in future periods will depend on our ability to successfully penetrate our target markets and increase sales of our products which will, in turn, depend in part on our success in growing our customer base and obtaining reorders from those customers. New products and services will also need to be developed and approved or cleared by the FDA and foreign regulatory agencies. Our ability to become profitable and sustain profitability is highly dependent on our ability to sustain revenue growth and to successfully manage our costs. We are also subject to potential headwinds—adverse economic conditions in the markets we serve, political turmoil, pandemic and disease, acts of God, and other unforeseen factors beyond our control that may affect our ability to sustain revenue and profitability.
Our marketing efforts, including any social media marketing efforts that we may implement in the future, may expose us to additional regulatory scrutiny, including from the FTC and other consumer protection agencies and regulators.
In addition to the laws and regulations enforced by the FDA, advertising for various services and for non-restricted medical devices is subject to federal truth-in-advertising laws enforced by the FTC, as well as comparable state consumer protection laws. The Company’s efforts to promote its prescription products via direct-to-consumer marketing and social media initiatives may subject us to additional scrutiny of its practices. For example, the FTC and other consumer protection agencies scrutinize all forms of advertising (whether in digital or traditional formats) for business services, consumer-directed products, and non-restricted medical devices to ensure that advertisers are not making false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims or failing to disclose material relationships between the advertiser and its products’ endorsers, among other potential issues. The FDA oversees the advertising and promotional labeling for restricted medical devices and ensures, among other things, that there is effective communication of, and a fair and balanced presentation of, the risks and benefits of such high-risk medical devices.
Under the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”), the FTC is empowered, among other things, to (a) prevent unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce; (b) seek monetary redress and other relief for conduct injurious to consumers; and (c) gather and compile information and conduct investigations relating to the organization, business, practices, and management of entities engaged in commerce. The FTC has very broad enforcement authority, and failure to abide by the substantive requirements of the FTC Act and other consumer protection laws can result in administrative or judicial penalties, including civil penalties, injunctions affecting the manner in which the Company would be able to market services or products in the future, or criminal prosecution. Any plans to increase our advertising activities that may be subject to these federal and state truth-in-advertising laws. Any actual or perceived non-compliance with those laws could lead to an investigation by the FTC or a comparable state agency, or could lead to allegations of misleading advertising by private plaintiffs. Any such action against us would disrupt the Company’s business operations, cause damage to our reputation, and result in material adverse effects on our business and financial performance.
The FDA requires that promotional labeling be truthful and not misleading, including with respect to any comparative claims made about competing products or technologies. In addition to FDA implications, the use of comparative claims also present risk of a lawsuit by the competitor under federal and state false advertising and unfair competition statutes (e.g., the Lanham Act) or unfair and deceptive trade practices law, and possibly also state libel law. Such a suit may seek injunctive relief against further advertising, a court order directing corrective advertising, and compensatory and punitive damages where permitted by law. Further, notwithstanding the ultimate outcome of any Lanham Act or similar complaint, the Company’s reputation and relationship with certain customers or distribution partners may be harmed as a result of the allegations related to its products or its business practices more generally.
Risks Related to Healthcare Industry Shifts and Government Regulation
We are subject to extensive government regulation, which could restrict the development, marketing, sale and distribution of our products and services, and could cause us to incur significant costs.
The Company’s ultrasound imaging products and associated services are subject to extensive pre-market and post-market regulation by the FDA and various other federal, state, local and foreign government authorities. Government regulation of medical devices is meant to assure their safety and effectiveness, and includes requirements for, among other things: design, development and manufacturing; testing, labeling, content and language of instructions for use and storage; clinical trials; product safety; establishment registration and device listing; marketing, sales and distribution; pre-market clearance and approval; conformity assessment procedures; record keeping procedures; advertising and promotion; recalls and field safety corrective actions; post-market surveillance, including reporting of deaths or serious injuries and malfunctions that, if they were to occur, could lead to death or serious injury; post-market approval studies; and product import and export.
The Company is also subject to numerous post-marketing regulatory requirements, which include quality system regulations related to the manufacture of the Company’s devices, labeling regulations and medical device reporting regulations. The last of these regulations requires us to report to the FDA if our devices cause or contribute to a death or serious injury, or malfunction in a way that would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if the malfunction recurred. If we fail to comply with present or future regulatory requirements that are applicable, it may subject our company to enforcement action by the FDA, such as: warning or untitled letters; fines; injunctions; consent decrees; civil penalties; customer notifications; termination of distribution; recalls or seizures of products; administrative detention of medical devices believed to be adulterated or misbranded; delays in the introduction of products into the market; operating restrictions; total or partial suspension of production; refusal to grant future clearances or approvals for new products, new intended uses or modifications to our products; withdrawals or suspensions of current approvals, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products; and in the most serious cases, criminal prosecution or penalties. The occurrence of any of these events may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations.
The laws and regulations to which the Company and its products are subject are complex and subject to periodic changes. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales. See “Business-Government Regulation” for a more detailed description of laws and regulations that affect our business and operations.
Failure to comply with applicable regulation in the United States and in the countries where we will sell and distribute our products could harm our business.
QT Breast Scanner and other future products we develop are subject to extensive regulation in the U.S. and elsewhere, including by the FDA and its foreign counterparts, the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) and the U.S. Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General (the “OIG”). The FDA and foreign regulatory agencies regulate, among other things, with respect to medical devices: design, development and manufacturing; testing, labeling, content and language of instructions for use and storage; clinical trials; product safety; establishment registration and device listing; marketing, sales and distribution; pre-market clearance and approval; conformity assessment procedures; record keeping procedures; advertising and promotion; recalls and field safety corrective actions; post-market surveillance, including reporting of deaths or serious injuries and malfunctions that, if they were to occur, could lead to death or serious injury; post-market approval studies; and product import and export.
The regulations for products like QT Breast Scanner, products under development and have tended to become more stringent over time. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales for any approved product. Failure to comply with applicable regulations could jeopardize our ability to sell our future products, if cleared or approved, and result in enforcement actions such as: warning or untitled letters; fines; injunctions; consent decrees; civil penalties; customer notifications; termination of distribution; recalls or seizures of products; administrative detention of medical devices believed to be adulterated or misbranded; delays in the introduction of products into the market; operating restrictions; total or partial suspension of production; refusal to grant future clearances or approvals for new products, new intended uses or modifications to our products; withdrawals or suspensions of current approvals, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products; and in the most serious cases, criminal prosecution or penalties. The occurrence of any of these events would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could result in stockholders losing their entire investment.
We may not receive, or may be delayed in receiving, the necessary clearances or approvals for our future products, and failure to timely obtain necessary clearances or approvals for our future products would adversely affect our ability to grow our business.
See “Business-Government Regulation” for a more detailed description of laws and regulations that affect our business and operations. In the United States, before we can market a new medical device, or a new use of, new claim for or significant modification to an existing product, we must first receive either clearance under Section 510(k) of the FDCA or approval of a PMA from the FDA, unless an exemption applies. Clinical data are sometimes required to support a pre-market approval application. In the process of obtaining PMA approval, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is safe and effective for its intended use based, in part, on extensive data, including, but not limited to, technical, pre-clinical, clinical trial, manufacturing and labeling data. The PMA process is typically required for devices that are deemed to pose the greatest risk, such as life-sustaining, life-supporting or implantable devices. While we do not expect our products to be marketed under a PMA, should the FDA require we submit to a PMA approval process for any of our products, our business could suffer due to increased costs and timelines to receive such approvals.
If the FDA requires us to submit new 510(k) notifications or PMA applications for modifications to our previously cleared products for which we have concluded that new clearances or approvals are unnecessary, we may be required to cease marketing or to recall the modified product until we obtain clearance or approval, and we may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties. If the FDA requires us to go through a lengthier, more rigorous examination for future products or modifications to existing products than we had expected, product introductions or modifications could be delayed or canceled, which could adversely affect our ability to grow our business.
The FDA can delay, limit or deny clearance or approval of a medical device for many reasons, including:
our inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or the applicable regulatory entity or notified body that our product candidates are safe or effective for their intended uses;
the disagreement of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory body with the design or implementation of our clinical trials or the interpretation of data from pre-clinical studies or clinical trials;
In order to sell our products in member countries of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), our products must comply with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 93/42/EEC). Compliance with these requirements is a prerequisite to be able to affix the Conformité Européene (“CE”) mark to our products, without which they cannot be sold or marketed in the EEA. To demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements we must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its classification. Except for low-risk medical devices (Class I non-sterile, non-measuring devices), where the manufacturer can issue a European Community (“EC”) Declaration of Conformity based on a self-assessment of the conformity of its products with the essential requirements of the EU Medical Devices Directive, a conformity assessment procedure requires the intervention of an organization accredited by a member state of the EEA to conduct conformity assessments, or a Notified Body. Depending on the relevant conformity assessment procedure, the Notified Body would typically audit and examine the technical file and the quality system for the manufacture, design and final inspection of our devices. The Notified Body issues a certificate of conformity following successful completion of a conformity assessment procedure conducted in relation to the medical device and its manufacturer and their conformity with the essential requirements. This certificate entitles the manufacturer to affix the CE mark to its medical devices after having prepared and signed a related EC Declaration of Conformity.
The Company cannot be certain that it will be successful in meeting and continuing to meet the requirements to market a medical device in the EEA under the new regulatory framework called the MDR. The MDR went into force in May 2017 but allowed a three-year transition period until May 2020 for Member States, regulatory authorities, and medical device stakeholders to come into compliance with the new requirements. A one-year delay of the compliance date of the MDR was implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the directive entered into application on May 26, 2021. Compared to the earlier regulatory framework of Medical Device Directive, the MDR promotes a shift from the pre-approval stage (i.e., the path to CE Marking) to a life-cycle approach and places greater emphasis on clinical data and clinical evaluations to assure the safety and performance of new medical devices. Moreover, the MDR includes elements intended to strengthen the conformity assessment procedures, assert greater control over notified bodies and their standards, increase overall system transparency, and impose more robust device vigilance requirements on manufacturers and distributors. The new rules and procedures that have been created under the overhauled European regulations will likely result in increased regulatory oversight of all medical devices marketed in the European Union, and this may, in turn, increase the costs, time and requirements that need to be met in order to place an innovative or high-risk medical device on the EEA market.
As a general rule, demonstration of conformity of medical devices and their manufacturers with the essential requirements must be based, among other things, on the evaluation of clinical data supporting the safety and performance of the products during normal conditions of use. Specifically, a manufacturer must demonstrate that the device achieves its intended performance during normal conditions of use, that the known and foreseeable risks, and any adverse events, are minimized and acceptable when weighed against the benefits of its intended performance, and that any claims made about the performance and safety of the device are supported by suitable evidence. If we fail to remain in compliance with applicable European laws and directives, we would be unable to continue to affix the CE mark to our products, which would prevent us from selling them within the EEA. Approval and CE marking procedures vary between countries and can involve additional product testing and additional administrative review periods. The time required to obtain approval or CE mark in other countries might differ from that required to obtain FDA clearance. The regulatory approval or CE marking process in other countries may include all of the risks detailed above regarding FDA clearance in the United States. Regulatory approval or the CE marking of a product in one country does not ensure regulatory approval in another, but a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval or a CE mark in one country may negatively impact the regulatory process in others. Failure to obtain regulatory approval or a CE mark in other countries or any delay or setback in obtaining such approval could have the same adverse effects described above regarding FDA clearance in the United States.
Recent initiatives by the FDA to enhance and modernize various regulatory pathways for device products and its overall approach to safety and innovation in the medical technology industry creates the possibility of changing product development costs, requirements, and other factors and additional uncertainty for the Company’s future products and business.
Regulatory requirements may change in the future in a way that adversely affect the Company. Any change in the laws or regulations that govern the clearance and approval processes or the post-market compliance requirements relating to the Company’s current and future products and associated services could make it more difficult and costly to obtain clearance or approval for new products, or to produce, market and distribute existing products. For example, the FDA and other government agencies have been focusing on the cybersecurity risks associated with certain medical devices and encouraging device manufacturers to take a more proactive approach to assessing the cybersecurity risks of their devices both during development and on a periodic basis after the devices are in commercial distribution. These regulatory efforts could lead to new FDA requirements in the future or additional product liability or other litigation risks, if any of the Company’s products and associated services are considered susceptible to third-party tampering.
In December 2016, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which made multiple changes to the FDA’s rules for medical devices as well as for clinical trials. In August 2017, Congress passed the Medical Device User Fee reauthorization package, which affects medical device regulation both pre- and post-approval and could have certain impacts on our business. Since that time, the FDA has announced a series of efforts to modernize and streamline the 510(k) notification and regulatory review process and monitoring post-market safety, and issued a proposed rule to formalize the de novo classification process to provide clarity to innovative device developers. Changes in the FDA 510(k) process could make clearance more difficult to obtain, increase delay, add uncertainty and have other significant adverse effects on our ability to obtain and maintain clearance for the Company’s products and associated services.
It is unclear at this time whether and how various activities initiated or announced by the FDA to modernize the U.S. medical device regulatory system could affect the Company’s business, as some of the FDA’s new medical device safety and innovation initiatives have not been formalized and remain subject to change. For example, a 2018 Medical Device Safety Action Plan announced by former FDA Commissioner Gottlieb included a particular focus on post-market surveillance and how to respond when new safety concerns emerge once a product is on the market. The increased attention that the medical technology industry is receiving from FDA leadership that understands the challenging and rapidly changing nature of the U.S. health care system creates the possibility of unanticipated regulatory and other potential changes to the Company’s products and its overall business.
We are subject to ongoing and pervasive regulatory requirements governing, among other things, the manufacture, marketing, advertising, medical device reporting, sale, promotion, import, export, registration, and listing of devices. For example, we are required to submit periodic reports to the FDA as a condition of 510(k) clearance. These reports include information about failures and certain adverse events associated with the device after its clearance. Failure to submit such reports, or failure to submit the reports in a timely manner, could result in enforcement action by the FDA. Following its review of the periodic reports, the FDA might ask for additional information or initiate further investigation.
untitled letters or warning letters;
fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties;
customer notifications or repair, replacement or refunds;
delays in or refusal to grant our requests for future clearances or approvals or foreign marketing authorizations of new products, new intended uses, or modifications to existing products;
withdrawals or suspensions of product clearances or approvals, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products;
criminal prosecution.
Any of these sanctions could result in higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales and have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the FDA or state or foreign authorities may change their clearance and approval policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay clearance or approval of our future products under development on a timely basis. Such policy or regulatory changes could impose additional requirements upon us that could delay our ability to obtain new clearances or approvals, increase the costs of compliance or restrict our ability to maintain any approvals we are able to obtain.
Our products must be manufactured in accordance with federal, state and foreign regulations, and we could be forced to recall our devices or terminate production if we fail to comply with these regulations.
The methods used in, and the facilities used for, the manufacture of our products must comply with the QSR, which is a complex regulatory scheme that covers the procedures and documentation of the design, testing, production, process controls, quality assurance, labeling, packaging, handling, storage, distribution, installation, servicing and shipping of medical devices. As manufacturers of electron radiation-emitting products, we are also responsible for compliance with the radiological health regulations and certain radiation safety performance standards.
Furthermore, we are required to verify that our suppliers maintain facilities, procedures and operations that comply with our quality standards and applicable regulatory requirements. The FDA enforces the QSR through periodic announced or unannounced inspections of medical device manufacturing facilities, which may include the facilities of subcontractors. Our products are also subject to similar state regulations and various laws and regulations of foreign countries governing manufacturing.
Our third-party manufacturers may not take the necessary steps to comply with applicable regulations, which could cause delays in the delivery of our products. In addition, failure to comply with applicable FDA or state or foreign requirements or later discovery of previously unknown problems with our products or manufacturing processes could result in, among other things: warning letters or untitled letters; fines, injunctions or civil penalties; suspension or withdrawal of approvals; seizures or recalls of our products; total or partial suspension of production or distribution; administrative or judicially imposed sanctions; the FDA’s refusal to grant pending or future clearances or approvals for our products; clinical holds; refusal to permit the import or export of our products; and criminal prosecution of us, our suppliers or our employees.
We have limited experience in identifying and working with large-scale contracts with medical device manufacturers.
To achieve the levels of production necessary to commercialize the QT Breast Scanner and any other future products or product candidates, we have entered into the Canon Manufacturing Agreement with CMSC for the manufacture of the QT Breast Scanner (and will need to something similar for other future products or product candidates), and by doing so, have secured a large-scale manufacturing agreement with a contract manufacturer that complies with the manufacturing standards prescribed by various federal, state and local regulatory agencies in the U.S. and any other country of use. We have limited experience coordinating and overseeing the manufacturing of medical device products on a large-scale. Manufacturing and control problems could arise as we attempt to commercialize our products and manufacturing may not be completed in a timely manner or at a commercially reasonable cost. In addition, we may not be able to adequately finance the manufacturing and distribution of our products on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we cannot successfully oversee and finance the manufacturing of our products after receiving regulatory approval, we may not generate sufficient revenue to become profitable.
Advertising and promotion of our existing product, and products under development that obtain approval in the United States may be heavily scrutinized by the FDA, the DOJ, HHS, state attorneys general, members of Congress, and the public. In addition, advertising and promotion of any future product that obtains approval outside of the United States will be heavily scrutinized by comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
The QT Breast Scanner is, and we expect will continue to be, cleared by the requisite regulatory authorities for specific indications. We expect to train our marketing personnel and direct sales force to not promote our devices for uses outside of the FDA-approved indications for use, known as “off-label uses.” We cannot, however, prevent a physician from using our devices off-label, when in the physician’s independent professional medical judgment, he or she deems it appropriate. There may be increased risk of injury to patients if physicians attempt to use our devices off-label. Furthermore, the use of our devices for indications other than those approved by the FDA or approved by any foreign regulatory body may not effectively treat such conditions, which could harm our reputation in the marketplace among healthcare providers and patients.
If the FDA or any state or foreign regulatory body determines that our promotional materials or training constitute promotion of an off-label use, it could request that we modify our training or promotional materials or subject us to regulatory or enforcement actions, including the issuance or imposition of an untitled letter, which is used for violators that do not necessitate a warning letter, injunction, seizure, civil fine or criminal penalties. It is also possible that other federal, state or foreign enforcement authorities might take action under other regulatory authority, such as false claims laws, if they consider our business activities to constitute promotion of an off-label use, which could result in significant penalties, including, but not limited to, criminal, civil and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs and the curtailment of our operations. We may become subject to such actions and, if we are not successful in defending against such actions, those actions may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Equivalent laws and potential consequences exist in foreign jurisdictions.
In addition, if our products are cleared or approved, healthcare providers may misuse our products or use improper techniques if they are not adequately trained, potentially leading to injury and an increased risk of product liability. If our devices are misused or used with improper technique, we may become subject to costly litigation by our customers or their patients. As described above, product liability claims could divert management’s attention from our core business, be expensive to defend and result in sizeable damage awards against us that may not be covered by insurance.
Our existing product and products under development that receive clearance or approval will be subject to the FDA’s medical device reporting regulations and similar foreign regulations, which require us to report to the FDA when we receive or become aware of information that reasonably suggests that one or more of our products may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or malfunctioned in a way that, if the malfunction were to recur, could cause or contribute to a death or serious injury. The timing of our obligation to report is triggered by the date we become aware of the adverse event as well as the nature of the event. We may fail to report adverse events of which we become aware within the prescribed timeframe. We may also fail to recognize that we have become aware of a reportable adverse event, especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of the product. If we fail to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA or other regulatory bodies could take action, including warning letters, untitled letters, administrative actions, criminal prosecution, imposition of civil monetary penalties, revocation of our device clearance or approval, seizure of our products or delay in clearance or approval of future products.
Our QT Breast Scanner technology may become obsolete.
Our QT Breast Scanner may become obsolete prior to commercialization by new scientific or technological developments, or by others with new technologies that are more efficient, precise and/or more economical than the QT Breast Scanner or our future product candidates. Any one of our competitors could develop a more effective product which would render our technology obsolete. In addition, it is possible that competitors may use similar technologies, equipment or devices to attempt to create a product similar to the QT Breast Scanner. Further, new technological and scientific developments could cause our QT Breast Scanner and future product candidates to become obsolete. Further developments and innovation in the area of medical imaging could require us to reconfigure the QT Breast Scanner or our future product candidates, which may not be commercially feasible, or cause them to become obsolete. Lastly, our ability to achieve significant and sustained growth in our key target markets will depend upon our success in market penetration, utilization, publication, our reimbursement efforts and medical education. Our products may not remain competitive with products based on new technologies. If we fail to sell products that satisfy our customers’ demands, or respond effectively to new product announcements by our competitors, then market acceptance of our products could be reduced and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Physicians, other healthcare providers, and third-party payors will play a primary role with respect to our current products and any future products for which we obtain marketing approval. Our arrangements with third-party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our product. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations include the following:
The U.S. federal healthcare program Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Although there are a number of statutory exemptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting certain common activities from prosecution, the exemptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and practices that involve remuneration to those who prescribe, purchase, or recommend medical devices, including certain discounts, or engaging consultants as speakers or consultants, may be subject to scrutiny if they do not fit squarely within the exemption or safe harbor. Our practices may not in all cases meet all of the criteria for safe harbor protection from anti-kickback liability. Moreover, there are no safe harbors for many common practices, such as educational and research grants. Liability may be established without a person or entity having actual knowledge of the Anti-Kickback Statute or specific intent to violate it. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act. Due to the breadth of these laws, the narrowness of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available, and the range of interpretations to which they are subject, it is possible that some of our current or future practices might be challenged under one or more of these laws. The Company’s compliance with Medicare and Medicaid regulations may be reviewed by federal or state agencies, including the OIG, CMS, and DOJ, or may be subject to whistleblower lawsuits under federal and state false claims laws.
The federal civil False Claims Act prohibits, among other things, any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment of government funds, or knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay money to the government or knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding, decreasing, or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government. In recent years, several healthcare companies have faced enforcement actions under the federal False Claims Act for, among other things, allegedly providing free product to customers with the expectation that the customers would bill federal programs for the product or causing false claims to be submitted because of the company’s marketing the product for unapproved, and thus non-reimbursable, uses. False Claims Act liability is potentially significant in the healthcare industry because the statute provides for treble damages and mandatory penalties of tens of thousands of dollars per false claim or statement. Healthcare companies also are subject to other federal false claims laws, including, among others, federal criminal healthcare fraud and false statement statutes that extend to non-government health benefit programs.
HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (“HITECH”), imposes criminal and civil liability for knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, or knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. In addition, HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, and their respective implementing regulations impose obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, on covered healthcare providers, health plans, as well as their business associates, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information. The Physician Payment Sunshine Act, implemented as the Open Payments program, requires manufacturers of certain products reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to track and report to the federal government payments and transfers of value that they make to physicians and teaching hospitals, certain other healthcare professionals beginning in 2022, group purchasing organizations, and ownership interests held by physicians and their families, and provides for public disclosures of these data. Manufacturers are required to submit annual reports to the government and failure to do so may result in civil monetary penalties for all payments, transfers of value and ownership or investment interests not reported in an annual submission, and may result in liability under other federal laws and regulations.
Many states have adopted laws and regulations analogous to the federal laws cited above, including state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs or, in several states, regardless of the payer. Several states have enacted legislation requiring medical device companies to, among other things, establish marketing compliance programs; file periodic reports with the state, including reports on gifts and payments to individual health care providers; make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, clinical trials and other activities; and/or register their sales representatives. Some states prohibit specified sales and marketing practices, including the provision of gifts, meals, or other items to certain health care providers.
Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations involve substantial costs. Additionally, it is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. Exclusion, suspension and debarment from government funded healthcare programs would significantly impact our ability to commercialize, sell or distribute any product. If any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found not to be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs.
Changes in laws or regulations relating to data protection, or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations or our privacy policies, could materially and adversely affect our business or could lead to government enforcement actions and significant penalties against us, and adversely impact our operating results.
We may receive health information and other highly sensitive or confidential information and data of patients and other third parties, which we may compile and analyze. Collection and use of this data might raise privacy and data protection concerns, which could negatively impact our business. There are numerous federal, state and international laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, information security, and the collection, storing, sharing, use, processing, transfer, disclosure, and protection of personal information and other data, and the scope of such laws and regulations may change, be subject to differing interpretations, and may be inconsistent among countries and regions we intend to operate in (e.g., the U.S., the European Union and Israel), or conflict with other laws and regulations. The regulatory framework for privacy and data protection worldwide is, and is likely to remain for the foreseeable future, uncertain and complex, and this or other actual or alleged obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that we may not anticipate or that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or practices including ours. Further, any significant change to applicable laws, regulations, or industry practices regarding the collection, use, retention, security, or disclosure of data, or their interpretation, or any changes regarding the manner in which the consent of relevant users for the collection, use, retention, or disclosure of such data must be obtained, could increase our costs and require us to modify our services and candidate products, possibly in a material manner, which we may be unable to complete, and may limit our ability to store and process patients’ data or develop new services and features.
In particular, we will be subject to U.S. data protection laws and regulations (i.e., laws and regulations that address privacy and data security) at both the federal and state levels. The legislative and regulatory landscape for data protection continues to evolve, and in recent years there has been an increasing focus on privacy and data security issues. Numerous federal and state laws, including state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws, govern the collection, use, and disclosure of health-related and other personal information. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in government enforcement actions and create liability for us (including the imposition of significant civil or criminal penalties), private litigation and/or adverse publicity that could negatively affect our business. For instance, California enacted the CCPA on June 28, 2018, which took effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA creates individual privacy rights for California consumers and increases the privacy and security obligations of entities handling certain personal data. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability, and many similar laws have been proposed at the federal level and in other states.
In addition, we expect to obtain health information that is subject to privacy and security requirements under HITECH and its implementing regulations. The privacy standards and security standards under HIPAA establish a set of standards for the protection of individually identifiable health information by health plans, health care clearinghouses and certain health care providers, (collectively referred to as “Covered Entities”), and the business associates with whom Covered Entities enter into service relationships pursuant to which individually identifiable health information may be exchanged. Notably, whereas HIPAA previously directly regulated only Covered Entities, HITECH makes certain of HIPAA’s privacy and security standards also directly applicable to Covered Entities’ business associates. As a result, both Covered Entities and business associates are now subject to significant civil and criminal penalties for failure to comply with privacy standards and security standards. As part of our normal operations, we expect to collect, process and retain personal identifying information regarding patients, including as a business associate of Covered Entities, so we expect to be subject to HIPAA, including changes implemented through HITECH, and we could be subject to criminal penalties if we knowingly obtain or disclose individually identifiable health information in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA. A data breach affecting sensitive personal information, including health information, also could result in significant legal and financial exposure and reputational damages that could potentially have an adverse effect on our business.
HIPAA requires Covered Entities (like many of our potential customers) and business associates, like us, to develop and maintain policies and procedures with respect to protected health information that is used or disclosed, including the adoption of administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect such information. HITECH expands the notification requirement for breaches of patient-identifiable health information, restricts certain disclosures and sales of patient-identifiable health information and provides for civil monetary penalties for HIPAA violations. HITECH also increased the civil and criminal penalties that may be imposed against Covered Entities and business associates and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce HIPAA and its implementing regulations and seek attorney’s fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. Additionally, certain states have adopted comparable privacy and security laws and regulations, some of which may be more stringent than HIPAA.
Internationally, many jurisdictions have or are considering enacting privacy or data protection laws or regulations relating to the collection, use, storage, transfer, disclosure and/or other processing of personal data, as well as certification requirements for the hosting of health data specifically. Such laws and regulations may include data hosting, data residency or data localization requirements (which generally require that certain types of data collected within a certain country be stored and processed within that country), data export restrictions, international transfer laws (which prohibit or impose conditions upon the transfer of such data from one country to another), or may require companies to implement privacy or data protection and security policies, enable users to access, correct and delete personal data stored or maintained by such companies, inform individuals of security breaches that affect their personal data or obtain individuals’ consent to use their personal data. For example, European legislators adopted the GDPR, which became effective on May 25, 2018, and are now in the process of finalizing the ePrivacy Regulation to replace the European ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC). The GDPR, supplemented by national laws and further implemented through binding guidance from the European Data Protection Board, imposes more stringent European Union data protection requirements and provides for significant penalties for noncompliance. Further, the United Kingdom’s initiating a process to leave the European Union has created uncertainty with regard to the regulation of data protection in the United Kingdom. In particular, the United Kingdom has brought the GDPR into domestic law with the Data Protection Act of 2018 which will remain in force, even if and when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
Virtually every jurisdiction in which we expect to operate has established its own data security and privacy legal framework with which we must, and our target customers will need to, comply, including the rules and regulation mentioned above. We may also need to comply with varying and possibly conflicting privacy laws and regulations in other jurisdictions. As a result, we could face regulatory actions, including significant fines or penalties, adverse publicity and possible loss of business.
In addition, there are ongoing public policy discussions regarding whether the standards for de-identified, anonymous or pseudonymized health information are sufficient to adequately protect patient privacy. These discussions may lead to further restrictions on the use or disclosure of such information. We use a third party service provider to de-identify PHI that parties with which we work receive and may make available to us. There can be no assurance that the policy initiatives or future initiatives will not adversely affect our ability to access and use data or to develop or market current or future services, or that the third party service providers that we use to de-identify PHI will do so in a manner that is deemed compliant with any regulatory standards that currently exist or are developed in the future. There is also a risk that the third parties that license us data and enable us to receive de-identified PHI may fail to properly de-identify PHI under HIPAA or personal data under applicable state or other privacy laws, some of which may impose different standards for de- identification than those required by HIPAA. Furthermore, if we are unable to secure these rights to de-identified information or because of any future changes to HIPAA or other applicable laws, we may face limitations on the use of PHI and our ability to use de-identified information that could negatively affect the scope of our product and service offering as well as impair our ability to provide upgrades and enhancements to our services.
While we are preparing to implement various measures intended to enable us to comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations and contractual obligations, these measures may not always be effective and do not guarantee compliance. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our contractual or legal obligations or regulatory requirements relating to privacy, data protection, or information security may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation, claims, or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could result in significant liability, cause our customers, partners or patients to lose trust in us, and otherwise materially and adversely affect our reputation and business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations, and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our customers or partners may limit the adoption and use of, and reduce the overall demand for, our products and services. Additionally, if third parties we work with violate applicable laws, regulations, or agreements, such violations may put the data we have received at risk, could result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, fines, litigation, claims, or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could result in significant liability, cause our customers, partners or patients to lose trust in us, and otherwise materially and adversely affect our reputation and business. Further, public scrutiny of, or complaints about, technology companies or their data handling or data protection practices, even if unrelated to our business, industry or operations, may lead to increased scrutiny of technology companies, including us, and may cause government agencies to enact additional regulatory requirements, or to modify their enforcement or investigation activities, which may increase our costs and risks.
Any restrictions on our ability to obtain or use data could harm our business.
Our business processes personal data, including some data related to health. When conducting clinical trials, we face risks associated with collecting trial participants’ data, especially health data, in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations. Any errors or defects in any third-party data or other technology could result in errors in our existing and future solutions that could harm our business and damage our reputation and cause losses in revenue, and we could be required to spend significant amounts of additional resources to fix any problems.
We may also face headwinds with limitations on the use of data in current customer contracts. We are currently evaluating those limitations and may need to renegotiate current contracts and negotiate future contracts to allow broader use of data to launch this initiative. Also, healthcare regulations concerning personal health information, including but not limited to HIPAA, HITECH, 42 CFR Part II, and their State law equivalents such as the CCPA, as recently amended and expanded by the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), could have a significant effect on the manner in which we must handle healthcare related data, and the costs of complying with such standards could be significant.
If we do not obtain and maintain international regulatory registrations, clearances or approvals for our products, we will be unable to market and sell our products outside of the United States.
Sales of our products outside of the United States are subject to foreign regulatory requirements that vary widely from country to country. Approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval outside of the United States may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. In addition, the FDA regulates exports of medical devices from the United States. While the regulations of some countries may not impose barriers to marketing and selling our products or only require notification, others require that we obtain the clearance or approval of a specified regulatory body. Complying with foreign regulatory requirements, including obtaining registrations, clearances or approvals, can be expensive and time-consuming, and we may not receive regulatory clearances or approvals in each country in which we plan to market our products or we may be unable to do so on a timely basis. The time required to obtain registrations, clearances or approvals, if required by other countries, may be longer than that required for FDA clearance or approval, and requirements for such registrations, clearances or approvals may significantly differ from FDA requirements. If we modify our products, we may need to apply for additional regulatory clearances or approvals before we are permitted to sell the modified product. In addition, we may not continue to meet the quality and safety standards required to maintain the authorizations that we have received. If we are unable to maintain our authorizations in a particular country, we will no longer be able to sell the applicable product in that country.
Regulatory clearance or approval by the FDA does not ensure registration, clearance or approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and registration, clearance or approval by one or more foreign regulatory authorities does not ensure registration, clearance or approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or by the FDA. However, a failure or delay in obtaining registration or regulatory clearance or approval in one country may have a negative effect on the regulatory process in others.
Legislative or regulatory reforms in the United States or the EU may make it more difficult and costly for us to obtain regulatory clearances or approvals for our products or to manufacture, market or distribute our products after clearance or approval is obtained.
From time to time, legislation is drafted and introduced in Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the regulation of medical devices. In addition, the FDA may change its clearance and approval policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions, which may prevent or delay approval or clearance of our future products under development or impact our ability to modify our currently cleared products on a timely basis. Over the last several years, the FDA has proposed reforms to its 510(k) clearance process, and such proposals could include increased requirements for clinical data and a longer review period, or could make it more difficult for manufacturers to utilize the 510(k) clearance process for their products. For example, in November 2018, FDA officials announced forthcoming steps that the FDA intends to take to modernize the premarket notification pathway under Section 510(k) of the FDCA. Among other things, the FDA announced that it planned to develop proposals to drive manufacturers utilizing the 510(k) pathway toward the use of newer predicates. These proposals included plans to potentially sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway, and to potentially publish a list of devices that have been cleared on the basis of demonstrated substantial equivalence to predicate devices that are more than 10 years old. In May 2019, the FDA solicited public feedback on these proposals. The FDA requested public feedback on whether it should consider certain actions that might require new authority, such as whether to sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway. These proposals have not yet been finalized or adopted, and the FDA may work with Congress to implement such proposals through legislation. Accordingly, it is unclear the extent to which any proposals, if adopted, could impose additional regulatory requirements on us that could delay our ability to obtain new 510(k) clearances, increase the costs of compliance, or restrict our ability to maintain our current clearances, or otherwise create competition that may negatively affect our business.
More recently, in September 2019, the FDA finalized guidance describing an optional “safety and performance based” premarket review pathway for manufacturers of “certain, well-understood device types” to demonstrate substantial equivalence under the 510(k) clearance pathway by showing that such device meets objective safety and performance criteria established by the FDA, thereby obviating the need for manufacturers to compare the safety and performance of their medical devices to specific predicate devices in the clearance process. The FDA intends to develop and maintain a list device types appropriate for the “safety and performance based” pathway and will continue to develop product-specific guidance documents that identify the performance criteria for each such device type, as well as the testing methods recommended in the guidance documents, where feasible. The FDA may establish performance criteria for classes of devices for which we or our competitors seek or currently have received clearance, and it is unclear the extent to which such performance standards, if established, could impact our ability to obtain new 510(k) clearances or otherwise create competition that may negatively affect our business.
The FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies may change and additional government regulations may be promulgated that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory clearance or approval of our future products. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval or clearance that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
On April 5, 2017, the European Parliament passed the MDR (Regulation 2017/745), which repeals and replaces the EU Medical Devices Directive. Unlike directives, which must be implemented into the national laws of the EEA Member States, the regulations would be directly applicable, i.e., without the need for adoption of EEA member state laws implementing them, in all EEA Member States and are intended to eliminate current differences in the regulation of medical devices among EEA Member States. The MDR, among other things, is intended to establish a uniform, transparent, predictable and sustainable regulatory framework across the EEA for medical devices and ensure a high level of safety and health while supporting innovation.
The MDR become applicable three years after publication (in 2020). The new regulations will, among other things:
establish explicit provisions on manufacturers’ responsibilities for follow-up regarding the quality, performance and safety of devices placed on the market;
set up a central database to provide patients, healthcare professionals and the public with comprehensive information on products available in the EU; and
strengthened rules for the assessment of certain high-risk devices, which may have to undergo an additional check by experts before they are placed on the market.
These modifications may have an effect on the way we conduct our business in the EEA.
Healthcare reform laws could adversely affect our products and financial condition.
During the past several years, the U.S. healthcare industry has been subject to an increase in governmental regulation at both the federal and state levels. Efforts to control healthcare costs, including limiting access to care, alternative delivery models and changes in the methods used to determine reimbursement scenarios and rates, are ongoing at the federal and state government levels.
In March 2010, former President Obama signed into law the ACA, which included measures that significantly changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. While a primary goal of these healthcare reform efforts was to expand coverage to more individuals, it also involved additional regulatory mandates and other measures designed to constrain medical costs. The ACA significantly impacts the medical device industry. Among other things, the ACA:
imposes an annual excise tax of 2.3% on any entity that manufactures or imports medical devices offered for sale in the United States, which, through a series of legislative amendments, was suspended, effective January 1, 2016 and subsequently repealed altogether on December 20, 2019;
In addition, the ACA and related healthcare reform laws, regulations and initiatives have significantly increased regulation of managed care plans and decreased reimbursement under Medicare managed care. Moreover, to alleviate budget shortfalls, states have reduced or frozen payments to Medicaid managed care plans. We cannot accurately predict the complete impact of these healthcare reform initiatives, but they could lead to a decreased demand for medical devices and other outcomes that could adversely impact our business and financial results.
Some of the provisions of the ACA have yet to be fully implemented, and certain provisions have been subject to judicial and congressional challenges. In addition, there have been efforts by the Trump administration to repeal or replace certain aspects of the ACA and to alter the implementation of the ACA and related laws. For example, the TCJA enacted on
December 22, 2017, eliminated the shared responsibility payment for individuals who fail to maintain minimum essential coverage under Section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, commonly referred to as the “individual mandate,” effective January 1, 2019. On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Northern District of Texas, or the Texas District Court Judge, ruled that the individual mandate is a critical and inseverable feature of the ACA, and therefore, because it was repealed as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. This decision was subsequently appealed, and on December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court that the individual mandate, as amended by the TCJA, was unconstitutional. The Fifth Circuit remanded the case to the district court to consider a remedy, including to consider and explain which provisions of the ACA are inseverable and invalid. It is unclear how this litigation, including all future hearings and appeals, and other efforts to challenge, repeal or replace the ACA, or portions thereof, will affect our future products or our business. It is possible that the ACA, as currently enacted or as it may be amended in the future, and other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, could have an adverse effect on our industry generally and on our ability to commercialize our future products and achieve profitability.
The ability of the FDA to review and clear or approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, statutory, regulatory, and policy changes, the FDA’s ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and other events that may otherwise affect the FDA’s ability to perform routine functions. Average review times at the FDA have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.
Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new medical devices or modifications to cleared or approved medical devices to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, including for 35 days beginning on December 22, 2018, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical FDA employees and stop critical activities.
Separately, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 10, 2020 the FDA announced its intention to postpone most inspections of foreign manufacturing facilities, and on March 18, 2020, the FDA temporarily postponed routine surveillance inspections of domestic manufacturing facilities. Subsequently, on July 10, 2020 the FDA announced its intention to resume certain on-site inspections of domestic manufacturing facilities subject to a risk-based prioritization system. The FDA intends to use this risk-based assessment system to identify the categories of regulatory activity that can occur within a given geographic area, ranging from mission critical inspections to resumption of all regulatory activities. Regulatory authorities outside the United States may adopt similar restrictions or other policy measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, or if global health concerns continue to prevent the FDA or other regulatory authorities from conducting their regular inspections, reviews, or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Consolidation in the U.S. healthcare industry may negatively impact our results of operations.
In recent years, U.S. healthcare industry participants, including distributors, manufacturers, suppliers, healthcare providers, insurers and pharmacy chains, have consolidated or formed strategic alliances. Consolidations create larger enterprises with greater negotiating power, and also could result in the possible loss of a customer where the combined enterprise selects one distributor from two incumbents. If this consolidation trend continues, it could adversely affect our results of operations.
Since we may operate and sell our products around the world, we will be subject to the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the United States Travel Act, and other anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we currently or may do business, both domestic and abroad. These laws and regulations generally prohibit improper payments or offers of improper payments to government officials, political parties, or commercial partners for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing an improper business advantage.
Corruption issues pose a risk in every country and jurisdiction, but in many countries, particularly in countries with developing economies, it may be more common for businesses to engage in practices that are prohibited by the FCPA or other applicable laws and regulations, and our activities in these countries pose a heightened risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of our employees or third-party business partners, representatives, and agents that could be in violation of various laws including the FCPA. The FCPA and other applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws also may hold us liable for acts of corruption and bribery committed by our third-party business partners, representatives, and agents. We and our third-party business partners, representatives, and agents may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies, or state-owned or affiliated entities and we may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our employees or such third parties even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. The FCPA or other applicable laws and regulations also require that we keep accurate books and records and maintain internal controls and compliance procedures designed to prevent improper payments. While we have implemented policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, we cannot assure you that our employees or other third parties working on our behalf will not engage in conduct in violation of our policies or applicable law for which we might ultimately be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws may result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, imposition of significant legal fees, loss of export privileges, as well as severe criminal or civil sanctions, including suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting, and we may be subject to other liabilities and adverse effects on our reputation, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and growth prospects. In addition, responding to any enforcement action may result in a significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant legal defense costs and other professional fees. Our exposure for violating these laws increases as our non-U.S. presence expands and as we increase sales and operations in foreign jurisdictions.
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). In particular, we make certain estimates and assumptions related to the adoption and interpretation of these principles including the recognition of our revenue and the accounting of our stock-based compensation expense with respect to our consolidated financial statements. If these assumptions turn out to be incorrect, our financial results could materially differ from our expectations and could be materially adversely affected. A change in any of these principles or guidance, or in their interpretations or application to us, may have a significant effect on our reported results, as well as our processes and related controls, and may retroactively affect previously reported results or our forecasts, which may negatively impact our consolidated financial statements.
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make judgments, estimates, and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity, and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our common stock. Significant judgments, estimates, and assumptions used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include, or may in the future include, those related to revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, intangible assets, including goodwill, and income taxes.
We are subject to federal, state, and local income taxes in the US. Determining our provision for income taxes requires significant management judgment, and the ultimate tax outcome may be uncertain. In addition, our provision for income taxes is subject to volatility and could be adversely affected by many factors, including, among other things, changes to our operating or holding structure, changes in the amounts of earnings in jurisdictions with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, and changes in U.S. tax laws. Tax authorities may disagree with our calculation of research and development tax credits, cross-jurisdictional transfer pricing, or other matters and assess additional taxes, interest, or penalties. While we regularly assess the likely outcomes of these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes and we believe that our financial statements reflect adequate reserves to cover any such contingencies, there can be no assurance that the outcomes of such examinations will not have a material impact on our results of operations and cash flows. If tax authorities change applicable tax laws, our overall taxes could increase, and our financial condition or results of operations may be adversely impacted.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
We rely upon a combination of patents and trade secrets to protect the intellectual property related to our proprietary technologies. Our success depends significantly on our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection with respect to our technology and products. Patents and other proprietary rights provide uncertain protections, and we may be unable to protect our intellectual property for reasons including those that result from complex factual and legal issues such as those that create uncertainty as to the validity, scope and enforceability of any particular patent that we hold or for which we have applied. As a result, we may be unsuccessful in defending our patents and other proprietary rights against third-party challenges, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our company uses a combination of patents, trademarks and copyrights to protect our intellectual property. Although we currently have active U.S. and European patents and patents pending with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and have filed to obtain patent coverage for our technology in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, there are aspects of the technology for which patent coverage may never be sought or received. Additionally, we may in the future obtain, certain intellectual property related to our technology from third parties, and we cannot be certain that such third parties took the necessary actions to maintain such rights or that the transfer of such rights to us was proper and effective. We may, as a result, be subject to claims challenging the ownership or enforceability of such rights. Furthermore, we may not possess the resources to, or for other reasons may not choose to, pursue patent protection on every invention or in any or every country where we may eventually decide to sell our future products. Our ability to prevent others from making or selling duplicate or similar technologies will be impaired for those technologies with respect to which, and in those countries where, we have no patent protection. In addition, there is no assurance that all potentially relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found, which can prevent a patent from issuing from a pending patent application or later invalidate or narrow the scope of an issued patent. Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents cover our technology, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable. Any successful challenge to these patents or any other patents owned by or licensed to us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of our technology.
In addition, for patents that do issue based on our applications or future applications, any issued patents may not provide us with any competitive advantages. Competitors may be able to design around our patents and develop products that provide outcomes comparable or superior to ours. Any changes we make to our product or any future products, including designs that may be required for commercialization or that cause them to have what we view as more advantageous properties, may not be covered by patents and patent applications we have licensed or own, and we may be required to file new applications and/or seek other forms of protection for any such altered products if any such protection is available. In addition, the patent prosecution process is expensive, time-consuming and complicated, and we and our current or future licensors, licensees or collaborators may not be able to prepare, file, prosecute and maintain all necessary or desirable patents or patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we or our current or future licensors, licensees or collaborators will fail to identify patentable aspects of inventions before it is too late to obtain patent protection for them. In addition, if we choose to and are able to secure patent protection in countries outside the U.S., the laws of some foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. For instance, the legal systems of some countries, including India, China and other developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property rights. This could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or the misappropriation of our other intellectual property rights.
Some countries also have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, some countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we or any of our licensors is forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired.
Changes in either the patent laws or their interpretation in the United States and other countries may diminish our ability to protect our inventions and enforce our intellectual property rights, and more generally could affect the value of our intellectual property. Our efforts to seek patent protection for our technology could be negatively impacted by any such changes, which could have a material adverse effect on our existing patent rights and our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property in the future. In particular, our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing products that infringe our intellectual property will depend in part on our success in obtaining and enforcing patent claims that cover our technology, inventions and improvements.
We may come to believe that third parties are infringing on, or otherwise violating, our patents or other proprietary rights. To prevent infringement or unauthorized use, we may need to file infringement and/or misappropriation suits, which are very expensive and time-consuming, could result in meritorious counterclaims against us and would distract management’s attention. Also, in an infringement or misappropriation proceeding, a court may decide that one or more of our patents is invalid, unenforceable, or both, in which case third parties may be able to use our technology without paying license fees or royalties. Even if the validity of our patents is upheld, a court may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that the other party’s activities are not covered by our patents.
In addition to patents, we rely on trade secrets to protect our technology; however, the policies we use to protect our trade secrets may not be effective in preventing misappropriation of our trade secrets by others. In addition, confidentiality agreements executed by our employees, consultants and advisors may not be enforceable or may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure. Litigating a trade secret claim is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome may be unexpected. In addition, courts outside the United States are sometimes less willing to protect trade secrets. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop knowledge, methods and know-how that allow them to create substantially similar products or services without misappropriating our trade secrets. If we are unable to protect our trade secrets, we may be unable to prevent competitors from using our own inventions and intellectual property to compete against us, and our business may be harmed.
If we are unable to protect or enforce our patents or other proprietary rights, or if we become subject to claims or litigation alleging infringement of the patents or other proprietary rights of others, our competitiveness and business prospects may be materially damaged.
Patent and other proprietary rights are essential to our business. Our success depends to a significant degree on our ability to obtain and enforce patents and licenses to patent rights, both in the United States and in other countries. We cannot guarantee that our pending patent applications, or any future patent applications, will result in issued patents, our patents issued or licensed will not be challenged or circumvented by competitors, our patents will not be found to be invalid or the intellectual property rights of others will not prevent us from selling certain products or including key features in our products.
The patent position of a healthcare company is often uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. Significant litigation concerning patents and products is pervasive in our industry. Patent claims include challenges to the coverage and validity of our patents on products or processes as well as allegations that our products infringe patents held by competitors or other third parties. An unfavorable litigation outcome in any of these types of cases could result in a loss of patent protection or the ability to market products, which could lead to a significant loss of sales, or otherwise materially affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. We also rely on trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and know-how to develop, maintain and strengthen our competitive positions. Third parties may know, discover or independently develop equivalent proprietary information or techniques, or they may gain access to our trade secrets or publicly disclose our trade secrets.
Although our employees, consultants, parties to collaboration agreements and other business partners are generally subject to confidentiality or similar agreements to protect our confidential and proprietary information, these agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. To the extent that our employees, consultants, parties to collaboration agreements and other business partners use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.
Furthermore, our intellectual property, proprietary technology and sensitive company data is potentially vulnerable to loss, damage and misappropriation from system malfunction, computer viruses and unauthorized access to our data or misappropriation or misuse thereof by those with permitted access and other events. While we have invested to protect our intellectual property, confidential information and other data, and continue to work diligently in this area, there can be no assurance that our precautionary measures have prevented or will prevent future breakdowns, breaches, cyber incidents or other events. Any of the events referenced above could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our future products for an adequate amount of time.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our future products are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition from competitive products.
Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new products, patents protecting our future products might expire before or shortly after we or our future partners commercialize those products. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours for a sufficient amount of time, and, as a result, we may not be able to obtain adequate protection from our patent portfolio against competition, in spite of the time and effort invested in the commercialization of our future products.
Claims that our technology or our future products or the sale or use of our future products infringe the patents or other intellectual property rights of third parties could result in costly litigation or could require substantial time and money to resolve, even if litigation is avoided.
Because our industry is characterized by competing intellectual property, we may be subject to legal actions for violating the intellectual property rights of others, including claims that former employees, collaborators or third parties have an interest in our patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property. For example, we may have inventorship or ownership disputes arising from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants or others who are involved in developing our technology or our products.
We also may be required to participate in interference, derivation or opposition proceedings that concern disputes regarding priority of inventions disclosed in our patents. Determining whether a product infringes a patent, as well as priority of inventions and other patent-related disputes, involves complex legal and factual issues and the outcome is often uncertain. We have not conducted any significant search of patents issued to third parties, and third-party patents containing claims covering our technology or methods that predate our patents may exist. Because of the number of patents issued and patent applications filed in our technical areas or fields (including some pertaining specifically to medical imaging technologies), our competitors or other third parties may assert that our technology and the methods we employ in the use of products incorporating our technology are covered by United States or foreign patents held by them. In addition, because patent applications can take many years to issue and because publication schedules for pending applications vary by jurisdiction, there may be applications now pending of which we are unaware, and which may result in issued patents that our technology or other future products would infringe. Also, because the claims of published patent applications can change between publication and patent grant, there may be published patent applications that may ultimately issue with claims that we infringe.
As the number of competitors in the market for medical imaging technologies increases, and as the number of patents issued in this area grows, the possibility of patent infringement claims against us increases. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can, including if they have substantially greater resources. Defending against such litigation is costly and time consuming, and would distract our management from our business. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations.
In the event that we become subject to a patent infringement or other intellectual property lawsuit and if the relevant patents or other intellectual property were upheld as valid and enforceable and we were found to infringe or violate those rights or the terms of a license to which we are a party, we could be prevented from selling any infringing products of ours unless we could obtain a license or were able to redesign the product to avoid infringement. If we were unable to obtain a license or successfully redesign, we might be prevented from selling our technology or other future products. If we are able to redesign, we may need to invest substantial resources in the redesign process. If there is an allegation or determination that we have infringed the intellectual property rights of a competitor or other person, we may be required to pay damages, or a settlement or ongoing royalties, or we may be required to enter into cross-licenses with our competitors. In any of these circumstances, we may be unable to sell our products at competitive prices or at all, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be harmed.
In addition, we may be required to indemnify our customers and distributors against claims relating to the infringement of intellectual property rights of third parties related to our products. Third parties may assert infringement claims against our customers or distributors. These claims may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of our customers or distributors, regardless of the merits of these claims. If any of these claims succeed, we may be forced to pay damages on behalf of our customers or distributors, or may be required to obtain licenses for the products or services they use. If we cannot obtain all necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our distributors may be forced to stop distributing our products or services, and our customers may be forced to stop using our products or services.
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 discovery. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, which could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
Obtaining and maintaining patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated if we or our future licensors do not comply with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other government fees on a patent and patent application are due to be paid to the patent offices and agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent and patent application. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. In certain circumstances, we may be required to rely on our licensing partners to take the necessary action to comply with these requirements with respect to patents or other intellectual property they have licensed to us. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance, which could include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents, can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, our competitors may be able to enter the market and compete with our products, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or advisers have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers or claims asserting ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.
Many of our employees, consultants and advisers, including our senior management, were previously employed at other companies that may have proprietary rights related to our business. Some of these employees, consultants and advisers, including members of our senior management, executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in connection with such previous employment. Although we try to ensure that such individuals do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these employees have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such individual’s former employer. We are not aware of any such disclosures, or threatened or pending claims related to these matters, but in the future, litigation may be necessary to defend against such claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, in addition to possibly paying monetary damages and being enjoined from conducting our business as contemplated. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
Additionally, a licensor, collaborator, employee, consultant, adviser or other third party may dispute our or our licensor’s ownership of certain intellectual property rights. We seek to address these concerns in our contractual agreements; however, we may not have contractual arrangements with the party in question and/or such provisions may not be effective. If these provisions prove to be ineffective, we may not be able to achieve our business objectives. If we or our licensors fail in defending any such claims, we may have to pay monetary damages and may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, intellectual property, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our registered and unregistered trademarks or trade names are valuable assets and may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to infringe third party’s marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which may be necessary to build name recognition among potential collaborators or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our unregistered trademarks or trade names. We have not conducted any registrability studies for possible future trademarks to assess whether such marks would be successfully registered. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. In addition, we may license our trademarks and trade names to third parties, such as distributors. Though these license agreements may provide guidelines for how our trademarks and trade names may be used, a breach of these agreements or misuse of our trademarks and tradenames by our licensees may jeopardize our rights in or diminish the goodwill associated with our trademarks and trade names. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade names, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and adversely affect our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our rights to develop and commercialize our products may be subject to the terms and conditions of licenses and sublicenses granted to us by third parties.
We rely on licenses and sublicenses to certain patent rights and other intellectual property from third parties that are important or necessary to the development of our products, including the software modules and cloud software that are integrated into the QT Breast Scanner and products and services. These and other licenses may not provide exclusive rights to use such intellectual property in all relevant fields of use and in all territories in which we may wish to develop or commercialize our products and the underlying patents may fail to provide the intended exclusivity. As a result, we may not be able to prevent competitors from developing and commercializing competitive products in the markets that we hope to address. Moreover, we would not own at least some of the underlying intellectual property rights related to these products, and as a result our rights would be subject to the continuation and compliance with the terms of those agreements. If such in-licenses were terminated, competitors would have the freedom to develop, seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products similar or identical to ours.
In addition, these license agreements may not grant us the right to control the preparation, filing, prosecution or maintenance of patents and patent applications covering our products. Therefore, we cannot be certain that these patents and patent applications will be prepared, filed, prosecuted or maintained in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. If our current or future licensing partners fail to file, prosecute or maintain such patents, including the payment of applicable fees, or otherwise lose rights to those patents or patent applications, the intellectual property we have licensed or exclusivity we have been granted may be reduced or eliminated, and our right to develop and commercialize any of our future products that are subject of such licensed rights, and our ability to prevent competitors from developing or commercializing such products, could be adversely affected. In addition, even where we have the right to control patent prosecution and maintenance of patents and patent applications we have licensed from third parties, we may still be adversely affected or prejudiced by actions or inactions of our licensees, our licensors and their counsel that took place prior to the date upon which we assumed control over patent prosecution.
Pursuant to the terms of such license agreements, the licensors may also have the right to control enforcement of our licensed patents or defense of any claims asserting the invalidity or unenforceability of these patents. Even if we are permitted to pursue the enforcement or defense of our licensed patents, we may require the cooperation of our future licensors or collaboration partners and any other applicable patent owners and we cannot be certain that such cooperation will be provided to us. We also cannot be certain that our licensors will allocate sufficient resources or prioritize their or our enforcement of such patents or defense of such claims to protect our interests in the licensed patents. Even if we are not a party to these legal actions, an adverse outcome could harm our business because it might prevent us from continuing to license intellectual property that we may need to operate our business. If we lose any of our licensed intellectual property, our right to develop and commercialize any of our products that are subject of such licensed rights could be adversely affected.
In addition, our future licensors may rely on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties such that our licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents we in-license. If other third parties have ownership rights to our in-licensed patents, they may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technologies. In addition, if our licensors have not obtained adequate rights from these third parties, we may need to obtain additional rights from these third parties or we could be prevented from developing and commercializing the related products. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.
In spite of our best efforts, our licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the license agreements, in which event we may have to cease developing, manufacturing or marketing any product covered by these agreements and we may face other additional penalties or be required to grant our licensors additional rights. In addition, we may seek to obtain additional licenses from our licensors and, in connection with obtaining such licenses, we may agree to amend our existing licenses in a manner that may be more favorable to the licensors, including by agreeing to terms that could enable third parties (potentially including our competitors) to receive licenses to a portion of the intellectual property that is subject to our existing licenses. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.
We may be required to pay certain milestones and royalties and fulfill other obligations under our license agreements with third-party licensors.
We may be required to pay milestones and royalties related to our development or commercialization activities of our products utilizing the technologies licensed or sublicensed from third parties under license agreements we may enter into with them. These payments could adversely affect our overall profitability related to any future products that we may seek to develop or commercialize. In order to maintain our license rights under our license agreements, we may need to meet certain specified milestones or fulfill certain obligations, including to devote a certain amount of resources, in the development of our products. Failure to satisfy such obligations could result in the termination of our rights under such agreements.
If we choose to license our technology to third parties, this could result in disputes or otherwise limit our future operations.
We may also in the future, as one of our strategies, deploy our technology into the market and license patents and other intellectual proprietary rights to third parties. Disputes with our licensees may arise, including regarding the scope and content of these licenses. Additionally, a licensee may use our intellectual property without our permission, dispute our ownership of certain intellectual property rights or argue that our intellectual property does not cover our product. Regardless of whether we pursue legal action to enforce any such dispute, a dispute with a licensee or customer over intellectual property rights may damage our relationship with that licensee or customer and may also harm our reputation in the industry. Our ability to expand into additional fields with our technologies also may be restricted by licenses or other rights we may grant to third parties in the future, including if the licenses are exclusive, the licensee is assigned ownership of intellectual property that we develop or rights of first negotiation or refusal are granted.
We may in the future be subject to intellectual property rights claims, which are extremely costly to defend, could require us to pay significant damages and could limit our ability to use certain technologies.
Our success and ability to compete also depends in part on our ability to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of third parties. Companies in the technology industries, including some of our current and potential competitors, own large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets and frequently pursue litigation based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation, or other violations of intellectual property rights. In addition, many of these companies have the capability to dedicate substantial resources to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them. Such litigation also may involve non-practicing patent assertion entities or companies who use their patents to extract license fees by threatening costly litigation or that have minimal operations or relevant product revenue and against whom our patents may provide little or no deterrence or protection. While we have not received any notices to date, we may receive notices in the future that claim we have infringed, misappropriated, misused, or otherwise violated other parties’ intellectual property rights, and, to the extent we become exposed to greater visibility, we face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation claims, which is not uncommon with respect to software technologies in particular. There may be third-party intellectual property rights, including issued patents or pending patent applications, that cover significant aspects of our technologies, or business methods. There may also be third-party intellectual property rights, including trademark registrations and pending applications, that cover the goods and services that we offer in certain regions. We may also be exposed to increased risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, or other violation claims as a result of acquisitions and our incorporation of open source and other third-party software into, or new branding for, our software, as, among other things, we have a lower level of visibility into the development process with respect to such technology or the care taken to safeguard against infringement, misappropriation, or other violation risks. In addition, former employers of our current, former, or future employees may assert claims that such employees have improperly disclosed to us confidential or proprietary information of these former employers. Any intellectual property claims, with or without merit, are difficult to predict, could be very time-consuming and expensive to settle or litigate, could divert our management’s attention and other resources, and may not be covered by the insurance that we carry. These claims could subject us to significant liability for damages, potentially including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed a third party’s intellectual property rights. These claims could also result in our having to stop using technology, branding or marks found to be in violation of a third party’s rights and any necessary rebranding could result in the loss of goodwill. We could be required to seek a license for the intellectual property, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if a license were available, we could be required to pay significant royalties, which would increase our expenses. As a result, we could be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, branding or marks, which could require significant effort and expense. If we cannot license rights or develop technology for any infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit or stop sales of one or more of our software or features, we could lose existing customers, and we may be unable to compete effectively. Any of these results would harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Further, certain of our agreements with customers and other third parties may include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of third-party claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation, or other violations of intellectual property rights, damages caused by us to property or persons, or other liabilities relating to or arising from our software, services, or other contractual obligations. Large indemnity payments could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any dispute with a customer with respect to such obligations could have adverse effects on our relationship with that customer and other existing customers and new customers and harm our business and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Management
We are highly dependent on key members of our executive management team. Our inability to retain these individuals could impede our business plan and growth strategies, which could have a negative impact on our business and the value of your investment.
Our ability to implement our business plan depends on the continued services of key members of our senior management. In particular, and to a critical extent, we are dependent on the continued efforts and services of the members of management named in the “Management” section. If we lose the services of such key members of our management team, we would likely be forced to expend significant time and money in the pursuit of replacement individuals, which may result in a delay in the implementation of our business plan and plan of operations. We may not be able to find satisfactory replacements on terms that would not be unduly expensive or burdensome to us. We do not currently carry a key-man life insurance policy that would assist us in recouping our costs in the event of the death or disability of a member of our management team. The loss of members of our management team, or our inability to attract or retain other qualified individuals, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Other than our Chief Executive Officer, most members of our management team have limited or no experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies in the United States. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our transition to being a public company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of the Company. Thus, the Company may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies in the United States. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for the Company to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company in the United States may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that the Company will be required to expand its employee base and hire additional employees to support its operations as a public company which will increase its operating costs in future periods. These new obligations and constituents will require significant attention from our senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Certain of our directors and/or officers may have interests that compete with ours.
Certain of our directors and/or officers currently own, operate and manage other entities, which may have similar or different objectives than ours. Such activities could detract from the time these people have to allocate to our affairs.
Our lack of adequate directors and officers insurance may also make it difficult for us to retain and attract talented and skilled directors and officers.
In the future we may be subject to litigation, including potential class action and shareholder derivative actions. Risks associated with legal liability are difficult to assess and quantify, and their existence and magnitude can remain unknown for significant periods of time. While we do have directors and officers (“D&O”) insurance it may not be sufficient in the case of litigation.
Moreover, the cost of maintaining adequate D&O insurance coverage may increase significantly in the future, our operating results could be materially adversely affected. Likewise, if any of our current D&O insurance coverage should become unavailable to us or become economically impractical, we may need to decrease our coverage limits or increase our self-insured retention or we may be unable to renew such insurance at all. If we incur liabilities that exceed our coverage or incur liabilities not covered by our insurance, we would have to self-fund any indemnification amounts owed to our directors and officers and employees in which case our results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Additionally, a lack of D&O insurance may make it difficult for us to retain and attract talented and skilled directors and officers to serve our company, which could adversely affect our business.
Risks Related to Our Ownership of Common Stock and Other Securities
The price of shares of common stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance. You may lose some or all of your investment.
The trading price of shares of our common stock is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced extreme volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your shares at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as those listed in “Risks Related to Our Business, Financial Condition, and Need for Additional Capital” and the following:
our operating and financial performance and prospects;
the market’s reaction to our reduced disclosure and other requirements as a result of being an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”);
the size of our public float;
changes in senior management or key personnel;
changes in our dividend policy;
These broad market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of shares of common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of common stock is low. As a result, you may suffer a loss on your investment.
We do not intend to pay dividends on shares of common stock for the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends on shares of common stock in the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our Board of Directors (the “Board”) and will depend on, among other things, our business prospects, results of operations, financial condition, cash requirements and availability, certain restrictions related to our indebtedness, industry trends and other factors that the Board may deem relevant. Any such decision will also be subject to compliance with contractual restrictions and covenants in the agreements governing our current and future indebtedness. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness, the terms of which may further restrict or prevent us from paying dividends on common stock. As a result, you may have to sell some or all of your shares of common stock after price appreciation in order to generate cash flow from your investment, which you may not be able to do. Our inability or decision not to pay dividends, particularly when others in our industry have elected to do so, could also adversely affect the market price of shares of common stock.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or if they issue unfavorable commentary about us or our industry or downgrade our common stock, the price of shares of common stock could decline.
The trading market for shares of common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about us and the industries in which we operate. We may be unable or slow to attract research coverage and if one or more analysts cease coverage of us, the price and trading volume of our securities would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts that may cover us change their recommendation regarding our securities adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our securities would likely decline. If any analyst that may cover us ceases covering us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price or trading volume of our securities to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades the common stock, or if our reporting results do not meet their expectations, the market price of shares of common stock could decline.
Our issuance of additional shares of common stock or securities convertible or exchangeable into common stock could make it difficult for another company to acquire us, may dilute your ownership of us and could adversely affect our stock price.
From time to time in the future, we may also issue additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock pursuant to a variety of transactions, including acquisitions. The issuance by us of additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock would dilute your ownership of us and the sale of a significant amount of such shares in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices of shares of common stock. In the future, we expect to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our capital stock or offering debt or other equity securities, including senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity, or shares of preferred stock. Issuing additional shares of our capital stock, other equity securities, or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders, reduce the market price of shares of common stock, or both. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in the conversion ratio pursuant to which certain events may increase the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our common stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, which may adversely affect the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. As a result, holders of common stock bear the risk that our future offerings may reduce the market price of shares of common stock and dilute their percentage ownership.
Future sales, or the perception of future sales, of common stock by us or our existing stockholders in the public market could cause the market price for our common stock to decline.
All shares issued as merger consideration in the Business Combination are freely tradable without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and without restriction by persons other than our “affiliates” (as defined under Rule 144), including our directors, executive officers and other affiliates, and certain other former QT Imaging stockholders.
The Company has registered in a resale registration statement on Form S-1 declared effective by the SEC on May 22, 2024, securities held by certain stockholders of the Company which have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of their shares of common stock under the Securities Act, pursuant to the terms of a registration statement that we entered into with GigAcquisitions5 and certain other security holders of GigCapital5 and QT Imaging (the “GigCapital5 Registration Rights Agreement”). The Company has also registered in a resale registration statement on Form S-1 declared effective by the SEC on February 5, 2025, the securities sold in the private placement conducted in November 2024 as the purchasers received the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of their shares of common stock under the Securities Act, pursuant to the terms of a registration statement that we entered into (“PIPE Registration Rights Agreement”). We have also registered in a resale registration statement on Form S-1 declared effective by the SEC on December 31, 2025 additional securities of the Company, including those issued in further private placements conducted during 2025, as well as warrants that we have issued during 2025. The sale of a large number of shares by these stockholders, or the sale of shares by warrant holders following the exercise of these warrants, could cause the prevailing market price of shares of our common stock to decline. Significant sales of shares of our common stock may have negative pressure on the public trading price of our common stock.
The shares already registered for resale currently represent over 50% of the total number of shares outstanding, based on the number of shares of common stock outstanding as of March 24, 2026. Even though the current trading price is significantly below the Company’s initial public offering price, based on the closing price of the common stock on March 24, 2026, certain of our stockholders may have an incentive to sell their shares because they will still profit on sales due to the lower prices at which they purchased their shares as compared to the public investors who acquired shares during the GigCapital5 initial public offering. For example, members of our founding stockholder, GigAcquisitions5, who received a distribution of shares from GigAcquisitions5 for which there is an effective resale registration statement, have a cost basis in up to 1,911,696 shares of common stock that were acquired at an effective purchase price of $0.0130776 per share, and, therefore, based on the closing price of the common stock, could earn an aggregate profit of approximately $12,534,842 million from the resale of such shares based upon the closing stock price on March 24, 2025.
To the extent that the selling securityholders under any of our registration statements on Form S-1 sell their shares or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them, the market price of shares of common stock could drop significantly. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of shares of common stock or other securities.
On October 3, 2025, we issued the pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”), which are exercisable for 1,808,055 shares at an exercise price of $0.0003 per share. In addition, the Company has other warrants that in the aggregate are exercisable for 34,306,749 shares of common stock at various exercise prices ranging from $1.20 per share to $6.90 per share. This includes the warrant that we issued to Lynrock Lake in connection with our loan agreement with Lynrock Lake (the “Lynrock Lake Warrant”), which is exercisable for 20,333,623 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.20 per share, but may be exercised on a “cashless basis.”
In addition, the shares of common stock that will be issued upon exercise of stock options already granted pursuant to the terms of, or those shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under the 2024 Equity Incentive Plan will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to provisions relating to various vesting agreements and, in some cases, limitations on volume and manner of sale applicable to affiliates under Rule 144, as applicable. We have filed a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register shares of common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of common stock issued pursuant to our equity incentive plans and may in the future file additional registration statements on Form S-8. Any such Form S-8 registration statements will automatically become effective upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under such registration statements will be available for sale in the open market.
As a public reporting company, we are subject to rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC regarding our internal control over financial reporting.
The Company is a public reporting company subject to the rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC. These rules and regulations will require, among other things that the Company establish and periodically evaluate procedures with respect to its internal control over financial reporting. Reporting obligations as a public company are likely to place a considerable strain on the Company’s financial and management systems, processes and controls, as well as on its personnel.
In addition, as a public company, the Company will be required to document and test its internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act so that its management can certify as to the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting. If the Company’s not able to implement the requirements of Section 404, including any additional requirements once the Company’s no longer an emerging growth company, in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, it may not be able to assess whether its internal control over financial reporting are effective, which may subject the Company to adverse regulatory consequences and could harm investor confidence and the market price of our common stock.
Additionally, once we are no longer an emerging growth company, we will be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. We will be an “emerging growth company” until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following September 28, 2026, the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering (“IPO”), (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. Until we cease being an emerging growth company stockholders will not have the benefit of an independent assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control environment.
As an “emerging growth company,” we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including not being required to obtain an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting from our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
In addition, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.
We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active market for our common stock, our share price may be more volatile and the price at which our securities trade could be less than if we did not use these exemptions.
Anti-takeover provisions in our governing documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.
The Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company (the “Charter”), the Company’s bylaws (the “Bylaws”) and Delaware law contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by the Board. Among other things, the Charter and/or the Bylaws include the following provisions:
a staggered board, which means that the Board will be classified into three classes of directors with staggered three-year terms and directors will only be able to be removed from office for cause;
These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management. As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), which prevents interested stockholders, such as certain stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding common stock, from engaging in certain business combinations unless (i) prior to the time such stockholder became an interested stockholder, the board of directors approved the transaction that resulted in such stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, (ii) upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in such stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the common stock, or (iii) following board approval, such business combination receives the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of our outstanding common stock not held by such interested stockholder.
The Charter provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the (i) Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Court of Chancery”) of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for: (A) any derivative action, suit or proceeding brought on our behalf; (B) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or stockholders to us or to our stockholders; (C) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim arising pursuant to the DGCL, the Charter or the Bylaws; or (D) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine; and (ii) subject to the foregoing, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such forum selection provisions shall not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the Charter to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Additionally, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As noted above, the Charter provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America shall have jurisdiction over any action arising under the Securities Act. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision. Our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
If we do not file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the public and private warrants, holders will only be able to exercise such warrants on a "cashless basis" and we have a large number of other warrants which are exercisable on a “cashless basis.”
If we do not file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the public and private warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, the number of shares of common stock that holders will receive upon exercise of the public and private warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised its warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Under the terms of the Warrant Agreement, dated as of September 23, 2021, between GigCapital5 and the Transfer Agent (the “Warrant Agreement”), we have agreed to use our best efforts to meet these conditions and to file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. If we are unable to do so, the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in us may be reduced or the warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, the outstanding Lynrock Lake Warrant, which is exercisable for 20,333,623 shares of common stock, is exercisable on a “cashless basis.”
There is no guarantee that the public and private warrants will ever be in the money, and they may expire worthless and the terms of warrants may be amended.
The exercise price for the public and private warrants is $6.90 per share of common stock. There is no guarantee that the public and private warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration, and as such, the warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, the Company’s public and private warrants were issued in registered form under the Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and the Company. The Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any other change. Accordingly, the Company may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although the Company’s ability to amend the terms of the warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares and their respective affiliates and associates have of common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrants will become exercisable for the common stock, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders.
Our private warrants and our public warrants issued as part of GigCapital5’s IPO are exercisable for one share of common stock at $6.90 per share. In addition, we have issued warrants in various private placements and in connection with the issuance of debt. In November 2024, we issued warrants in a private placement (the “November 2024 PIPE Warrants”) that have an exercise price of $2.016 per share. The Lynrock Lake Warrant has an exercise price of $1.20 per share. The warrants with a term of ten years from the initial exercise date for the purchase of 523,286 shares of common stock that we issued on April 9, 2025 (the “Ten Year Common Warrants”) have an exercise price of $2.16 per share. The warrant with a term of five years from the initial exercise date to purchase up to an additional 68,447 shares of common stock that we issued on May 12, 2025 (the “Recanati Warrant”) has an exercise price of $3.36 per share, the warrants for the purchase of 2,232,243 shares of common stock that we issued on October 3, 2025 pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated September 30, 2025, (the “Subscription Warrants”) have an exercise price of $4.50 per share, the Pre-Funded Warrants have an exercise price of $0.0003 per share, and the warrants with term of ten years from the initial exercise date for the purchase of 48,214 shares of common stock (the “January 2026 Warrant” and together with the warrants subject to the Warrant Agreement (the “Warrant Agreement Warrants”), the Lynrock Lake Warrant, the November 2024 PIPE Warrants, the Ten Year Common Warrants, the Recanati Warrant, the Pre-Funded Warrants and the Subscription Warrants, the “Warrants”) have an exercise price of $6.43 per share. The additional shares of common stock issued upon exercise of the Warrants will result in dilution to the then existing holders of the common stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of the common stock.
We have no obligation to net cash settle the warrants other than the Lynrock Lake Warrant
In no event will we have any obligation to net cash settle the warrants other than the warrants issued to Lynrock Lake. Furthermore, there are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities to the holders of the public and private warrants upon exercise of those warrants. Accordingly, those warrants may expire worthless.
Our warrants will become, exercisable for common stock, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders.
The Warrant Agreement Warrants, consisting of outstanding public warrants to purchase an aggregate of 7,882,807 shares of common stock are exercisable in accordance with the terms of the Warrant Agreement entered into in September 2021 governing those securities, as well as our private warrants and working capital warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 296,445 shares of common stock, at an exercise price of $6.90 per share. Collectively, the Warrants are exercisable for a total of 34,306,749 shares of common stock, and in addition to the Warrant Agreement Warrants with an exercise price of $6.90, the other Warrants have exercise prices ranging from $0.0003 per share for the Pre-Funded Warrants to $6.43 per share for the January 2026 Warrant. To the extent such warrants are exercised, additional shares of common stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the holders of common stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market or the fact that such warrants may be exercised could adversely affect the market price of common stock. However, there is no guarantee that the warrants will ever be in-the-money prior to their expiration. As such, the warrants may expire worthless.
Certain of the Company’s warrants are accounted for as a warrant liability and were recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of the common stock.
As of December 31, 2025, an aggregate of 889,364 private warrants and working capital warrants that are Warrant Agreement Warrants, which following the 3:1 reverse stock split that occurred on October 23, 2025 (the “Reverse Stock Split”) were exercisable for 296,445 shares of common stock, were outstanding. These warrants became exercisable 30 days after completion of the Business Combination and are exercisable now that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock of the Company issuable upon exercise for so long as a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or the Company permits holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances). Furthermore, the Company may redeem outstanding warrants in certain circumstances; provided, however, that these warrants will not be redeemable by the Company so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or any of its permitted transferees, to which the initial purchaser transferred the private warrants in June 2024. Under GAAP, the Company is required to evaluate contingent exercise provisions of these warrants and then their settlement provisions to determine whether they should be accounted for as a warrant liability or as equity. Any settlement amount not equal to the difference between the fair value of a fixed number of the Company’s equity shares and a fixed monetary amount precludes these warrants from being considered indexed to its own stock, and therefore, from being accounted for as equity. As a result of the provision that these warrants, when held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, will be redeemable by the Company, the requirements for accounting for these warrants as equity are not satisfied. Therefore, the Company is required to account for these warrants as a warrant liability and record (a) that liability at fair value, and (b) any subsequent changes in fair value as of the end of each period for which earnings are reported. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
Other General Risks Applicable to the Company
Our employment agreements generally include covenants not to compete. These agreements prohibit our employees, if they cease working for us, from competing directly with us or working for our competitors for a limited period. We may be unable to enforce these agreements under the laws of the jurisdictions in which our employees work at all or for a sufficient duration of time to prevent members of our management team from competing with us.
We may not be able to attract and retain the highly skilled employees we need to support our planned growth.
To continue to execute our business and our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects could be severely harmed.
Industry data, projections and estimates relied upon by us are inherently uncertain, subject to interpretation and may not have been independently verified.
Information concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate and intend to operate, including industry projections and estimates, is obtained from publicly available information released by independent industry and research organizations and other third-party sources. We have not independently verified any such third-party information. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of the future performance of the industry in which we operate are subject to uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors. As a result, inaccuracies in third-party information, or in the projections, may adversely impact the assumptions that are relied upon for our internal business planning and in the analysis of investors.
We will incur increased costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies, which could adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations, and financial condition.
As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that the company did not incur as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements. We will also incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), as well as rules implemented by the SEC and the Nasdaq. These rules and regulations are expected to increase the company’s legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time consuming and costly, which may adversely affect investor confidence and could cause our business or stock price to suffer.
Certain estimates of market opportunity included in this annual report may prove to be inaccurate.
This annual report includes our internal estimates of the addressable market for our products. Market opportunity estimates, whether obtained from third-party sources or developed internally, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. The estimates in this annual report relating to the size of our target market, market demand and adoption, capacity to address this demand, and pricing may prove to be inaccurate. The addressable market we estimate may not materialize for many years, if ever, and even if the markets in which we compete meet the size estimates in this annual report, our business could fail to successfully address or compete in such markets.
We may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in losses if material issues are discovered or factors that are outside of our control subsequently arise that require us to do so. Unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our existing risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and may not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to be unable to obtain future financing on favorable terms or at all.
Exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and other currencies and inflation may negatively affect our results of operations, and we may not be able to hedge our currency exchange risks successfully.
The U.S. dollar is our functional and reporting currency. Payments we receive from international distribution partners and others that purchase our products and services may be subject to currency fluctuations if the remitting party does not initiate payment in U.S. dollars. Given our general lack of currency hedging arrangements to protect us from fluctuations in the exchange rates of foreign currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar (and/or from inflation of such foreign currencies), we may be exposed to material adverse effects from such movements. Our exchange rate exposure may change over time as our business evolves and could result in increased costs or reduced revenue and could affect our actual cash flow. Changes in the relative values of currencies occur regularly and, in some instances, may have a significant impact on our operating results. The rate of inflation in countries in which we sell and service our products, or in currency exchange rates, may materially change and we might not be able to effectively mitigate these risks.
We face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company than the Company did as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements will increase costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements require the Company to carry out activities QT Imaging has not done previously. For example, the Company created new board committees and adopted new internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. In addition, expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements will be incurred. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if the auditors identify any additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the internal control over financial reporting), the Company could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect the Company reputation or investor perceptions of it. It may also be more expensive to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Risks associated with the Company’ status as a public company may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board or as executive officers. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations will increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will require the Company to divert a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud.
If we identify any additional material weaknesses in the future, any such identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We will be subject to income taxes in the United States and other jurisdictions, and our tax liabilities will be subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
tax effects of stock-based compensation;
costs related to intercompany restructurings;
Our only significant asset is its ownership interest in QT Imaging, Inc. and such ownership may not be sufficient to pay dividends or make distributions or loans to enable the Company to pay any dividends on the common stock or satisfy its other financial obligations.
We have no direct operations and no significant assets other than its ownership of QT Imaging, Inc. We depend on QT Imaging, Inc. for distributions, loans and other payments to generate the funds necessary to meet our financial obligations, including our expenses as a publicly traded company and to pay any dividends with respect to our common stock. The financial condition and operating requirements of QT Imaging, Inc. may limit our ability to obtain cash from QT Imaging, Inc. The earnings from, or other available assets of, QT Imaging, Inc. may not be sufficient to pay dividends or make distributions or loans to enable us to pay any dividends on the common stock or satisfy its other financial obligations.
Our ability to make distributions, loans and other payments for the purposes described above and for any other purpose may be limited by credit agreements to which the Company is party from time to time, including the existing credit agreement with Lynrock Lake (the “Lynrock Lake Credit Agreement”), and will be subject to the negative covenants set forth therein. Any loans or other extensions of credit to QT Imaging, Inc. from the Company will be permitted only to the extent there is an applicable exception to the investment covenants under this loan agreement. Similarly, any dividends, distributions or similar payments to QT Imaging, Inc. from the Company will be permitted only to the extent there is an applicable exception to the dividends and distributions covenants under this loan agreement.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.