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UNITED STATES |
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION |
Washington, D. C. 20549 |
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Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 | |
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |
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ASPIRA WOMEN’S HEALTH INC.
Table of Contents
The following are registered and unregistered trademarks and service marks of Aspira Women’s Health Inc.: VERMILLIONSM, Aspira Women’s Health®, OVA1®, OVERA®, ASPiRA LABS®, OvaCalc®, OVASUITESM, ASPiRA GenetiXSM , OVA1PLUS®, OVAWATCH®, EndoCheckSM, OvaInheritSM, Aspira Synergy®,, OVA360SM, ASPIRA IVDSM, and YOUR HEALTH, OUR PASSION®.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties.
These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Words such as “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “plans,” “seeks,” “could,” “should,” “continue,” “will,” “potential,” “projects” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and, except as required by law, Aspira Women’s Health Inc. (“Aspira” and, together with its subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify them to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after such date.
Examples of forward-looking statements include, without limitation:
projections or expectations regarding our future test volumes, revenue, price, cost of revenue, operating expenses, research and development expenses, gross profit margin, cash flow, results of operations and financial condition;
ability to maintain listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market;
our plan to broaden our commercial focus from ovarian cancer to differential diagnosis of women with a range of gynecological diseases, including additional pelvic disease conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis fibroids and benign pelvic mass monitoring;
our planned business strategy and the anticipated effects thereof, including partnerships such as those based on our Aspira Synergy platform, specimen or research collaborations, licensing arrangements and distribution agreements;
plans to expand our current or future products to markets outside of the United States;
plans to develop new algorithms, molecular diagnostic tests, products and tools and otherwise expand our product offerings;
plans to develop, launch and establish payer coverage and secure contracts for current and new products, including EndoCheck, EndoMDx and OvaMDx;
expectations regarding local and/or national coverage under Novitas, our Medicare Administrative Carrier;
anticipated efficacy of our products, product development activities and product innovations, including our ability to improve sensitivity and specificity over traditional diagnostics;
expected competition in the markets in which we operate;
plans with respect to Aspira Labs, Inc. (“Aspira Labs”), including plans to expand or consolidate Aspira Labs’ testing capabilities, specifically, molecular lab capabilities;
expectations regarding continuing future services provided by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated;
expectations regarding continuing future services provided by BioReference Health, LLC;
plans to develop informatics products as laboratory developed tests (“LDTs”) and potential Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) oversight changes of LDTs;
expectations regarding existing and future collaborations and partnerships for our products, including plans to enter into decentralized arrangements for our Aspira Synergy platform and to provide and expand access to our risk assessment tests;
plans regarding future publications and presentations;
expectations regarding potential collaborations with governments, legislative bodies and advocacy groups to enhance awareness and drive policies to provide broader access to our tests;
our ability to continue to comply with applicable governmental regulations, including regulations applicable to the operation of our clinical labs, expectations regarding pending regulatory submissions and plans to seek regulatory approvals for our tests within the United States and internationally, as applicable;
our continued ability to expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
anticipated liquidity and capital requirements;
anticipated future losses and our ability to continue as a going concern;
expectations regarding raising capital and the amount of financing anticipated to be required to fund our planned operations;
expectation regarding attribution and recruitment of top talent;
expectations regarding the results of our clinical research studies and our ability to recruit patients to participate in such studies;
our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and anticipated future tax liability under U.S. federal and state income tax legislation;
expected market adoption of our current and prospective diagnostic tests, including Ova1, Overa, Ova1Plus, EndoCheck, EndoMDx and OvaMDx, as well as our Aspira Synergy platform;
expectations regarding our ability to launch new products we develop or license, co-market or acquire;
expectations regarding the size of the markets for our products;
expectations regarding reimbursement for our products, and our ability to obtain such reimbursement, from third-party payers such as private insurance companies and government insurance plans;
potential plans to pursue clearance designation with the FDA with respect to EndoCheck and OvaWatch;
expected potential target launch timing for future products;
expectations regarding compliance with federal and state laws and regulations relating to billing arrangements conducted in coordination with laboratories;
plans to advocate for legislation and professional society guidelines to broaden access to our products and services;
ability to protect and safeguard against cybersecurity risks and breaches;
plans to use samples received from the University of Oxford in verifying and validating our endometriosis blood test algorithms; and
expectations regarding the results of our academic research agreements.
We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K may include additional factors that could harm our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ from those contained in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in Part I Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements due to various factors, including our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to comply with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements; impacts resulting from potential changes to coverage of Ova1 through our Medicare Administrative Carrier for Ova1; anticipated use of capital and its effects; our ability to increase the volume of our product sales; failures by third-party payers to reimburse for our products and services or changes to reimbursement rates; our ability to continue developing existing technologies and to develop, protect and promote our proprietary technologies; plans to develop and perform LDTs; our ability to comply with FDA regulations that relate to our products and to obtain any FDA clearance or approval required to develop and commercialize medical devices; our ability to develop and commercialize additional diagnostic products and achieve market acceptance with respect to these products; our ability to compete successfully; our ability to obtain any regulatory approval required for our future diagnostic products; our or our suppliers’ ability to comply with FDA requirements for production, marketing and post-market monitoring of our products; our ability to maintain sufficient or acceptable supplies of immunoassay kits from our suppliers; in the event that we succeed in commercializing our products outside the United States, the political, economic and other conditions affecting other countries; changes in healthcare policy; our ability to comply with environmental laws; our ability to comply with the additional laws and regulations that apply to us in connection with the operation of Aspira Labs; our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards; our ability to use intellectual property; our ability to successfully defend our proprietary technology against third parties; our ability to obtain licenses in the event a third party successfully asserts proprietary rights; the liquidity and trading volume of our common stock; the concentration of ownership of our common stock; our ability to retain key employees; our ability to secure additional capital on acceptable terms to execute our business plan; business interruptions or force majeure or acts of God; the effectiveness and availability of our information systems; our ability to integrate and achieve anticipated results from any acquisitions or strategic alliances; future litigation against us, including infringement of intellectual property and product liability exposure; and additional costs that may be required to make further improvements to our laboratory operations.
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Company Overview
Aspira Women’s Health Inc. is dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of noninvasive, AI-powered tests to aid in the diagnosis of gynecologic diseases.
Our commercially available portfolio includes OvaWatch and the Ova1Plus workflow, offered to clinicians as OvaSuite. Together, they provide the only comprehensive portfolio of blood tests to aid in the detection of ovarian cancer for the more than 1.2 million women in the United States diagnosed with an adnexal mass each year. OvaWatch is used to assess ovarian cancer risk for women with an adnexal mass where their initial clinical assessment indicates the mass is indeterminate or benign. With a negative predictive value of 99%, OvaWatch can help physicians determine the appropriate care pathway. The Ova1Plus workflow is designed to assess the risk of ovarian malignancy in women planned for surgery and uses two FDA-cleared tests, Ova1 as the primary test and Overa as a reflex for Ova1 intermediate range results.
Our focus remains on three key initiatives: growth, innovation, and operational excellence:
Growth. As a revenue-generating diagnostics company focused exclusively on gynecologic disease, our commercial capabilities are one of our most important differentiators. We expect our extensive experience with gynecologists and healthcare providers, along with the historical adoption of our OvaSuite tests, to drive growth as we introduce new products.
Improving our commercial capabilities was one of our most important strategic priorities in 2023. At the beginning of the year, we conducted a comprehensive review of our commercial programs to identify people, processes, and technology enhancements. As a result of the findings of that review, we launched a strategic commercial refresh (the “Commercial Refresh”) in the second half of the year. Enhancements focused on improving the profitability, efficiency, and effectiveness of the sales and marketing teams. This year we:
Recruited a new leadership team with proven success in driving growth in women’s health diagnostics;
Created a Vice President role focused on strategic providers and commercial partnerships;
Eliminated unprofitable territories;
Replaced underperforming field sales representatives;
Established a remote sales team to support field sales and grow “white space” in the market;
In-sourced marketing with experienced healthcare marketing professionals;
Expanded our direct-to-physician communications via sales enablement, digital tools and campaigns;
Implemented a new social media strategy;
Refreshed all market-facing materials;
Enhanced CRM processes and accountabilities;
Expanded sales analytics capabilities;
Hired internal market access and reimbursement team with women’s health diagnostic experience;
Created a Clinical Advisory Board.
Our earnings quality was positively impacted throughout the year because of these enhancements. The OvaSuite portfolio demonstrated strong year-over-year growth, increasing 11.9% in volume and 14.8% in revenue in 2023 when compared with 2022, while total sales and marketing expenses decreased 48% over the same time period. The single-use OvaWatch test, which was introduced at the end of 2022, saw volume growth as physicians recognized its ability to fill an unmet need in the management of adnexal masses. In addition, we reduced the number of full-time representatives from 24 representatives on January 1, 2023, to 17 representatives on December 31, 2023, the latter of which included 2 lower cost remote salespeople, helping to drive a 50% increase in the average OvaSuite volume per full-time sales representative, from 779 tests per representative in 2022 to 1,170 tests per representative in 2023.
We plan to complete the Commercial Refresh in 2024 prior to the anticipated introduction of new products. We expect to add an additional 6 full-time employees to the commercial organization, including strategic account leaders for the east and west regions of the United States.
Innovation. We believe our ability to successfully develop novel AI-enabled assays is superior to others based on our know-how and extensive experience in designing and successfully launching FDA-approved and laboratory developed
blood tests to aid in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. We own and operate Aspira Labs, Inc., a research and commercial CLIA laboratory in Texas, has accumulated more than 110,000 patient samples in our research biobank. Moreover, our history of successfully collaborating with world-class research and academic institutions allows us to innovate and provide outstanding patient care.
Our product pipeline is focused on two areas: ovarian cancer and endometriosis.
In ovarian cancer, we have developed clinical data to support the use of our OvaWatch test multiple times for the monitoring of an adnexal mass. We also made significant progress in the development of OvaMDx, a multi-marker test that combines serum proteins, clinical data (metadata) and miRNA for assessing the risk of ovarian cancer in women with an adnexal mass. The test is being developed in collaboration with Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Medical University of Lodz.
In endometriosis, we are developing and intend to introduce a new noninvasive test to aid in the diagnosis of this debilitating disease that impacts millions of women worldwide. We completed the design of EndoCheck, a protein-based blood test to aid the detection of endometrioma, one of the most common forms of endometriosis. EndoCheck is the first ever noninvasive test of its kind, a significant achievement. The algorithm was confirmed with three independent cohorts and is an important input for our EndoMDx test, a multi-marker test that combines serum proteins, clinical data (metadata) and miRNA for the identification of endometriosis which is also in development.
We estimate that the addressable market for products in our pipeline is significant. Expanding the use of OvaWatch as a longitudinal monitoring test has the potential to benefit the more than 1.2 million women in the United States diagnosed each year with an adnexal mass.
Our endometriosis portfolio addresses an even larger addressable market. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, endometriosis affects more than 6.5 million women in the United States. We believe the proliferation of commercially available and in-development therapeutics for the treatment of endometriosis will create a significant demand for a non-invasive diagnostic.
Operational Excellence. During 2023, we decreased our operating expenses by $11.3 million, while increasing our gross profit per unit by $20.72 per test.
Additionally, we achieved our cash utilization goals for 2023 by focusing on spending that fuels innovation and growth. We have achieved significant reductions in cash used in operations during 2023, while simultaneously increasing sales and accelerating product development. We raised gross proceeds of $4.7 million in July 2023 in a follow-on equity offering, as well as additional gross proceeds of $5.5 million in January 2024 in a separate follow-on offering. We intend to utilize existing facilities and non-dilutive sources of liquidity to provide the resources needed to execute our strategic priorities.
During 2023, unprofitable sales territories were reviewed for remediation or elimination, resulting in consolidations that continued a trend that started in the spring of 2022.
Scientific Basis for Our Products:
Science of Biomarkers: Our focus on translational biomarkers and informatics enables us to address the market for novel diagnostic tests that simultaneously measure multiple biomarkers. A biomarker is a biomolecule or variant biomolecule (e.g., DNA, RNA or protein) that is present at measurably greater or lesser concentrations, or is present in an altered form, in a disease state versus a normal condition. Conventional protein tests measure a single protein biomarker whereas most diseases are complex. We believe cancer and other complex diseases are heterogeneous at the causative level (i.e., most diseases can be traced to multiple potential etiologies) and at the human response level (i.e., each individual afflicted with a given disease can respond to that ailment in a specific manner). Protein biomarkers (our entrenched technology), miRNA molecular biomarkers and metadata (age, body mass index, etc.) each provide independent and non-overlapping evidence for a disease state. This increases the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the test in most cases.
Consequently, measuring a single biomarker when multiple biomarkers may be altered in a complex disease is unlikely to provide meaningful information about the disease state.
We believe that our approach of monitoring and combining multiple biomarkers using a variety of analytical techniques has allowed and will continue to allow us to create diagnostic tools that provide information about the disease state with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to aid the physician considering treatment options for patients with complex diseases. Such assays are
sometimes referred to as Multivariate Index Assays (“MIAs”) and often utilize advanced algorithms based on logistic regression, pattern recognition and the like. Often, MIA algorithms are non-intuitive, and therefore require rigorous clinical validation and error modeling. Aspira and its collaborators are considered experts in these areas and, in the case of Ova1 and Overa, presented both the clinical validation and error modeling needed to gain pre-market authorization from the FDA. In the case of Ova1, the FDA granted a request for de novo classification of an ovarian adnexal mass assessment score test system, a type of in vitro diagnostic device; in the case of Overa (previously Ova1 Next Generation), FDA granted a 510(k) clearance.
Our Business and Products:
We currently commercialize the following products and related services: (1) the Ova1Plus workflow, which uses Ova1, a qualitative serum test intended as an aid to further assess the likelihood of malignancy in women with an ovarian adnexal mass for which surgery is planned when the physician’s independent clinical and radiological evaluation does not indicate malignancy, as the primary test and Overa, a second-generation biomarker test intended to maintain Ova1’s high sensitivity while improving specificity, as a reflex for Ova1 intermediate range results, leveraging the strengths of Ova1’s MIA sensitivity and Overa’s (MIA2G) specificity to reduce incorrectly elevated results; and (2) OvaWatch, an LDT intended to assist in the initial clinical assessment of malignancy risk in all women thought to have an indeterminate or benign adnexal mass. Overa is currently not offered except as a reflex test performed as part of the Ova1Plus workflow. Collectively, these tests are referred to and marketed as OvaSuite. Our products are distributed through our own national sales force, through our proprietary decentralized testing platform and cloud service marketed as Aspira Synergy, and through marketing and distribution agreements, such as BioReference Health, LLC, a subsidiary of OPKO Health, Inc. (“BRL”) and ARUP Laboratories.
Our Ova1 test received FDA de novo classification in September 2009. Ova1 comprises instruments, assays, reagents, and the OvaCalc software, which includes a proprietary algorithm that produces a risk score. Our Overa test, which includes an updated version of OvaCalc, received FDA 510(k) clearance in March 2016. Ova1, Overa and OvaWatch, our first LDT, each use the Roche Cobas 4000, 6000 and 8000 platforms for analysis of proteins. Revenue from Ova1 and OvaWatch is included in the results of operations in total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023.
In 2021, we began entering into decentralized arrangements with large healthcare networks and physician practices for our Aspira Synergy platform, our decentralized testing platform and cloud service for decentralized global access of protein biomarker testing. Ova1, Overa, and the Ova1Plus workflow continue to be available through the Aspira Synergy platform. As of December 31, 2023, we had one active Aspira Synergy contract.
OvaWatch has been developed and is validated for use in Aspira’s CLIA-certified lab as a non-invasive blood-based risk assessment test for use in conjunction with clinical assessment and imaging to determine ovarian cancer risk for patients with an adnexal mass whose adnexal mass has been determined by an initial clinical assessment as indeterminate or benign. The commercialization plan for OvaWatch has two phases. Phase I, which was launched during the fourth quarter of 2022, is a single use, point-in-time risk assessment test, and Phase II will allow for longitudinal testing. The launch of the longitudinal monitoring test is targeted for the second quarter of 2024. We believe OvaWatch has the potential to significantly expand the addressable market compared to the Ova1Plus workflow.
Outside of the United States, we have sponsored studies in both the Philippines and Israel, which were intended to validate Overa and Ova1 in specific populations. In February 2024, we signed a distribution agreement with Hi-Precision Laboratories in the Philippines.
We own and operate Aspira Labs, based in Austin, Texas, a Clinical Chemistry and Endocrinology Laboratory accredited by the College of American Pathologists, which specializes in applying biomarker-based technologies to address critical needs in the management of gynecologic cancers and disease. Aspira Labs provides expert diagnostic services using a state-of-the-art biomarker-based risk assessment to aid in clinical decision making and advance personalized treatment plans. The lab currently performs our Ova1Plus workflow and OvaWatch testing, and we plan to expand the testing to other gynecologic conditions with high unmet need. Aspira Labs holds a CLIA Certificate of Accreditation and a state laboratory license in California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a supplier number to Aspira Labs in 2015. Aspira labs also hold a current ISO 13485 certification which is the most accepted standard worldwide for medical device.
In the United States, revenue for diagnostic tests comes from several sources, including third-party payers such as insurance companies, government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, client bill accounts and patients. Novitas Solutions, a Medicare Administrative Carrier, covers and reimburses for Ova1 tests performed in certain states, including Texas. Due to our billed Ova1 tests being performed exclusively at Aspira Labs in Texas, the Local Coverage Determination (“LCD”) from Novitas Solutions provides national coverage for patients enrolled in Medicare as well as Medicare Advantage health plans. We have applied for an LCD for OvaWatch, which is currently under review.
In November 2016, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (“ACOG”) issued Practice Bulletin Number 174 which included Ova1, defined as the “Multivariate Index Assay”, outlining ACOG’s clinical management guidelines for adnexal mass management. Practice Bulletin Number 174 recommends that obstetricians and gynecologists evaluating women with adnexal masses who do not meet Level A criteria of a low-risk transvaginal ultrasound should proceed with Level B clinical guidelines. Level B guidelines state that the physician may use risk assessment tools such as existing CA-125 technology or Ova1 (“Multivariate Index Assay”) as listed in the bulletin. Based on this, Ova1 achieved parity with CA-125 as an ACOG Level B clinical recommendation for the management of adnexal masses.
Practice Bulletins summarize current information on techniques and clinical management issues for the practice of obstetrics and gynecology. Practice Bulletins are evidence-based documents, and recommendations are based on the evidence. This is also the only clinical management tool used for adnexal masses. Although there are Practice Bulletins, guidelines do not exist for adnexal masses. ACOG guidelines do exist, however, for ovarian cancer management.
Product Pipeline
We are well positioned to introduce new gynecologic diagnostic products and we plan to expand our product offerings to additional women’s gynecologic health diseases by adding additional gynecologic bio-analytic solutions involving biomarkers, genetics, other modalities (e.g., imaging), clinical risk factors and patient data to aid diagnosis and risk stratification. Future product expansions will be accelerated by the development of lab developed testing in a CLIA environment, or relationships with strategic research and development partners, and access to specimens in our biobank.
OvaWatch is the only commercially available blood test to assess the risk of ovarian cancer in women diagnosed with an adnexal mass considered indeterminate or benign by initial clinical assessment. In January 2023, we published a manuscript entitled: “Validation of deep neural network-based algorithm supporting the clinical management of adnexal mass,” in Frontiers in Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal to support the clinical adoption of OvaWatch as a single-use test. We have collected additional clinical data to support the use of OvaWatch as a longitudinal monitoring test and have submitted two manuscripts for peer review publication. Abstracts related to both manuscripts were published in the 2023 Journal of Clinical Oncology’s Supplement to the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 2023 Annual Conference.
OvaMDx is a multi-marker test that combines serum proteins, clinical data (metadata) and miRNA for assessing the risk of ovarian cancer in women with an adnexal mass. The test is being developed in collaboration with Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Medical University of Lodz. We are currently in the process of completing final test design, including conducting verification experiments to transfer the test to the FDA approved PCR system, which is expected to be completed by mid-2024.
The miRNAs used in the OvaMDx test were the subject of a 2017 paper, “Diagnostic potential for a serum miRNA neural network for detection of ovarian cancer” published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Biology. In October 2023, a poster entitled “Improving the diagnostic accuracy of an ovarian cancer triage test using a joint miRNA-protein model,” was presented at the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Ovarian Cancer by senior author, Dr. Kevin Elias M.D., Director, Gynecologic Oncology Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. The poster highlighted data from a study that combined serum protein and patient clinical information (metadata) from Aspira’s ovarian cancer registry studies with miRNA determined by the Elias laboratory. The data showed using miRNA in combination with metadata provides superior performance over existing ovarian cancer risk assessment blood tests.
In December 2023, we began the process of completing the final test design, and currently are conducting verification experiments to transfer the test from the current system to an FDA approved PCR system. We expect to complete final test design by the first half of 2024, with final verification and validation of the assay to be completed before the end of 2024.
EndoCheck is the first protein biomarker test designed to identify ovarian endometriomas, one of the most common forms of endometriosis. We have confirmed the algorithm with three independent cohorts, achieving preliminary performance that supports its use to aid the detection and treatment of endometrioma. Data related to the performance of EndoCheck was presented at the 71st Annual Scientific Meeting for the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI) in Vancouver, Canada in March 2024. We are currently evaluating the potential commercial application and appropriate launch timeline for EndoCheck.
EndoMDx is a multi-marker test that combines serum proteins, clinical data (metadata) and miRNA for the identification of endometriosis. The test is being developed in collaboration with a consortium of academic and clinical partners led by Dana Farber Cancer Institute. We are currently in the process of completing final test design, including conducting verification experiments to transfer the test to an FDA approved PCR system, which is expected to be completed by mid-2024.
Studies and Publications
In January 2023, a manuscript, “Validation of Deep Neural Network-based Algorithm Supporting Clinical Management of Adnexal Mass,” was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers in Medicine. The paper presents findings from the multi-site clinical study of our newest assay, OvaWatch, describing real-world evidence supporting the use of OvaWatch for the clinical management of adnexal masses.
For the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting, which took place in June 2023, we published three abstracts online: (1) Multivariate index assay (MIA3G) to reduce preventive surgery for ovarian cancer, (2) Serial monitoring of ovarian cancer risk in women with adnexal mass, and (3) Multivariate index assay MIA3G vs other assessment tools for the ovarian cancer risk assessment of indeterminate masses.
In 2024, we submitted two manuscripts for peer review publication based on these abstracts.
We have a number of ongoing clinical studies to support the development of our product pipeline. In addition to our ongoing clinical study for the validation of longitudinal testing using the OvaWatch longitudinal mass monitoring test, in 2022 we launched a study to support the validation of our EndoCheck test. The goal of this observational study is to determine the clinical validity of a machine learning based algorithm that utilizes protein biomarker to detect Endometriosis – “EndoCheck” – as an additional diagnostic assessment tool for endometriosis. We have also supported ex-U.S. studies in both the Philippines and Israel.
The Diagnostic Field
The economics of healthcare demand effective and efficient allocation of resources which can be accomplished through disease prevention, early detection of disease leading to early intervention, and diagnostic tools that can triage patients to more appropriate therapy and intervention. In 2023, Fortune Business Insight, a market research and business consulting partnership, published a study which forecasts the global in vitro diagnostic (“IVD”) market to reach $157.02 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.1% from 2023 to 2030. We have chosen to concentrate our business focus in the areas of gynecologic oncology and disease where we have established strong key opinion leaders, and provider and patient relationships. Demographic trends suggest that, as the population ages, the burden from gynecologic diseases will increase and the demand for quality diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tests will escalate. In addition, the areas of gynecologic oncology and disease generally lack quality diagnostic tests and, therefore, we believe patient outcomes can be significantly improved by the development of novel diagnostic tests. Furthermore, an increasing number of women are becoming aware of the importance of early detection, particularly in gynecologic diseases.
Ovarian Cancer Background
Commonly known as the “silent killer,” ovarian cancer leads to nearly 13,000 deaths each year in the United States. In 2023, The American Cancer Society (“ACS”) estimated that nearly 20,000 new ovarian cancer cases were diagnosed, with the majority of patients diagnosed in the late stages of the disease in which the cancer has spread beyond the ovary. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer patients in the late stages of the disease have a poor prognosis, which leads to high mortality rates. According to the ACS, when ovarian cancer is diagnosed at its earliest stage (stage 1), patients have up to a 93%, 5-year survival rate following surgery and/or chemotherapy. The 5-year survival rate falls to as low as 31% for ovarian cancer patients diagnosed in the late-stages of the disease.
While the diagnosis of ovarian cancer in its earliest stages greatly increases the likelihood of long-term survival from the disease, another factor that predicts clinical outcomes from ovarian cancer is the specialized training of the surgeon who operates on the ovarian cancer patient. Numerous studies have demonstrated that treatment of malignant ovarian tumors by specialists such as gynecologic oncologists coupled with specialist medical centers improves outcomes for women with these tumors. Published guidelines from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (“SGO”) and the ACOG recommends referral of women with malignant ovarian tumors to specialists. Accordingly, there is a clinical need for a diagnostic test that can provide adequate predictive value to stratify patients with a pelvic mass into those with a high-risk of invasive ovarian cancer versus those with a low-risk of ovarian cancer, which is essential for improving overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer. The goal is to catch the mass early before it becomes late-stage cancer.
Although adnexal masses are relatively common, malignant tumors are less so. Studies have indicated that the prevalence of simple ovarian cysts in women 55 years of age and older can be as high as 14%. Adnexal masses are thought to be even more common in premenopausal women. For instance, a University of Kentucky ovarian cancer screening study found that the rate of postmenopausal women with persistently abnormal ultrasound findings requiring surgery was 1.4%. According to 2020 U.S. census data, there are 42.6 million women between the ages of 50 and 70 in the U.S., suggesting that there are nearly 600,000 suspicious adnexal masses in this segment alone. When managing an adnexal mass, physicians will either take a surgical management approach or a clinical management approach. Patients that do require surgical management could potentially benefit from the use of the Ova1Plus workflow. Patients not referred for surgical intervention may benefit from the use of OvaWatch to confirm the low risk of malignancy of a mass that was determined to be indeterminate or benign by initial clinical assessment.
The ACOG Ovarian Cancer Guidelines and the SGO guidelines help physicians evaluate adnexal masses for malignancy. These guidelines take into account menopausal status, CA125 levels, and physical and imaging findings. However, these guidelines have notable shortcomings because of their reliance on diagnostics with certain weaknesses. Most notably, studies have shown that the CA125 blood test, which is cleared by the FDA for the monitoring for recurrence of ovarian cancer only, is negative in up to 31% of early-stage ovarian cancer cases. Moreover, CA125 can be elevated in numerous conditions and diseases other than ovarian cancer, including menstruation, benign ovarian masses, liver disease, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, pregnancy and uterine fibroids.
These shortcomings limit the CA125 blood test’s utility in distinguishing benign from malignant ovarian tumors or for use in detection of early-stage ovarian cancer.
Transvaginal ultrasound is another diagnostic modality used with patients with ovarian masses. Attempts at defining specific morphological criteria that can aid in a benign versus malignant diagnosis have led to the morphology index and the risk of malignancy index, with reports of 40-70% predictive value. However, ultrasound interpretation can be variable and dependent on the experience of the operator. Accordingly, the ACOG and SGO guidelines indicate that transvaginal ultrasounds are rarely conclusive in identifying early-stage ovarian cancer and malignancy in pre-menopausal women. Efforts to improve detection of cancer by lowering the cutoff for CA125 (the “Modified ACOG/SGO Guidelines”) provide only a modest benefit, since CA125 is absent in about 20% of epithelial ovarian cancer cases and is poorly detected in early-stage ovarian cancer overall.
ACOG practice bulletin 174 (November 2016) states the following regarding our Ova1-branded product “The multivariate index assay has demonstrated higher sensitivity and negative predictive value for ovarian malignancy when compared with clinical impression and CA 125 alone.”
The ovarian cancer information page on American Cancer Society’s website indicates that:
For women who have an ovarian tumor, a test called Ova1 can measure the levels of 5 proteins in the blood. The levels of these proteins, when looked at together, are used to determine whether a woman’s tumor should be considered low-risk or high-risk. If the tumor is labeled ‘low-risk’ based on this test, the woman is not likely to have cancer. If the tumor is considered ‘high-risk,’ the woman is more likely to have a cancer and should see a specialist (a gynecologic oncologist). This test is NOT a screening test and it is NOT a test to decide if you should have surgery or not− it is meant for women who have an ovarian tumor where surgery has been decided but have not yet been referred to a gynecologic oncologist.
Aspira is committed to developing diagnostic tools for women of all ages, races and ethnicities. In 2019, two studies were released indicating superior clinical performance of Ova1 over CA125 and Ova1 over CA125, HE4 and Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm (“ROMA”) in African American women. In 2022, another study was released indicating superior clinical performance of Ova1 over CA125 in Filipino women.
Commercialization and Distribution
We market and distribute our products through 1) a national sales team, 2) the Aspira Synergy cloud-based technology transfer platform, and 3) various commercial partnerships. In October 2022, we launched a co-marketing and distribution collaboration with BRL, as a new channel for volume growth. Under terms of the agreement, the Aspira and BRL sales teams collaborate to sell Ova1Plus to gynecologists and other women’s healthcare providers nationwide.
Starting in 2014, we offered Ova1 via Aspira Labs. In March 2015, we entered into a commercial agreement with Quest Diagnostics. Pursuant to this agreement, all Ova1 U.S. testing services for Quest Diagnostics customers were transferred to Aspira’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aspira Labs. Pursuant to this agreement as subsequently amended, Quest Diagnostics has
continued to provide blood draw and logistics support by transporting specimens from its clients to Aspira Labs for testing in exchange for a market value fee. In 2022, the agreement was amended to include OvaWatch testing services.
Customers
In the United States, our clinical customer base includes physicians (including women’s care super-groups), physician office laboratories and national and regional laboratories. Both within and outside the United States, our customer specimens are sent directly to us, and we either bill third party payers or bill clients through client bill arrangements. We also offer access to our Ova1 and Overa assays via our decentralized technology transfer relationships established between us and authorized distributors.
Research and Development
Our research and development efforts center on the discovery and validation of biomarkers and the combinations of biomarkers with other “omics” that can be developed into diagnostic assays. We have done this predominantly through collaborations we have established with academic institutions such as the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Medical University of Lodz. In addition, we actively seek collaborations and initiate dialog with clinical academics and other organizations, in order to generate publications, intellectual property or test development in broader areas of gynecologic oncology and other gynecologic diseases.
Our research and development efforts are detailed in the “Product Pipeline” section above.
In 2019, two studies identified a disparity in diagnosis for African American women and demonstrated that Ova1 has superior sensitivity for detection in this population over CA125 or ROMA. In 2022, another study demonstrated the superiority of Overa over CA125 in Filipino women.
In 2022 and early 2023, two OvaWatch peer-reviewed validations were published. The first, “Analytical Validation of a Deep Neural Network Algorithm for the Detection of Ovarian Cancer,” validates the OvaWatch algorithm in the detection of ovarian cancer and demonstrates the potential of OvaWatch in accurately assessing the risk of ovarian malignancy in patients with pelvic masses. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer, with most cases being diagnosed at late stage. Early detection of ovarian cancer is key to helping to reduce mortality; however, other current non-invasive risk assessment measures on the market vary in their usefulness. The other paper, “Validation of Deep Neural Network-based Algorithm Supporting Clinical Management of Adnexal Mass,” presents findings from the multi-site clinical study of our new assay, OvaWatch, describing real-world evidence supporting the use of OvaWatch for the clinical management of adnexal masses.
Commercial Operations
We have a commercial infrastructure, including sales and marketing and reimbursement expertise. We also operate Aspira Labs, a CLIA certified clinical laboratory in Austin, Texas. Our sales representatives work to identify opportunities for educating general gynecologists and gynecologic oncologists on the benefits of Ova1. In February 2015, Aspira received ISO 13485:2003 certification for our quality management system from the British Standards Institution (BSI), one of the world’s leading certification bodies. We currently hold CE marks for Ova1 and Overa. We are targeting markets outside of the United States now that we have Overa cleared on the Roche cobas platform, which is available globally.
Approximately 23,900 OvaSuite tests were performed in 2023 compared to 21,423 in 2022. In 2023, we continued to increase sales through our commercial team, including field sales, strategic alliance and inside sales representatives. As awareness of our product continues to build, these representatives are focused on efforts that will have a positive impact on regional payers and create positive payer coverage decisions by driving physician demand. They work with local key opinion leaders and meeting with medical directors to discuss the clinical need, our technology solutions package and increasing patient experience and cases studies showing the positive outcomes utilizing OvaSuite.
We successfully launched a comarketing arrangement for the Ova1Plus workflow with BRL on October 5, 2022. Under terms of the agreement, the Aspira and BRL sales teams collaborate to sell Ova1Plus to gynecologists and other women’s healthcare providers nationwide.
We believe OvaWatch will have a significant impact on the ordering behavior of physicians with respect to our ovarian cancer blood tests. OvaWatch was developed for use with women with adnexal masses that have been identified as either benign or indeterminate through initial clinical assessment. It is estimated that physicians see more than three times as many women with benign or indeterminate masses compared to women with masses that are planned for surgery. In addition, we believe that the
OvaWatch longitudinal monitoring test that was launched in the fourth quarter of 2022 could further expand the patient population and the ordering frequency of our ovarian cancer blood tests.
Revenue and Reimbursement
In the United States, revenue for diagnostic tests comes from several sources, including third-party payers such as insurance companies, government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, client bill accounts and patients. Novitas Solutions, our Medicare Administrative Contractor, covers and reimburses for Ova1 tests performed based on an LCD in its jurisdiction. Due to Ova1 tests being performed at Aspira Labs in Texas, an LCD from Novitas Solutions provides national coverage for patients enrolled in Medicare as well as Medicare Advantage health plans. Aspira Labs also bills third-party commercial and other government payers as well as client bill accounts and patients for Ova1. Through December 31, 2023, Aspira’s product and related services revenue was primarily limited to revenue generated by sales of Ova1, Aspira GenetiX (discontinued in September 2022) and OvaWatch (launched in December 2022).
In December 2013, the CMS made its final determination and authorized Medicare contractors to set prices for Multianalyte Assays with Algorithmic Analyses (“MAAA”) test CPT codes when they determine it is payable. In late 2016, Ova1 was included on the list of clinical diagnostic laboratory test procedure codes as one for which the CMS would require reporting of private payer rates as part of the implementation of Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (“PAMA”). In November 2017, we announced that the CMS released the Final 2018 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (“CLFS”), effective January 1, 2018. Under the new fee schedule, the price for Ova1(CPT code 81503) is $897. This is a four-fold increase over the previous CMS rate, and this new rate was based on the median of private payer payments submitted to CMS by companies, including Aspira Labs, as part of the market-based payment reform mandated through PAMA. The rate was scheduled to be in effect for a three-year term from January 2018 through December 2020. This rate is now extended through 2024. In 2023 CMS announced that it would continue to delay the period during which rates would be evaluated for another year. Therefore, we will not be responsible for providing reimbursement rates until 2025. There are no assurances that reimbursement rates will not be changed.
CMS announced in 2023 that it would continue to delay the period during which rates would be evaluated for another year. Therefore, we will not be responsible for providing reimbursement rates until 2025.
Despite gains in positive medical policy coverage and contract agreements, insurance coverage and patient bills remain a concern to the physician and can disrupt the ordering pattern of a provider who is supportive of our products. We have instituted a “Patient Transparency Program” to assist with this process by proactively assessing insurance and educating patients on testing costs prior to testing being performed. Legislation to expand access to multi-cancer early detection technology under Medicare was reintroduced in the current legislative session. HR 2407, introduced in March 2023, and S 1085, introduced in June 2023, would create the authority for CMS to cover blood-based multi-cancer early detection tests once approved by FDA and shown to have clinical benefit.
We have a comprehensive reimbursement plan for Ova1 and OvaWatch, and have targeted third-party payers, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, State Medicaid and Managed Medicaid plans for coverage and reimbursement. In April 2023 we began billing OvaWatch with our newly awarded Proprietary Laboratory Analyses (“PLA Code”) 0375U. Since we began billing OvaWatch with the PLA Code, our reimbursement has been more in-line with historical Ova1Plus experience, resulting in the OvaWatch average unit price (“AUP”) of $339 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Ova1 is considered medically necessary in the Lab Management Guidelines for one of the largest lab benefit management companies who works with payers to ensure adherence to clinical guidelines. We continue to make gains toward reimbursement for OvaWatch as we build clinical evidence to support coverage.
In February 2023, we signed a contract with a national commercial payer which provides patient coverage for Ova1 and OvaWatch beginning in April 2023. Further, CMS approved the crosswalk of the fee to be paid for OvaWatch to the fee paid for Ova1. Effective January 1, 2024, we will be reimbursed at a rate of $897 for all OvaWatch and Ova1 tests processed for Medicare patients meeting applicable coverage requirements.
In addition, the United States and some foreign jurisdictions are considering or have enacted a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our ability to sell our products profitably. Among policy makers and payers in the United States and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality or expanding access.
Further, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. For example, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, included reductions to CMS payments to providers of 2% per fiscal
year, which went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect until 2032 unless additional congressional action is taken.
The Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act and the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act are bills that modernize the Medicare program and create a benefit category for MCED tests, which allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to initiate an evidenced-based coverage process for multi-cancer tests upon approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The House bill (H.R. 2407) was introduced with bipartisan support on March 30, 2023 and its Senate companion (S. 2085) was introduced on June 22, 2023.
There may be additional health reform initiatives by legislators at both the federal and state levels, regulators and third-party payers to reduce costs while expanding individual healthcare benefits. Certain of these changes could impose additional limitations on the rates we will be able to charge for our current and future products or the amounts of reimbursement available for our current and future products from governmental agencies or third-party payers.
Biomarker legislation continues to gain momentum on the state level with many states enacting legislation requiring coverage in both public and private insurance plans. Additionally, more states are evaluating legislation and introduced biomarker access bills in 2023.
Competition
The diagnostics industry in which we operate is competitive and evolving. There is intense competition among healthcare, biotechnology and diagnostics companies attempting to discover candidates for potential new diagnostic products. These companies may:
develop new diagnostic products in advance of us or our collaborators;
develop diagnostic products that are more effective or cost-effective than those developed by us or our collaborators;
obtain regulatory clearance or approval of their diagnostic products more rapidly than us or our collaborators; or
obtain patent protection or other intellectual property rights that would limit our or our collaborators’ ability to develop and commercialize, or a customers’ ability to use our or our collaborators’ diagnostic products.
We compete with companies in the United States and abroad that are engaged in the development and commercialization of novel biomarkers that may form the basis of novel diagnostic tests. These companies may develop products that are competitive with and/or perform the same or similar functions as the products offered by us or our collaborators, such as biomarker specific reagents or diagnostic test kits. Also, clinical laboratories may offer testing services that are competitive with the products sold by us or our collaborators. For example, a clinical laboratory can either use reagents purchased from manufacturers other than us or use its own internally developed reagents to make diagnostic tests. If clinical laboratories make tests in this manner for a particular disease, they could offer testing services for that disease as an alternative to products sold by us used to test for the same disease. The testing services offered by clinical laboratories may be easier to develop and market than test kits developed by us or our collaborators because the testing services are not subject to the same clinical validation requirements that are applicable to FDA-cleared or approved diagnostic test kits.
Fujirebio Diagnostics sells ROMA. ROMA combines two tumor markers and menopausal status into a numerical score using a publicly available algorithm. This test has the same intended use and precautions as Ova1. ROMA is currently marketed as having utility limited to epithelial ovarian cancers, which accounts for 80% of ovarian malignancies. Based upon the results of studies done in 2013 and 2019, we believe that Ova1 has superior sensitivity when compared to the Fujirebio Diagnostics test.
In addition, competitors such as Abbott Laboratories, Angle plc, Anixa Biosciences, Inc., AOA Dx, Becton Dickinson & Co., ClearNote Health, Exact Sciences Corp., Grail and InterVenn Biosciences have publicly disclosed that they have been or are currently working on ovarian cancer diagnostic assays. Academic institutions periodically report new findings in ovarian cancer diagnostics that may have commercial value.
A number of diagnostic and academic organizations have announced plans or published studies related to the development of a non-invasive diagnostic tool for the identification of endometriosis. If successful, the product may be competitive with our endometriosis offerings. Competitors include, but are not limited to, DotLab, Endodiag, HERA Biotech and Ziwig. We believe our experience developing multi-biomarker assays, particularly those focused on gynecologic diseases and pelvic masses, as well as our experienced women’s health field sales team and our focus on developing a clinical assay in our CLIA laboratory environment, is a significant competitive advantage.
Intellectual Property Protection
Our intellectual property includes federally registered trademarks and service marks as well as federally pending trademark and service mark applications for our product and service offerings, and a portfolio of owned, co-owned or licensed patents and patent applications. As of the date of the filing of the Form 10-K, our clinical diagnostics patent portfolio included 19 issued United States patents, 8 pending United States patent applications and numerous pending patent applications and issued patents outside the United States. These patents and patent applications are directed to diagnostic technologies.
Manufacturing
We are the manufacturer of FDA cleared products Ova1 and Overa, which are part of the Ova1Plus workflow. We also perform OvaWatch as an LDT. The component assays use purchased reagents. Because we do not directly manufacture the component assays, we are required to maintain supply agreements with manufacturers of each of the assays. As part of our quality systems, reagent lots for these assays are tested to ensure they meet specifications required for inclusion. Only reagent lots determined by us as having met these specifications are permitted for use in our testing. Our principal supplier for the component reagents is Roche Diagnostics Corporation. Our standard practice is to have at least four months of reagents on hand at any time.
Environmental Matters
Medical Waste
We are subject to licensing and regulation under federal, state and local laws relating to the handling and disposal of medical specimens and hazardous waste as well as relating to the safety and health of laboratory employees. Aspira Labs is operated in material compliance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations relating to disposal of all laboratory specimens. We utilize outside vendors for disposal of specimens. We cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or discharge and any resultant injury from these materials. Federal, state and local laws and regulations govern the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these materials. We could be subject to fines, penalties and damages claims in the event of an improper or unauthorized release of, or exposure of individuals to, hazardous materials. In addition, claimants may sue us for injury or contamination that results from our use, or the use by third parties, of these materials, and our liability may exceed our total assets. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations is expensive, and current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts.
Occupational Safety
In addition to its comprehensive regulation of safety in the workplace, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established extensive requirements relating to workplace safety for healthcare employers whose workers may be exposed to blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and the hepatitis virus. These regulations, among other things, require work practice controls, protective clothing and equipment, training, medical follow-up, vaccinations and other measures designed to minimize exposure to chemicals and transmission of the blood-borne and airborne pathogens. Although we believe that we have complied in all material respects with such federal, state and local laws, failure to comply could subject us to denial of the right to conduct business, fines, criminal penalties and other enforcement actions.
Specimen Transportation
Regulations of the Department of Transportation, the International Air Transportation Agency, the Public Health Service and the Postal Service apply to the surface and air transportation of clinical laboratory specimens. Although we believe that we have complied in all material respects with such federal, state and local laws, failure to comply could subject us to denial of the right to conduct business, fines, criminal penalties and other enforcement actions.
Government Regulation
FDA Regulation of Medical Devices
In the U.S., medical devices, including IVD products (“IVDs”), are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “FDC Act”), and its implementing regulations, and certain other federal and state statutes and regulations. The laws and regulations govern, among other things, the design, manufacture, storage, recordkeeping, approval, labeling, promotion, post-approval monitoring and reporting, distribution and import and export of medical devices, including IVDs. IVDs are a type of medical device and include reagents and instruments used in the diagnosis or detection of diseases or conditions. Predictive, prognostic, and screening tests can also be IVDs. Failure to comply with applicable requirements may subject a device and/or its manufacturer to a variety of administrative and judicial sanctions, such as FDA
refusal to approve pending pre-market approval applications (“PMAs”) or other applications, issuance of warning letters or untitled letters, mandatory product recalls, import detentions, civil monetary penalties, and/or judicial sanctions, such as product seizures, injunctions, and criminal prosecution.
The FDC Act classifies medical devices into one of three categories based on the risks associated with the device and the level of control necessary to provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness. Class I devices are deemed to be low risk and are subject only to the general regulatory controls. Class II devices are moderate risk. They are subject to general controls and may also be subject to special controls. Class III devices are generally the highest risk devices. They are required to obtain premarket approval and comply with post-market conditions of approval in addition to general regulatory controls.
Generally, establishments that design and/or manufacture devices are required to register their establishments with the FDA. They also must provide the FDA with a list of the devices that they design and/or manufacture at their facilities.
The FDA enforces its requirements by market surveillance and periodic visits, both announced and unannounced, to inspect or re-inspect equipment, facilities, laboratories and processes to confirm regulatory compliance. These inspections may include the manufacturing facilities of subcontractors that are device manufacturers. Following an inspection, the FDA may issue a report, known as a Form 483, listing instances where the manufacturer has failed to comply with applicable regulations and/or procedures or, if observed violations are sufficiently serious, a warning letter. If the manufacturer does not adequately respond to a Form 483 or warning letter, the FDA make take enforcement action against the manufacturer or impose other sanctions or consequences, which may include:
cease and desist orders;
injunctions or consent decrees;
civil monetary penalties;
recall, detention or seizure of products;
operating restrictions or partial or total shutdown of production facilities;
refusal of or delay in granting requests for 510(k) clearance, de novo classification, or premarket approval of new products or modified products;
withdrawing 510(k) clearances, de novo classifications, or premarket approvals that are already granted;
refusal to grant export approval or export certificates for devices; and
criminal prosecution.
Pre-Market Authorization and Notification
Unless subject to an exemption, medical devices require prior FDA authorization before they may be commercially marketed. Devices can be legally sold within the U.S. only if the FDA has: (i) approved a pre-market approval application prior to marketing, generally applicable to most Class III devices; (ii) cleared the device in response to a 510(k) premarket notification submission (“510(k)”), generally applicable to Class I and II devices; or (iii) reclassified the device pursuant to the de novo classification process, available for novel low or moderate risk devices. PMA applications, 510(k) premarket notifications, and de novo classification requests require payment of substantial user fees that are increased each fiscal year.
Ova1, the first FDA-authorized blood test for the pre-operative assessment of ovarian masses, was authorized by the FDA in September 2009 under the de novo classification pathway. We received 510(k) clearance for Overa, our second-generation biomarker panel in March 2016.
510(k) Premarket Notification
Product marketing in the U.S. for most Class II and a limited number of Class I devices typically follows the 510(k) premarket notification pathway. To obtain 510(k) clearance, a manufacturer must submit a premarket notification demonstrating that the proposed device is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device, referred to as the “predicate device.” A predicate device may be a previously 510(k) cleared device or a Class III device that was in commercial distribution before May 28, 1976 for which the FDA has not yet called for PMA applications, or a product previously placed in Class II or Class I through the de novo or other classification process. The manufacturer must show that the proposed device has the same intended use as the predicate device, and it either has the same technological characteristics, or it is shown to be equally safe and effective and does not raise different questions of safety and effectiveness as compared to the predicate device. A 510(k) may need to be supported by clinical data.
FDA has a user fee goal to apply no more than 90 calendar review days to 510(k) submissions. During the process, FDA may issue an Additional Information request, which stops the FDA’s review clock. The applicant has 180 days to respond. Therefore, the total review time could be up to 270 days, although it can take longer.
After a device receives 510(k) clearance, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change in its intended use, requires a new 510(k) clearance or could require a PMA approval or de novo classification. The FDA requires each manufacturer to make this determination in the first instance, but the FDA can review any such decision. If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s decision not to seek a new 510(k) clearance for the modified device, the agency may require the manufacturer to seek 510(k) clearance, de novo classification, or PMA approval. The FDA also can require the manufacturer to cease marketing and/or recall the modified device until 510(k) clearance or PMA approval is obtained.
De Novo Classification
Devices of a new type that the FDA has not previously classified based on risk are automatically classified into Class III regardless of the level of risk they pose. To avoid requiring PMA review of novel low-to moderate-risk devices classified in Class III by operation of law, Congress enacted a provision that allows the FDA to classify a novel low-to moderate-risk device into Class I or II in the absence of a predicate device that would support 510(k) clearance. The FDA evaluates the safety and effectiveness of devices submitted for review under the de novo pathway, and devices determined to be Class II through this pathway can serve as predicate devices for future 510(k) applicants. The de novo pathway generally requires clinical data. As part of the de novo process FDA will establish special controls to help ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device.
FDA has a user fee goal to review a de novo request in 150 calendar review days. During the process, FDA may issue an Additional Information request, which stops the FDA’s review clock. The applicant has 180 days to respond. Therefore, the total review time could be as long as 330 days, although it can take longer.
PMA Approval
A Class III product not eligible for either 510(k) clearance or de novo classification must follow the PMA approval pathway.
Results from clinical trials are required for each indication for which FDA approval is sought. After completion of the required clinical testing, a PMA including the results of all non-clinical, clinical, and other testing and information relating to the product’s marketing history, design, labeling, manufacture, and controls, is prepared and submitted to the FDA.
The PMA approval process is generally more expensive, rigorous, lengthy, and uncertain than the 510(k) premarket notification process and de novo classification process and requires proof of the safety and effectiveness of the device to the FDA’s satisfaction. As part of the PMA review, the FDA will typically inspect the manufacturer’s facilities for compliance with Quality System Regulation (“QSR”), requirements, which impose elaborate testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures. FDA has a user fee goal to review a PMA in 180 calendar review days, if the submission does not require advisory committee input, or 320 review days if the submission does require advisory committee input. During the process, FDA may issue a major deficiency letter, which stops the FDA’s review clock. The applicant has up to 180 days to respond. Therefore, the total review time could be up to 360 days, if the submission does not require advisory committee input, or 500 days if the submission does require advisory committee input, although it could take longer.
If the FDA’s evaluation of the PMA application is favorable, the FDA will issue a PMA for the approved indications, which can be more limited than those originally sought by the manufacturer. The PMA can include post-approval conditions that the FDA believes necessary to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device including, among other things, post-approval studies and restrictions on labeling, promotion, sale and distribution. Failure to comply with the conditions of approval can result in material adverse enforcement action, including the loss or withdrawal of the approval and/or placement of restrictions on the sale of the device until the conditions are satisfied.
Even after approval of a PMA, a new PMA or PMA supplement may be required in the event of a modification to the device, its labeling or its manufacturing process. Supplements to a PMA often require the submission of the same type of information required for an original PMA, except that the supplement is generally limited to that information needed to support the proposed change from the product covered by the original PMA.
Clinical Trials
Generally, data from at least one clinical trial is required to support a PMA application. Evidence from clinical studies also typically is included in a request for de novo classification and, less frequently, in a 510(k) premarket notification. Clinical trials may also be conducted or continued to satisfy post-approval requirements for devices with PMAs. For significant risk investigational device studies, the FDA regulations require that human clinical investigations conducted in the U.S. be approved under an investigational device exemption (“IDE”), which must become effective before clinical testing may commence. A nonsignificant risk investigational device study does not require FDA approval of an IDE, although it does need to comply with
some elements of the IDE regulations. Some studies of IVDs are entirely exempt from the IDE requirements. In some cases, one or more smaller IDE studies may precede a pivotal clinical trial intended to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the investigational device. A 30-day waiting period after the submission of each IDE is required prior to the commencement of clinical testing in humans. If the FDA disapproves the IDE within this 30-day period, the clinical trial proposed in the IDE may not begin. Clinical trials of IVDs that meet certain regulatory criteria are exempt from the IDE regulations.
An IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory test results, showing that it is safe to test the device in humans and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound. The IDE application must also include a description of product manufacturing and controls, and a proposed clinical trial protocol. The FDA typically grants IDE approval for a specified number of patients to be treated at specified study centers. During the study, the sponsor must comply with the FDA’s IDE requirements for investigator selection, trial monitoring, reporting, and record keeping. The investigators must obtain patient informed consent, follow the investigational plan and study protocol, control the disposition of investigational devices, and comply with reporting and record keeping requirements. Prior to granting PMA approval, the FDA typically inspects the records relating to the conduct of the study and the clinical data supporting the PMA application for compliance with IDE requirements.
Clinical trials must be conducted: (i) in compliance with federal regulations; (ii) in compliance with good clinical practice (“GCP”), an international standard intended to protect the rights and health of patients and to define the roles of clinical trial sponsors, investigators, and monitors; and (iii) under protocols detailing the objectives of the trial, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. Clinical trials are typically conducted at geographically diverse clinical trial sites and are designed to permit the FDA to evaluate the overall benefit-risk relationship of the device and to provide adequate information for the labeling of the device when considering whether a device satisfies the statutory standard for commercialization. Clinical trials, for both significant and nonsignificant risk device studies, as well as exempt IVD studies, must be approved by an institutional review board (“IRB”), an appropriately constituted group that has been formally designated to review and monitor biomedical research involving human subjects and which has the authority to approve, require modifications in, or disapprove research to protect the rights, safety, and welfare of the human research subject. Informed consent of patients participating in the study generally must be obtained before they may participate in the study.
The FDA may order the temporary, or permanent, discontinuation of a clinical trial at any time, or impose other sanctions, if it believes that the clinical trial either is not being conducted in accordance with the FDA requirements or presents an unacceptable risk to the clinical trial patients. An IRB may also require the clinical trial it has approved to be halted, either temporarily or permanently, for failure to comply with the IRB’s requirements, or may impose other conditions or sanctions.
Although the QSR does not fully apply to investigational devices, the requirement for controls on design and development does apply to devices subject to FDA’s IDE regulations. The sponsor also must manufacture the investigational device in conformity with the quality controls described in the IDE application and any conditions of IDE approval that the FDA may impose with respect to manufacturing.
Post-Market Requirements
After a device is placed on the market, numerous general regulatory controls apply. These include: the QSR (which requires manufacturers to have a quality policy and procedures to ensure that devices are manufactured and records maintained in a prescribed manner with respect to manufacturing, testing, complaint handling, and record keeping), labeling regulations, the medical device reporting regulations (which require that manufacturers report to the FDA if their device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury or malfunctioned in a way that would likely cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if it were to recur), and reports of corrections and removals regulations (which require manufacturers to report recalls or removals and field corrections to the FDA if initiated to reduce a risk to health posed by the device or to remedy a violation of the FDC Act if that violation may present a risk to health). Failure to properly identify reportable events or to file timely reports, as well as failure to comply with other regulatory requirements, can subject a manufacturer to warning letters, recalls, or other sanctions and penalties.
As a manufacturer of IVDs, we are subject to regulatory oversight by the FDA under provisions of the FDC Act and regulations thereunder. We are required to register and list our IVD products with the FDA and to comply with the applicable provisions of the QSR. We are required to submit a medical device report whenever we receive information that reasonably suggests that one of our devices may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury, or where a malfunction has occurred that would be likely to cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if the malfunction were to recur. As of the date of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have had zero complaints that required us to submit a medical device report to FDA. Additionally, we are subject to inspection by the FDA. Further, we are required to comply with FDA requirements for labeling and promotion.
Marketing and promotional activities for devices, and advertising of some restricted medical devices, are also subject to FDA oversight and must comply with the statutory standards of the FDC Act, and the FDA’s regulatory requirements. The FDA’s oversight of marketing and promotional activities encompasses, but is not limited to, direct-to-consumer advertising, healthcare provider-directed advertising and promotion, sales representative communications to healthcare professionals and promotional activities involving electronic media. The FDA also regulates industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities that make representations regarding product safety or efficacy in a promotional context.
Manufacturers of medical devices are permitted to promote products solely for the uses and indications that are consistent with those set forth in the approved or cleared product labeling. A number of enforcement actions have been taken against manufacturers that promote products for “off-label” uses (i.e., uses that are not described in the approved or cleared labeling), including actions alleging that claims submitted to government healthcare programs for reimbursement of products that were promoted for “off-label” uses are in violation of the Federal False Claims Act or other federal and state statutes and that the submission of those claims was caused by off-label promotion. The failure to comply with prohibitions on “off-label” promotion can result in significant monetary penalties, suspension of sales of certain products, product recalls, civil or criminal sanctions, exclusion from participating in federal healthcare programs, or other enforcement actions. Such wrongful conduct could also result in a corporate integrity agreement with the U.S. government that imposes significant administrative obligations and costs.
Violations of the FDC Act relating to the inappropriate promotion of approved products may lead to investigations alleging violations of federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse and other laws, as well as state consumer protection laws.
For a PMA or Class II 510(k) or de novo device, the FDA also may impose post-market conditions of approval, such as testing, surveillance, or other measures to monitor the effects of an approved or cleared product. The FDA may place conditions on a PMA-approved device that could restrict the distribution or use of the product. In addition, quality-control, manufacture, packaging, and labeling procedures must continue to conform to the QSR after approval and clearance, and manufacturers are subject to periodic inspections by the FDA. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the areas of production and quality control to maintain compliance with the QSR. The FDA may withdraw product approvals or recommend or require product recalls if a company fails to comply with regulatory requirements.
Clinical studies to support FDA marketing authorization of new IVD products or new indications for already-authorized IVD products must be conducted in accordance with the applicable FDA regulations.
We also may be required to conduct post-market surveillance of medical devices as a condition of granting marketing authorization. With respect to Ova1, the FDA required us to perform post-market surveillance to gather additional data regarding test performance. This study has been completed.
Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988
Clinical laboratories operating in or testing specimens from the U.S. are subject to CLIA, and related federal and state regulations, which provide for regulation of laboratory testing. Any customers using IVDs for clinical use in the United States will be regulated under CLIA, which establishes quality standards for all laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of patient test results regardless of where the test was performed. In particular, these regulations mandate that clinical laboratories must be certified by the federal government or a federally approved accreditation agency or must be located in a state that has been deemed exempt from CLIA requirements because the state has in effect laws that provide for requirements equal to or more stringent than CLIA requirements. Moreover, these laboratories must meet quality assurance, quality control and personnel standards, and they must undergo proficiency testing and inspections. The CLIA standards applicable to clinical laboratories are based on the complexity of the method of testing performed by the laboratory, as deemed by FDA, which range from “waived” to “moderate complexity” to “high complexity.”
Our clinical laboratory activities are subject to CLIA and related state clinical laboratory laws. In June 2014, we launched a clinical laboratory, Aspira Labs. Aspira Labs holds a CLIA Certificate of Accreditation and a state laboratory license or permit in California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. We are subject to periodic surveys and inspections to maintain our CLIA certification, and such certification is also required to obtain payment from Medicare, Medicaid and certain other third-party payers.
Laboratory Developed Tests
The FDA considers LDTs to be tests that are designed, developed, validated and used within a single laboratory. LDTs are performed using a variety of laboratory instruments and reagents and may also incorporate FDA-authorized IVDs that the laboratory modifies in some way and validates for its new use. The FDA has historically taken the position that it has the authority to regulate LDTs as medical devices under the FDC Act, but it has generally exercised enforcement discretion with regard to
LDTs. This means that even though the FDA believes it can impose regulatory requirements on LDTs, such as requirements to obtain premarket approval or clearance of LDTs, it has generally chosen not to enforce those requirements.
In September 2023, the FDA announced a proposed regulation that would, if adopted, alter the FDA’s historical exercise of enforcement discretion for LDTs by classifying LDTs as medical devices. The proposed regulation would subject LDTs to a more stringent regulatory framework, including premarket clearance or approval requirements, quality system regulations, and post-market surveillance obligations. Failure to comply with these and other FDA regulations could result in legal actions, including fines and penalties. The FDA has indicated it plans to finalize the proposed rule in the second quarter of 2024, though it is uncertain whether the FDA will finalize the proposed rule on this timeline or at all.
Legislative proposals addressing the FDA’s oversight of LDTs have been previously introduced. In March 2020, the Verifying Accurate, Leading-edge IVCT Development (“VALID”) Act of 2020 was introduced in the Senate, which proposes a risk-based regulatory framework for IVDs and LDTs and would require premarket approval for some in vitro clinical tests. The VALID Act was reintroduced in July 2021 and again in March 2023; the prospects for enactment are uncertain. In March 2020, the Verified Innovative Testing in American Laboratories (“VITAL”) Act of 2020 was introduced in the Senate, which would expressly shift the regulation of LDTs from FDA to CMS. The VITAL Act was reintroduced in May 2021. Neither statute has been enacted.
The FDA has become increasingly active in addressing the regulation of software used to support clinical decision making. In 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act (the “Cures Act”), among other things, amended the medical device definition in the FDC Act to exclude certain software from FDA regulation, including clinical decision support (“CDS software”), that meets certain criteria. CDS software is exempt from the medical device definition if it: (a) displays, analyzes or prints medical information about a patient or other medical information; (b) is intended for the purpose of supporting or providing recommendations about a patient’s care to a health care professional (“HCP”) user; and (c) provides sufficient information about the basis for the recommendations to the HCP user, so that the HCP user does not rely primarily on any of the recommendations to make a clinical decision about an individual patient; unless (d) the software function acquires, processes, or analyzes a medical image, a signal from an in vitro diagnostic device, or a pattern or signal from a signal acquisition system.
On September 28, 2022, the FDA issued a final guidance document interpreting the Cures Act as it pertains to CDS software. Among other views expressed, the final guidance stated that software functions that assess or interpret the clinical implications or clinical relevance of a signal or pattern, such as those that process or analyze an electrochemical or photometric response generated by an assay and instrument to generate a clinical test result, are not exempt from medical device regulation. The final guidance also stated that software functions that generate risk probabilities or risk scores are not exempt because they necessarily provide a specific diagnostic, preventive, or treatment output.
Our clinical laboratory activities are subject to CLIA and related state laws. In June 2014, we launched a clinical laboratory, Aspira Labs. Aspira Labs holds a CLIA Certificate of Accreditation and a state laboratory license or permit in California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. In July 2021, we were granted a CLIA Certificate of Accreditation for our laboratory at our Connecticut office. We are subject to periodic surveys and inspections to maintain our CLIA certification, and such certification is also required to obtain payment from Medicare, Medicaid and certain other third-party payers.
Foreign Government Regulation of Our Products
We intend to obtain regulatory approval in other countries to market our tests. Medical device laws and regulations are in effect in many of the countries in which we may do business outside the United States. These range from comprehensive device approval requirements for some or all of our potential future medical device products, to requests for product data or certifications. The number and scope of these requirements are increasing. In addition, products which have not yet been cleared or approved for domestic commercial distribution may be subject to the FDA Export Reform and Enhancement Act of 1996. Each country also maintains its own regulatory review process, tariff regulations, duties and tax requirements, product standards, and labeling requirements. In February 2015, Aspira also received ISO 13485:2003 certification for our quality management system from the British Standards Institution (BSI), one of the world’s leading certification bodies. In March 2015, Ova1 was CE marked, a requirement for marketing the test in the European Union. In October 2015, we announced registration of the CE mark for and clearance to market Overa in the European Union.
Privacy and Security of Health Information
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH, and final omnibus rules, were issued by HHS to protect the privacy and security of protected health information used or disclosed by health care providers, such as us. HIPAA also
regulates standardization of data content, codes and formats used in health care transactions and standardization of identifiers for health plans and providers. Penalties for violations of HIPAA regulations include civil and criminal penalties. In addition to federal privacy regulations, a number of state and international laws govern confidentiality of health information.
Health Care Fraud and Abuse
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute makes it a felony for a provider or supplier, including a laboratory, to knowingly and willfully offer, pay, solicit or receive remuneration, directly or indirectly, in order to induce business that is reimbursable under any federal health care program, including Medicare and Medicaid. A violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute may result in imprisonment for up to five years and/or criminal fines of up to $250,000 for an individual. Companies may be criminally fined up to $500,000 and may also be subject to civil assessments and exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs.
Actions that violate the federal Anti-Kickback Statute may also be subject to liability under the Federal False Claims Act, which prohibits knowingly presenting or causing to be presented a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the U.S. Government. Although the federal Anti-Kickback Statute applies only to federal health care programs, a number of states have enacted statutes substantially similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute pursuant to which similar types of prohibitions are made applicable to all other health plans and third-party payors.
The Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA) makes it a federal crime to knowingly and willfully solicit or receive any remuneration, directly or indirectly, in return for referring a patient or patronage any laboratory. EKRA also prohibits paying or offering any remuneration directly or indirectly: (A) to induce a referral of an individual to a laboratory; or (B) in exchange for an individual using the services of a laboratory. Although EKRA’s language is similar to the language of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, EKRA is broader than the AKS in that it applies to all health care benefit programs, including private payors, while the AKS applies only to items and services paid for by federal health care programs.
Federal and state law enforcement authorities scrutinize arrangements between laboratories and potential referral sources to ensure that the arrangements are not designed as a mechanism to induce patient care referrals. The law enforcement authorities and the courts have also demonstrated a willingness to look behind the formalities of a transaction to determine the underlying purpose of payments between health care providers and actual or potential referral sources. Generally, courts have taken a broad interpretation of the scope of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, holding that the statute may be violated if merely one purpose of a payment arrangement is to induce referrals, even if the arrangement has other, legitimate purposes.
In December 1994, the HHS Office of Inspector General, or OIG, issued a Special Fraud Alert on arrangements for the provision of clinical laboratory services. The Fraud Alert set forth a number of practices allegedly engaged in by some clinical laboratories and health care providers that raise issues under the federal fraud and abuse laws, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The OIG emphasized in the Special Fraud Alert that when one purpose of such arrangements is to induce referrals of program-reimbursed laboratory testing, both the clinical laboratory and the health care provider (e.g., physician) may be liable under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and may be subject to criminal prosecution and exclusion from participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Recognizing that the federal Anti-Kickback Statute is broad and may technically prohibit many innocuous or beneficial arrangements within the health care industry, Congress authorized, and HHS has issued, a series of regulatory “safe harbors.” These safe harbor regulations set forth certain provisions which, if all of their requirements are met, will assure health care providers and other parties that they may not be prosecuted under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Although full compliance with these provisions ensures against prosecution under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the failure of a transaction or arrangement to fit within a specific safe harbor does not necessarily mean that the transaction or arrangement is illegal or that prosecution under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute will be pursued. A non-safe harbored arrangement is evaluated by government enforcement agencies on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, the federal False Claims Act prohibits a person from knowingly submitting or causing to be submitted a false claim or making a false record or statement material to a false claim in order to secure payment by the federal government. Violation of the federal False Claims Act may result in fines of up to three times the actual damages sustained by the government, plus mandatory civil penalties of up to $27,894 for each separate false claim.
Moreover, a federal law directed at “self-referrals,” commonly known as the Stark Law, prohibits, with certain exceptions, laboratories from presenting or causing to be presented claims to Medicare and Medicaid for laboratory tests referred
by physicians who personally, or through a family member, have an investment interest in, or a compensation arrangement with, the clinical laboratory performing the tests. A person who engages in a scheme to circumvent the Stark Law's referral prohibition may be fined up to $100,000 for each such arrangement or scheme. In addition, any person who presents or causes to be presented a claim to the Medicare or Medicaid program in violation of the Stark Law is subject to civil monetary penalties of up to $15,000 per claim submission, an assessment of up to three times the amount claimed, and possible exclusion from participation in federal health care programs. Claims submitted in violation of the Stark Law may not be paid by Medicare or Medicaid, and any person collecting any amounts with respect to any such prohibited claim is obligated to refund such amounts. Many states, including California, also have “anti-self-referral” and other laws that are not limited to Medicare and Medicaid referrals.
Further, in addition to the privacy and security regulations described above, HIPAA created two federal crimes: health care fraud and false statements relating to health care matters. The health care fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, including both government and private payors. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines, imprisonment and/or exclusion from government sponsored programs. The false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits, items or services. A violation of this statute is a felony and may result in fines and/or imprisonment.
Finally, federal law prohibits any entity from offering or transferring to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary any remuneration that the entity knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary's selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of Medicare or Medicaid payable items or services, including waivers of copayments and deductible amounts (or any part thereof) and transfers of items or services for free or for other than fair market value. Entities found in violation may be liable for civil monetary penalties of up to $20,000 for each wrongful act.
Other Business Updates
On October 13, 2023, the Audit Committee of the Board and our management determined that our previously issued financial statements in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as well as the previously filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2022, should be restated and should no longer be relied upon due to an error in the accounting for certain warrants issued in August 2022 as part of our underwritten offering with William Blair & Company, LLC. We restated our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, and the unaudited interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 to reflect the correction of the error on October 26, 2023.
Employees
As of December 31, 2023, we had 64 full-time employees. We generally engage independent contractors on a part-time basis from time to time.
Corporate Information
We were originally incorporated in 1993, and we had our initial public offering in 2000. Our executive offices are located at 12117 Bee Caves Road, Building III, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78738, and our telephone number is (512) 519-0400. We maintain a website at www.aspirawh.com where general information about us is available.
Information About Us
We file annual reports, quarterly reports, current reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC.
The SEC maintains an Internet website, www.sec.gov, that contains reports, proxy statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
The information contained on our websites is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and should not be considered a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and uncertainties together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes in Part II Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” If any of the following risks materializes, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects could be materially adversely affected, and the value of an investment in our common stock may decline significantly. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
If we are unable to increase the volume of OvaSuite sales, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected.
We have experienced significant operating losses each year since our inception, and we expect to incur a net loss for fiscal year 2024. Our losses have resulted principally from costs incurred in cost of revenue, sales and marketing, general and administrative costs and research and development. The number of tests performed in 2023 and in 2022 was 23,990 and 21,423, respectively. If we are unable to substantially increase the volume of OvaSuite sales, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected.
There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, and this may adversely affect our stock price and our ability to raise capital.
We have incurred significant losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception and have an accumulated deficit of $518.3 million as of the end of the period covered by this report. We also expect to incur a net loss and negative cash flows from operations in 2024 and have limited cash balances. Given these conditions, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern may adversely affect our stock price and our ability to raise capital. Our independent registered public accounting firm has also included in its report an explanatory paragraph regarding this uncertainty.
We believe that successful achievement of our business objectives will require additional financing. We expect to raise capital through a variety of sources that may include public or private equity offerings, debt financing, collaborations, licensing arrangements, grants and government funding and strategic alliances. However, in part due to our low stock price, additional financing may not be available when needed or on terms acceptable to us. If we are unable to obtain additional capital, we may not be able to continue sales and marketing, research and development, distribution or other operations on the scope or scale of current activity and that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that may be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern.
We may need to sell additional shares of our common stock or other securities in the future to meet our capital requirements, which could cause significant dilution.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of the issuance of common stock in public or private equity offerings, debt financings, exercise of common stock warrants, collaborations, licensing arrangements, grants and government funding and strategic alliances. Our management believes the successful achievement of our business objectives will require additional financing through one or more of these avenues. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt, such financing may be dilutive to stockholders. Debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants and potential dilution to stockholders. Furthermore, a perception that future sales of our common stock in the public market are likely to occur could affect prevailing trading prices of our common stock.
As of December 31, 2023, we had 10,645,049 shares of our common stock outstanding and 165,861 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance to employees, directors and consultants pursuant to our employee stock plans, which excludes 759,922 shares of our common stock that were subject to outstanding options and 59,463 restricted stock units. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, warrants to purchase 799,985 shares of our common stock were outstanding. These warrants are exercisable at the election of the holders thereof, in accordance with the terms of the related Form of Warrant, at an average exercise price of $13.20 per share.
On January 26, 2024, we closed a follow-on equity offering. In conjunction with the offering, certain of outstanding warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 366,664 shares at an exercise price of $13.20 per share and a termination date of August 25, 2027, were amended so that the amended warrants have a reduced exercise price of $4.13 per share and a new termination date of January 26, 2029. The other terms of the amended warrants remain unchanged.
The exercise of all or a portion of our outstanding options and warrants will dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders.
We will need to raise additional capital in the future, and if we are unable to secure adequate funds on terms acceptable to us, we may be unable to execute our business plan.
We will seek to raise additional capital through the issuance of equity or debt securities in the public or private markets, or through a collaborative arrangement or sale of assets. Additional financing opportunities may not be available to us, or if available, may not be on favorable terms. The availability of financing opportunities will depend, in part, on market conditions, and the outlook for our business. Any future issuance of equity securities or securities convertible into equity could result in substantial dilution to our stockholders, and the securities issued in such a financing may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock. If we are unable to obtain additional capital, we may not be able to continue our sales and marketing, research and development, distribution or other operations on the scope or scale of our current activity.
Failures by third-party payers to reimburse for our products and services or changes in reimbursement rates could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, changes in medical society guidelines may also adversely affect payers and result in a material change in coverage, adversely affecting our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The great majority of laboratory tests in the United States are paid for by third party payers. Accordingly, our current revenues are from, and our future revenues will be dependent upon, third-party reimbursement payments to Aspira Labs. Insurance coverage and reimbursement rates for diagnostic tests are uncertain, subject to change and particularly volatile during the early stages of commercialization. There remain questions as to what extent third-party payers, like Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies will provide coverage for our products and for which indications. Some payers have determined not to cover our tests. While Novitas Solutions, the Medicare Administrative Contractor responsible for paying Medicare claims for all Aspira laboratory tests, has determined to cover Ova1, there is no assurance that they will continue to do so. Moreover, while The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has issued PAMA reimbursement rates for Ova1 effective January 1, 2018, there is no guarantee that the payment rates will not be reduced. Although the PAMA legislation allows for no more than a 15% fee reduction between 2023 and 2024, uncertainty regarding reimbursement rates could create payment uncertainty from other payers as well. The reimbursement rates for Ova1 and OvaWatch are reviewed by third-party payers. We have experienced volatility in the coverage and reimbursement of our products due to contract negotiation with third-party payers and implementation requirements, and the reimbursement amounts we have received from third-party payers varies from payer to payer, and, in some cases, the variance could be material.
Third-party payers, including private insurance companies as well as government payers such as Medicare and Medicaid, have increased their efforts to control the cost, utilization and delivery of healthcare services including increased use of Laboratory Benefits Management firms (“LBM’s”), who create policy and implement utilization management strategies for their payer clients to ensure tests are medically necessary. In addition, more payers are implementing pre-authorization requirements for our testing. These measures have resulted in reduced payment rates and decreased utilization of our tests. Further, the trend among many payers is to limit the size of their lab networks, which is making it more difficult to secure preferred provider contracts for some services. From time to time, Congress has considered and implemented changes to the Medicare fee schedules in conjunction with budgetary legislation, and pricing for tests covered by Medicare is subject to change at any time, although PAMA has established specific dates by which they will make any changes. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products by governmental and commercial third-party payers, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future. Reductions in third-party payer reimbursement rates may occur in the future. Reductions in the price at which our products are reimbursed could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If we are unable to establish and maintain broad coverage and adequate reimbursement for our products or if third-party payers change their coverage or reimbursement policies with respect to our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Failure to continue coverage of Ova1 through Novitas, our Medicare Administrative Contractor for Ova1, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.
Since 2013, Ova1 has been listed as a covered service in the Biomarkers for Oncology Local Coverage Determination (the “Biomarkers for Oncology LCD”) issued by Novitas, the Medicare Administrative Contractor responsible for payment of Medicare claims for all Aspira Labs tests. In June 2023, in conjunction with the publication of a final “Genetic Testing for Oncology” LCD (the “Genetic Testing LCD”), Novitas announced that it intended to retire the Biomarkers for Oncology LCD effective July 17, 2023, and that at that time, non-genetic tests currently identified as covered in that LCDs (like Ova1) would be considered for payment based on Medicare medically reasonable and necessary threshold for coverage.
On July 6, 2023, Novitas issued a statement announcing that the Genetic Testing LCD would not go into effect on July 17, 2023 as planned, and that a new proposed LCD would be published for public comment. Novitas issued a replacement proposed LCD for public comment on July 27, 2023. The Biomarkers for Oncology LCD remains in effect.
All OvaSuite tests (Ova1, Overa, Ova1Plus and OvaWatch) are protein-based multivariate index assays and were not impacted by the now-withdrawn Genetic Testing LCD. While we do not believe Novitas intends to eliminate Ova1 coverage, it is impossible to assess the likelihood or potential impact, if any, of future actions to be taken by Novitas with respect to the release of a replacement Genetics Testing LCD, or a change to the content or status of the Biomarkers for Oncology LCD, on the coverage and related revenue of Ova1, and such impact may be material to our business, results of operations and financial condition. We are monitoring developments closely and believe additional due process would be required if the activities contemplated by Novitas change the coverage determination for Ova1.
Failure to expand commercial, Medicare or Medicaid coverage for our products could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have implemented strategies to expand payer coverage for our ovarian cancer risk assessments, including securing coverage for OvaWatch that is consistent with existing coverage for Ova1. In November 2023, CMS approved our request to provide reimbursement for OvaWatch that is consistent with the reimbursement for Ova1 at $897 per test. However, there can be no assurances that we will be able to secure additional payer coverage for Ova1 and comparable coverage for OvaWatch, or that that the reimbursement rate for OvaWatch will not be reduced. Failure to expand payer coverage and maintain adequate reimbursement rates may have a significant negative impact on product adoption and our results of operations.
We may not succeed in improving existing or developing additional diagnostic products, and, even if we do succeed in developing additional diagnostic products, the diagnostic products may never achieve significant commercial market acceptance.
Our technologies are new and complex and are subject to change as new discoveries are made. New discoveries and advancements in the diagnostic field are essential if we are to foster the adoption of our product offerings. Development of our existing technologies remains a substantial risk to us due to various factors, including the scientific challenges involved within our laboratory, as well as products that are offered in a decentralized platform such as Aspira Synergy, our ability to find and collaborate successfully with others working in the diagnostic field, our ability to obtain sufficient samples to complete the design and development of our algorithms and competing technologies, which may prove more successful than our technologies, as well as failure to complete analytical and clinical validation studies and failure to demonstrate sufficient clinical utility to continue to build positive medical policy among payers.
Our failure to achieve the intended development outcome either ourselves or through a collaboration may result in an impact to our commercial success of our risk assessment screens for endometriosis or other product launches.
Our success depends on our ability to continue to develop and commercialize diagnostic products. There is considerable risk in developing diagnostic products based on our biomarker discovery efforts, as candidate biomarkers may fail to demonstrate clinical validity in larger clinical studies or may not achieve acceptable levels of analytical accuracy. For example, markers being evaluated for one or more next-generation diagnostic tests may not be validated in downstream pre-clinical or clinical studies, once we undertake and perform such studies. In addition, development of products combining biomarkers with imaging, patient risk factors or other risk indicators carry higher than average risks due to technical, clinical and regulatory uncertainties. While we have a published proof of concept on combining Ova1 and imaging, for example, our ability to develop, verify and validate an algorithm that generalizes to routine testing populations cannot be guaranteed. In addition, our efforts to develop other diagnostic tests, such as EndoMDx and OvaMDx, are in the early development phase, and future pre-clinical or clinical studies may not support our early data. While the discovery phase has been completed for EndoCheck, it is still pending pre-clinical or clinical studies to support early data. If successful, the regulatory pathway and clearance/approval process may require extensive discussion with applicable authorities and possibly advisory panels. These pose considerable risk in projecting launch dates, requirements for clinical evidence and eventual pricing and return on investment. Although we are engaging important stakeholders representing gynecologic oncology, benign gynecology, patient advocacy, women’s health research, legislators, payers, and others, success, timelines and value will be uncertain and require active management at all stages of innovation and development.
Clinical testing is expensive, can take many years to complete and can have an uncertain outcome. Clinical failure can occur at any stage of the testing. Clinical trials for our next generation ovarian cancer tests, and other future diagnostic tests, may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical and/or non-clinical testing on these tests. In addition, the results of our clinical trials may identify unexpected risks relative to safety or efficacy, which could complicate, delay or halt clinical trials, or result in the denial of regulatory approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities.
If we do succeed in developing additional diagnostic tests with acceptable performance characteristics, we may not succeed in achieving commercial market acceptance for those tests. Our ability to successfully commercialize our OvaSuite products and Aspira Synergy platform will depend on many factors, including:
our ability to drive adoption of our products;
our success in establishing new clinical practices or changing previous ones;
our ability to develop business relationships with diagnostic or laboratory companies that can assist in the commercialization of these products in the U.S. and globally; and
the scope and extent of the agreement by Medicare and third-party payers to provide full or partial reimbursement coverage for our products, which may impact patients’ willingness to pay for our products and may influence physicians’ decisions to recommend or use our products.
These factors present obstacles to commercial acceptance of our existing and potential diagnostic products, for which we will have to spend substantial time and financial resources to overcome, and there is no guarantee that we will be successful in doing so. Our inability to do so successfully would prevent us from generating revenue from OvaSuite and developing future diagnostic products.
In October 2022, we announced the launch of a comarketing arrangement for the Ova1Plus workflow with BRL. Under terms of the agreement, the Aspira and BRL sales teams collaborate to sell Ova1Plus to gynecologists and other women’s healthcare providers nationwide. If we are unable to collaborate successfully, it may affect our ability to improve adoption of our Ova1Plus test or to successfully secure additional commercial collaborations.
The diagnostics market is competitive, and we may not be able to compete successfully, which would adversely impact our ability to generate revenue.
Our principal competition currently comes from the many clinical options available to medical personnel involved in clinical decision making. For example, rather than ordering an OvaSuite test for a woman with an adnexal mass, obstetricians, gynecologists and gynecologic oncologists may choose a different clinical option or none at all. If we are not able to convince clinicians that these products provide significant improvement over current clinical practices or to change their ordering habits, our ability to commercialize OvaSuite products will be adversely affected.
Competitive offerings include Fujirebio Diagnostics’ FDA cleared ROMA test. ROMA combines two tumor markers and menopausal status into a numerical score using a publicly available algorithm. ROMA is a competitive test with the Ova1Plus workflow that has adversely impacted and may continue to materially adversely impact our revenue. In addition, competitors, Abbott Laboratories, Angle plc, Anixa Biosciences, Inc., AOA Dx, Becton Dickinson & Co., ClearNote Health, Exact Sciences Corp., Grail, InterVenn Biosciences and others have publicly disclosed that they have been or are currently working on ovarian cancer diagnostic assays. Academic institutions periodically report new findings in ovarian cancer diagnostics that may have commercial value.
A number of diagnostic and academic organizations have announced plans or published studies related to the development of a non-invasive diagnostic tool for the identification of endometriosis. Competitors for our endometriosis offerings include, but are not limited to, DotLab, Endodiag, HERA Biotech and Ziwig. Our failure to compete with any competitive diagnostic assay if and when commercialized could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have priced our products at a point that recognizes the value-added by its increased sensitivity for detecting ovarian malignancy. If others develop a test that is viewed to be similar to any of these products in safety and efficacy but is priced at a lower point, we and/or our strategic partners may have to lower the price of that product in order to effectively compete, which would impact our margins and potential for profitability.
We are currently offering and developing multiple tests as LDTs and intend to develop and perform LDTs at Aspira Labs in the future. Should FDA disagree that our tests are LDTs or finalize regulations that require PMA approval or 510(k)clearance of such tests, their commercialization would be adversely affected, which would negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition.
The FDA considers an LDT to be a test that is designed, developed, validated, and used within a single laboratory. The FDA has historically taken the position that it has the authority to regulate LDTs as medical devices under the FDC Act, but it has generally exercised enforcement discretion with regard to LDTs. This means that even though the FDA believes it can impose regulatory requirements on LDTs, such as requirements to obtain premarket approval, de novo classification or 510(k) clearance of LDTs, it has generally chosen not to enforce those requirements. On October 3, 2023 proposed FDA regulations were published in the Federal Register that would phase out the FDA’s enforcement discretion approach to LDTs over a period of four years. The proposed regulation would classify all LDTs as medical devices, which would require us to adhere to a more stringent regulatory framework, including premarket clearance or approval requirements, quality system regulations, and post-market surveillance obligations. If the proposed regulation is finalized, we would be required to submit an application to obtain PMA approval, de novo classification or 510(k) clearance for certain of our LDTs unless this requirement is modified or reversed as a result of legislation or litigation. Compliance with these additional regulatory requirements would be time-consuming and expensive, potentially diverting resources from other aspects of our business, and would potentially affect the sales of our products and how customers
use our products and may require us to change our business model in order to maintain compliance with these laws. Moreover, failure to comply with these and other FDA regulations could result in legal actions, including fines and penalties. The FDA has indicated it plans to finalize the proposed rule in the second quarter of 2024, though we cannot be certain that the FDA will finalize the proposed rule on this timeline or at all. If adopted in its proposed form or otherwise, the regulation of LDTs as medical devices could have a significant negative impact on our operations and financial performance.
Legislative proposals addressing the FDA’s oversight of LDTs have been previously introduced, and we expect that new legislative proposals will be introduced from time to time. The likelihood that Congress will pass such legislation and the extent to which such legislation may affect the FDA’s plans to regulate LDTs as medical devices, by either giving FDA explicit authority to do so or, alternatively, stating that FDA does not have authority to regulate LDTs, is difficult to predict. In June 2021, Congress introduced the VALID Act, which would have established a new risk-based regulatory framework for in vitro clinical tests (“IVCTs”), a category which would have included IVDs, LDTs, collection devices and instruments used with such tests. This legislation was not enacted during that session of Congress, but was reintroduced in 2023.
In the meantime, the regulatory environment for LDTs is uncertain. If FDA disagrees that tests we perform or may in the future perform are LDTs, we may be forced to stop selling our tests or be required to modify claims or make such other changes while we work to obtain FDA clearance, approval or de novo classification. Our business, results of operations and financial condition would be negatively affected until such a review were completed and clearance, approval or de novo classification to market were obtained. If premarket clearance, approval, or de novo classification is required by the FDA or if we decide to voluntarily pursue FDA premarket clearance, approval or de novo classification of our LDTs, there can be no assurance that any tests we develop will be cleared, approved or classified on a timely basis, if at all. Obtaining FDA clearance, approval or de novo classification for diagnostics can be expensive, time consuming and uncertain, and for higher-risk devices generally takes several years and requires detailed and comprehensive scientific and clinical data. In addition, medical devices are subject to ongoing FDA obligations and continued regulatory oversight and review. Ongoing compliance with FDA regulations for those tests would increase the cost of conducting our business and subject us to heightened regulation by the FDA and penalties for failure to comply with these requirements.
Our diagnostic tests and software are subject to ongoing regulation by the FDA, and any delay by or failure of the FDA to authorize our diagnostic tests submitted to the FDA may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our activities related to diagnostic products are, or have the potential to be, subject to regulatory oversight by the FDA under provisions of the FDC Act and regulations thereunder, including regulations governing the development, marketing, labeling, promotion, manufacturing and export of our products. Failure to comply with applicable requirements can lead to sanctions, including withdrawal of products from the market, recalls, refusal to authorize government contracts, product seizures, civil money penalties, injunctions and criminal prosecution.
The FDC Act requires that medical devices introduced to the United States market, unless exempted by regulation, be authorized by FDA pursuant to either the premarket notification pathway, known as 510(k) clearance, the de novo classification pathway, or the PMA pathway. The FDA granted a request for a de novo authorization for Ova1 in September 2009, and we commercially launched Ova1 in March 2010. In March 2016, we received FDA 510(k) clearance for a second-generation biomarker panel known as Ova1 Next Generation, which we call Overa. Ova1 was the first FDA-cleared blood test for the pre-operative assessment of ovarian masses. With respect to devices reviewed through the 510(k) process, we may not market a device until it is determined that our product is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device known as a predicate device. A 510(k) submission may involve the presentation of a substantial volume of data, including clinical and analytical data, as well as extensive information regarding software. The FDA may agree that the product is substantially equivalent to a predicate device and allow the product to be marketed in the United States. On the other hand, the FDA may determine that the device is not substantially equivalent and require a PMA or de novo classification, or require further information, such as additional test data, including data from clinical studies, before it is able to make a determination regarding substantial equivalence. By requesting additional information, the FDA can delay market introduction of our products. Delays in receipt of or failure to receive any necessary 510(k) clearance, de novo classification, or PMA, or the imposition of stringent restrictions on the labeling and sales of our products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If the FDA determines that a PMA is required for any of our potential future clinical products, the application will require extensive clinical studies, manufacturing information and could require review by an FDA advisory panel comprising experts outside the FDA. Clinical studies to support a 510(k) submission, de novo classification or a PMA application would need to be conducted in accordance with FDA requirements. Failure to comply with FDA requirements could result in the FDA’s refusal to accept the submission or denial of the application. We cannot ensure that any necessary 510(k) clearance, de novo classification, or PMA will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. To the extent we seek FDA 510(k) clearance, de novo classification or FDA pre-market approval for other diagnostic tests, any delay by or failure of the FDA to clear, classify, or approve those diagnostic tests may adversely affect our consolidated revenues, results of operations and financial condition.
Certain changes to medical devices that a manufacturer makes after receiving a 510(k) clearance, de novo classification, or PMA may trigger the need for additional FDA authorization. In the case of a 510(k)-cleared device, FDA requires a new marketing authorization for significant changes or modifications made in the design, components, method of manufacture or intended use of a device, including changes or modifications to a 510(k)-cleared device that could significantly affect the device's safety or effectiveness, or would constitute a major change or modification in the device's intended use. The type of submission needed—510(k), de novo classification, or PMA—will depend on the specific modification the manufacturer seeks to make. FDA expects the manufacturer to make the determination of whether a new marketing application is needed by applying existing agency guidance, but FDA may independently review, and may disagree with, our decision. If we make modifications to our marketed devices, we may be required to seek additional clearances, de novo classifications, or PMAs which, if not granted, would prevent us from selling the modified device. If we conclude that a modification does not require submission of a new marketing application and FDA disagrees with the decision, we may be required to submit new 510(k) notifications, de novo classification requests, or premarket approval applications and may be required to cease marketing of or to recall the modified devices until marketing authorization is obtained and could additionally be subject to regulatory fines or penalties. Any recall or FDA requirement that we seek additional approvals or clearances could result in significant delays, fines, increased costs associated with modification of a product, loss of revenue and potential operating restrictions imposed by the FDA.
Certain of our software algorithms have been authorized for marketing by FDA as part of our cleared or de novo classified tests. If any of the software that we use in our LDTs or that we make available to third parties is determined by FDA to be non-exempt clinical decision support software, this could impede our ability to offer our tests or distribute our software to third parties and we could incur substantial costs and delays associated with trying to obtain premarket 510(k) clearance, de novo classification, or premarket review and incur costs associated with complying with post-market controls.
If we or our suppliers fail to comply with FDA requirements for production, marketing and post-market monitoring of our products, we may not be able to market our products and services and may be subject to stringent penalties, product restrictions or recall.
Failure to comply with FDA requirements for post-market monitoring of our products may affect the commercialization of our products, therefore adversely affecting our business. The FDA granted the request for de novo classification for Ova1 in September 2009 and cleared Overa in March 2016. Post-market surveillance studies were conducted to further analyze performance of Ova1 and Overa. These studies have been completed and closed with the FDA.
Additionally, if the FDA were to view any of our actions as non-compliant, it could initiate enforcement actions, such as a warning letter and possible imposition of penalties. For instance, we are subject to a number of FDA requirements, including compliance with the FDA’s QSR requirements, which establish extensive requirements for quality assurance and control as well as manufacturing procedures. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in enforcement actions for us or our potential suppliers. Adverse FDA actions in any of these areas could significantly increase our expenses and reduce our revenue. We will need to undertake steps to maintain our operations in line with the FDA’s QSR requirements. Some components of Ova1 and Overa are manufactured by other companies and we are required to ensure that, to the extent that we incorporate those components into our finished Ova1 and Overa products, we use those components in compliance with QSR. Any failure to do so would have an adverse effect on our ability to commercialize the Ova1Plus workflow. Our suppliers that manufacture finished devices at their manufacturing facilities that we use in our products and services are subject to periodic regulatory inspections by the FDA and other federal and state regulatory agencies. Our facility also is subject to FDA inspection. We or our suppliers may not satisfy such regulatory requirements, and any such failure to do so may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our suppliers fail to produce acceptable or sufficient stock, fail to supply stock due to supply shortages, make changes to the design or labeling of their biomarker kits or discontinue production of existing biomarker kits or instrument platforms, we may be unable to meet market demand for OvaSuite products.
The commercialization of our OvaSuite tests depends on the supply of seven different immunoassay kits from third-party manufacturers that run on automated instruments. Failure by any of these manufacturers to produce kits that meet our specifications and pass our quality control measures might lead to back-order and/or loss of revenue due to missed sales and customer dissatisfaction. In addition, if the design or labeling of any kit were to change, continued OvaSuite supply could be threatened since new validation and submission to the FDA for review could be required as a condition of sale. Discontinuation of any of these kits could require identification, validation and submission to FDA of a revised OvaSuite design. Likewise, discontinuation or failure to support or service the instruments may pose risk to ongoing operations.
Changes in healthcare policy could increase our costs and adversely impact sales of and reimbursement for our tests, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
PAMA established a Medicare reimbursement system for clinical laboratories beginning in 2018 that is based on rates paid to laboratories by private payers. The CMS also issued various regulations and guidance to implement PAMA that require certain laboratories to report information on the rates private payers pay them for laboratory tests, including Multianalyte Assays
with Algorithmic Analyses. In addition to these changes, a number of states are also contemplating significant reform of their healthcare reimbursement policies. We expect that there will be additional health reform initiatives by legislators at both the federal and state levels, regulators and third-party payers to reduce costs while expanding individual healthcare benefits. Certain of these changes could impose additional limitations on the rates we will be able to charge for our current and future products or the amounts of reimbursement available for our current and future products from governmental agencies or other third-party payers. We cannot predict whether future healthcare initiatives will be implemented at the federal or state level, or the effect any future legislation or regulation will have on us. Other changes to healthcare laws may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to environmental laws and potential exposure to environmental liabilities.
We are subject to various international, federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations that govern our operations, including the handling and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous wastes, the recycling and treatment of electrical and electronic equipment, and emissions and discharges into the environment. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in costs for corrective action, penalties or the imposition of other liabilities. We are also subject to laws and regulations that impose liability and clean-up responsibility for releases of hazardous substances into the environment. Under certain of these laws and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of property may be liable for the costs to remediate hazardous substances or petroleum products on or from its property, without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or caused, the contamination, as well as incur liability to third parties affected by such contamination. The presence of, or failure to remediate properly, such substances could adversely affect the value and the ability to transfer or encumber such property.
The operation of Aspira Labs requires us to comply with numerous laws and regulations, which is expensive and time-consuming and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and any failure to comply could result in exposure to substantial penalties and other harm to our business.
In June 2014, we launched a clinical laboratory, Aspira Labs, in Texas. Clinical laboratories that perform tests on human subjects in the United States for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease or the assessment of human health must be certified under CLIA and licensed or permitted under applicable state laboratory laws. CLIA is a federal law that regulates the quality of clinical laboratory testing by requiring laboratories to comply with various technical, operational, personnel and quality requirements intended to ensure that the services provided are accurate, reliable and timely. A few states, including New York State, may require that additional quality standards be met and that detailed review of scientific validations and technical procedures for tests occur. In the future, the federal government may change the way that clinical laboratory tests are regulated, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Aspira Labs holds a CLIA Certificate of Accreditation and a state laboratory license or permit in California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. This allows the lab to perform Ova1 and Overa testing (through the Ova1Plus workflow) on a national basis. We are subject to periodic surveys and inspections to maintain our CLIA certification, and such certification is also required to obtain payment from Medicare, Medicaid and certain other third-party payers. Failure to comply with CLIA or state law requirements may result in the imposition of corrective action or the suspension or revocation of our CLIA certification or state licenses. If our CLIA certification or state licenses are suspended or revoked or our right to bill the Medicare and Medicaid programs or other third-party payers is suspended, we would no longer be able to sell our tests, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, no assurance can be given that Aspira Labs’ suppliers or commercial partners will remain in compliance with applicable CLIA and other federal or state regulatory requirements for laboratory operations and testing. Aspira Labs’ facilities and procedures and those of Aspira Labs’ suppliers and commercial partners are subject to ongoing regulation, including periodic inspection by regulatory and other government authorities. The principal sanction under CLIA is suspension, limitation or revocation of a lab’s CLIA certificate. CMS also may impose the following alternative sanctions: (a) directed plan of correction, (b) state onsite monitoring, and/or (c) civil monetary penalty. In addition, the government may bring suit to enjoin any activity of any laboratory that has been found with deficiencies during a survey if CMS has reason to believe that continuation of the activity would constitute a significant hazard to the public health. Finally, criminal sanctions may be imposed on an individual who is convicted of intentionally violating any CLIA requirement.
Our clinical laboratory business is also subject to regulation at both the federal and state level in the United States, as well as regulation in other jurisdictions outside of the United States, including:
Medicare and Medicaid coverage, coding and payment regulations applicable to clinical laboratories;
The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”), and state anti-kickback prohibitions;
the federal physician self-referral prohibition, commonly known as the Stark Law, and state self-referral prohibitions;
the Medicare civil monetary penalty and exclusion penalty;
the Federal False Claims Act civil and criminal penalties and state equivalents;
the federal fraud, waste and abuse laws and state equivalents;
the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, and
the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (“HITECH”).
Many of these laws and regulations prohibit a laboratory from making payments or furnishing other benefits to influence the referral of tests (by physicians or others) that are billed to Medicare, Medicaid or certain other federal or state healthcare programs. The penalties for violation of these laws and regulations may include monetary fines, criminal and civil penalties and/or suspension or exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. Several states have similar laws that may apply even in the absence of government payers. HIPAA and HITECH and similar state laws seek to protect the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information, and penalties for violations of these laws may include required reporting of breaches, monetary fines and criminal or civil penalties.
In 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act and included a section called the “No Surprises Act.” The No Surprises Act prohibits a health care provider from billing a commercially insured patient more than in-network cost-sharing amounts when a service originated from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgery center, even if the provider is out-of-network with the patient’s health plan. It also requires a provider to provide a good faith estimate of expected charges to an uninsured or self-pay patient upon the patient’s request or when a patient schedules a service. Several states have similar laws that aim to protect patients from unexpected health care charges. Civil penalties of up to $10,000 per occurrence can be imposed for knowing violations of the No Surprises Act that are not remediated within a certain timeframe, and states may impose their own penalties for violations of their surprise billing laws.
While we seek to conduct our business in compliance with all applicable laws and develop compliance policies to address risk as appropriate, many of the laws and regulations applicable to us are vague or indefinite and have not been interpreted by governmental authorities or the courts. These laws or regulations also could in the future be interpreted or applied by governmental authorities or the courts in a manner that could require us to change our operations.
Any action brought against us for violation of these or other laws or regulations (including actions brought by private qui tam “whistleblower” plaintiffs), even if successfully defended, could divert management’s attention from our business, damage our reputation, limit our ability to provide services, decrease demand for our services and cause us to incur significant expenses for legal fees and damages. If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could suffer significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, fines, recoupment of funds received by us, exclusion from participation in federal or state healthcare programs, and the loss of various licenses, accreditations, certificates and authorizations necessary to operate our business , contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement. We also could potentially incur additional liabilities from third-party claims. If any of the foregoing were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
We have significant net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards as of December 31, 2023 which are subject to a full valuation allowance due to our history of operating losses. Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Section 382”), as well as similar state provisions restrict our ability to use our NOL carryforwards to offset taxable income due to ownership change limitations that have occurred in the past or that could occur in the future. These ownership changes also may limit the amount of tax credit carryforwards that can be utilized annually to offset future tax liabilities.
Our pre- 2018 federal NOLs will expire in varying amounts from 2023 through 2037, if not utilized, and can offset 100% of future taxable income for regular tax purposes. Any federal NOLs arising on or after January 1, 2018, can be carried forward indefinitely but such federal NOL carryforwards are permitted to be used in any taxable year to offset only up to 80% of taxable income in such year. Portions of our state NOLs will expire in varying amounts from 2023 through 2037 if not utilized. Our ability to use our NOLs during this period will be dependent on our ability to generate taxable income, and portions of our NOLs could expire before we generate sufficient taxable income.
We believe we have experienced ownership changes in the past for purposes of these limitations, and we estimate that a substantial portion of our existing federal NOL and tax credit carryforwards are subject to annual limitation. Additional issuances or sales of our common stock, and certain other transactions involving our stock that are outside of our control, could cause additional ownership changes. Any current or future limitations on the use of our NOLs or tax credit carryforwards could, depending on the extent of such limitation, result in our retaining less cash during any year in which we have taxable income than we would be entitled to retain if such limitations did not apply, which could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PRODUCT LIABILITY
If we fail to maintain our rights to utilize intellectual property directed to diagnostic biomarkers, we may not be able to offer diagnostic tests using those biomarkers.
One aspect of our business plan is to develop diagnostic tests based on certain biomarkers, which we have the right to utilize through licenses with our academic collaborators, such as the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Medical University of Lodz. In some cases, our collaborators own the entire right to the biomarkers. In other cases, we co-own the biomarkers with our collaborators. If, for any reason, we lose our license to biomarkers owned entirely by our collaborators, we may not be able to use those biomarkers in diagnostic tests. If we lose our exclusive license to biomarkers co-owned by us and our collaborators, our collaborators may license their share of the intellectual property to a third party that may compete with us in offering diagnostic tests, which would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If a third party infringes on our proprietary rights, we may lose any competitive advantage we have as a result of diversion of our time, enforcement costs and the loss of the exclusivity of our proprietary rights.
Our success depends in part on our ability to maintain and enforce our proprietary rights. We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets to protect our technology and brand. We have submitted a number of patent applications covering biomarkers that may have diagnostic or therapeutic utility. Our patent applications may or may not result in additional patents being issued.
If third parties engage in activities that infringe on our proprietary rights, we may incur significant costs in asserting our rights, and the attention of our management may be diverted from our business. We may not be successful in asserting our proprietary patient rights, which could result in our patents being held invalid or a court holding that the competitor is not infringing, either of which may harm our competitive position. We cannot be sure that competitors will not design around our patented technology. We also may not be successful in asserting our proprietary trademark rights, which could result in significant rebranding costs, not being able to obtain a federal trademark registration, or a court holding that the competitor is not infringing, any of which may harm our competitive position. We cannot be sure that competitors will not use a similar mark.
We also rely upon the skills, knowledge and experience of our technical personnel. To help protect our rights, we require all employees and consultants to enter into confidentiality agreements that prohibit the disclosure of confidential information. These agreements may not provide adequate protection for our trade secrets, knowledge or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use or disclosure. If any trade secret, knowledge or other technology not protected by a patent were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated results of operations and financial condition.
If others successfully assert their proprietary rights against us, we may be precluded from making and selling our products or we may be required to obtain licenses to use their technology.
Our success depends on avoiding infringing on the proprietary technologies of others. If a third party were to assert claims that we are violating its patents, we might incur substantial costs defending ourselves in lawsuits against charges of patent infringement or other allegations of unlawful use of another’s proprietary technology. Any such lawsuit may involve considerable management and financial resources and may not be decided in our favor. If we are found liable, we may be subject to monetary damages or an injunction prohibiting us from using the technology. We may also be required to obtain licenses under patents owned by third parties and such licenses may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
If a third party were to assert claims that we are violating its trademarks, we might incur substantial costs defending ourselves in lawsuits against charges of trademark infringement. Any such lawsuit may involve considerable management and financial resources and may not be decided in our favor. If we are found liable, we may be subject to monetary damages or an injunction prohibiting us from using the mark. We may also be required to rebrand or enter into a co-existence agreement with a third party, which may be commercially restrictive or unreasonable.
Our diagnostic efforts may cause us to have significant product liability exposure.
The testing, manufacturing and marketing of medical diagnostic tests entail an inherent risk of product liability claims. Potential product liability claims may exceed the amount of our insurance coverage or may be excluded from coverage under the terms of the policy. We will need to increase our amount of insurance coverage in the future if we are successful at introducing new diagnostic products, and this will increase our costs. If we are held liable for a claim or for damages exceeding the limit of our insurance coverage, we may be required to make substantial payments. This may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Certain of our patent registrations will expire, which may cause us to have significant competition.
Our success depends in part on our ability to own and assert our patent registrations to maintain and enforce our proprietary rights, including defending against infringement actions. We have some patent registrations covering biomarkers that may be expiring, and our strategy to continue to seek protection and file patent applications may or may not result in additional patents being issued.
If any such patent registration is no longer protectable and could be exploited by a competitor, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated results of operations and financial condition.
RISKS RELATED TO THE RESTATEMENT OF OUR 2022 YEAR END FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
We face risks related to the restatement of our previously issued consolidated financial statements and financial information as of and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as well as for the interim financial information as of September 30, 2022 and for the three and nine months then ended (collectively, “the Affected Periods”).
As discussed in the Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements in our Form 10-K/A filed October 26, 2023, we reached a determination to restate certain financial information and related note disclosures in our previously issued consolidated financial statements for the Affected Periods. As a result, we have become subject to a number of additional risks and uncertainties, which may affect investor confidence in the accuracy of our financial disclosures and may raise reputational issues for our business. We expect to continue to face many of the risks and challenges related to the restatement, including the processes undertaken to effect the restatement may not have been adequate to identify and correct all errors in our historical financial statements and, as a result, we may discover additional errors and our financial statements remain subject to the risk of future restatement.
We cannot assure that all of the risks and challenges described above will be eliminated or that general reputational harm will not persist. If one or more of the foregoing risks or challenges persist, our business, operations and financial condition are likely to be materially and adversely affected.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.
As part of the restatement, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. As a result of such material weakness, the restatement, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, or other claims arising from the restatement and the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this Form 10-K, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The restatement of our previously issued financial statements has been time-consuming and expensive and could expose us to additional risks that could materially adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
We have incurred significant expenses, including audit, legal, consulting and other professional fees, in connection with the restatement of our previously issued financial statements and the ongoing remediation of material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. We have implemented and will continue to implement additional processes utilizing existing resources and adding new resources as needed. To the extent these steps are not successful, we could be forced to incur additional time and expense. Our management’s attention has also been diverted from the operation of our business in connection with the restatements and ongoing remediation of material weaknesses in our internal controls.
OPERATIONAL RISKS
Because our business is highly dependent on key executives and employees, our inability to recruit and retain these people could hinder our business plans.
We are highly dependent on our executive officers and certain key employees. Our executive officers and key employees are employed at will by us. Any inability to engage new executive officers or key employees could impact operations or delay or curtail our research, development and commercialization objectives. To continue our research and product development efforts, we need people skilled in areas such as clinical operations, regulatory affairs and clinical diagnostics. Competition for qualified employees is intense. To continue our commercialization objectives and reach our financial and operational goals, we require skilled sales individuals with familiarity in our industry. We have from time to time experienced, and may in the future experience, shortages of certain types of qualified employees.
If we lose the services of any executive officers or key employees, our ability to achieve our business objectives could be harmed, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We have and may continue to experience turnover in certain executive officer and key employee roles.
Business interruptions could limit our ability to operate our business.
Our operations, as well as those of the collaborators on which we depend, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from fire, natural disasters, including earthquakes, weather related supply chain delivery disruptions, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, human error, power shortages, telecommunication failures, international acts of terror, foreign or domestic conflicts, epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and other similar events. Although we have certain business continuity plans in place, we have not established a formal comprehensive disaster recovery plan, and our back-up operations and business interruption insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for losses we may suffer. A significant business interruption could result in losses or damages incurred by us and require us to cease or curtail our operations.
The operation of Aspira Labs and our Aspira Synergy business depends on the effectiveness and availability of our information systems, including the information systems we use to provide services to our customers and to store employee data. If our information technology systems or those third parties upon which we rely or our data, are or were compromised, we could experience adverse consequences resulting from such compromise, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; loss of customers or sales; and other adverse consequences.
In the ordinary course of our business, we and the third parties upon which we rely, process, collect, receive, store, use, transfer, make accessible, and share (collectively, processing) proprietary, confidential, and sensitive data, including personal data (such as health-related data), intellectual property, trade secrets and other sensitive data the Company may process (collectively, sensitive information).
The information systems we use for our Aspira Labs business are comprised of systems we have purchased or developed, our legacy information systems and, increasingly, web-enabled and other integrated information systems. In using these information systems, we may rely on third-party vendors to provide hosting services, where our infrastructure is dependent upon the reliability of their underlying platforms, facilities and communications systems.
As the breadth and complexity of Aspira Labs’ information system grows, we will be increasingly exposed to the risks inherent in maintaining the stability of our legacy systems due to prior customization, attrition of employees or vendors involved in their development, and obsolescence of the underlying technology as well as risks from the increasing number and scope of external data breaches on companies generally. Because certain customers and clinical trials may be dependent upon these legacy systems, we will also face an increased level of risk in maintaining the legacy systems and limited options to mitigate such risk. We are also exposed to risks associated with the availability of all of our information systems, including
discontinued vendor support of legacy systems;
disruption, impairment or failure of data centers, telecommunications facilities or other key infrastructure platforms, including those maintained by third-party vendors;
failures or malfunctions in our internal systems, including our employee data and communications, critical application systems and their associated hardware; and
excessive costs, excessive delays and other deficiencies in systems development and deployment.
Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud, social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks, credential stuffing, credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI, telecommunications failures, and other similar activities or incidents threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our sensitive information and information technology systems, and those of the third parties upon which we rely. Such threats are prevalent and continue to rise, are increasingly difficult to detect, and come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, “hacktivists,” organized criminal threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation states, and nation-state-supported actors. In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect, or infer sensitive information about us from public sources, data brokers, or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position.
The materialization of any of these risks may impede the processing of data, the delivery of databases and services, and the day-to-day management of our Aspira Labs business and could result in the corruption, loss or unauthorized disclosure of
proprietary, confidential or other data. In particular, severe ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, ability to provide our products or services, loss of sensitive data and income, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments. Further, remote work has become more common and has increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as more of our employees utilize network connections, computers and devices outside our premises or network, including working at home, while in transit and in public locations.
Our mitigation efforts to date might not adequately protect us in the event of a system failure, cyber-attack, cyber-breach, data breach or other adverse event. Despite any precautions we take, damage from fire, floods, hurricanes, the outbreak or escalation of war, acts of terrorism, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events at our various computer facilities or those of our third-party vendors could result in interruptions in the flow of data to us and from us to our customers. Corruption or loss of data may result in the need to repeat a trial at no cost to the customer, but at significant cost to us, the termination of a contract or damage to our reputation. As our business continues its efforts to expand globally, these types of risks may be further increased by instability in the geopolitical climate of certain regions, underdeveloped and less stable utilities and communications infrastructure, and other local and regional factors. Additionally, significant delays in system enhancements or inadequate performance of new or upgraded systems could damage our reputation and harm our business.
Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential data, whether through systems failure or employee or distributor negligence, cyber-attacks, fraud or misappropriation, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose customers and, to the extent any such unauthorized disclosure compromises the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information, could also cause us to face sanctions and fines under HIPAA of 1996 as amended by HITECH. Similarly, we have been and expect that we will continue to be subject to attempts to gain unauthorized access to or through our information systems or those we internally or externally develop for our customers, including a cyber-attack by computer programmers and hackers who may develop and deploy viruses, worms or other malicious software programs, process breakdowns, denial-of-service attacks, malicious social engineering or other malicious activities, or any combination of the foregoing. These same risks also apply to Aspira Labs. Successful attacks could result in negative publicity, significant remediation and recovery costs, legal liability and damage to our reputation and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We use AI/ML to assist us in making certain decisions, which is regulated by certain privacy laws. Due to inaccuracies or flaws in the inputs, outputs, or logic of the AI/ML, the model could be biased and could lead us to make decisions that could bias certain individuals (or classes of individuals), and adversely impact their rights, employment, and ability to obtain certain pricing, products, services, or benefits.
Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We cannot be sure that our insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that such coverage will pay future claims.
We selectively explore acquisition opportunities and strategic alliances relating to other businesses, products or technologies. We may not be successful in integrating other businesses, products or technologies with our business. Any such transaction also may not produce the results we anticipate, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We selectively explore and may pursue acquisition and other opportunities to strengthen our business and grow our company. We may enter into business combination transactions, make acquisitions or enter into strategic partnerships, joint ventures or alliances, any of which may be material. The market for acquisition targets and strategic alliances is highly competitive, which could make it difficult to find appropriate merger or acquisition opportunities. If we are required to raise capital by incurring debt or issuing additional equity for any reason in connection with a strategic acquisition or investment, financing may not be available or the terms of such financing may not be favorable to us and our stockholders, whose interests may be diluted by the issuance of additional stock.
The process of integration may produce unforeseen regulatory issues and operating difficulties and expenditures and may divert the attention of management from the ongoing operation of our business and harm our reputation. We may not successfully achieve the integration objectives, and we may not realize the anticipated cost savings, revenue growth and synergies in full or at all, or it may take longer to realize them than expected, any of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Future litigation by or against us could be costly and time-consuming to prosecute or defend.
We are from time to time subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our clients in connection with commercial disputes, employment claims made by current or former employees, and claims brought by third parties alleging infringement of their intellectual property rights. In addition, we may bring claims against third parties for infringement of our intellectual property rights. Litigation may result in substantial costs and may divert our attention and resources, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
An unfavorable judgment against us in any legal proceeding or claim could require us to pay monetary damages. In addition, an unfavorable judgment in which the counterparty is awarded equitable relief, such as an injunction, could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
RISKS RELATED TO OWNING OUR STOCK
We have identified two material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate the material weaknesses, or if we experience additional material weaknesses or other deficiencies in the future, or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, then these material weaknesses could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation of those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Management evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023. Management concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2023, due to two material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting related to multiple design deficiencies.
Internal controls related to the operation of technology systems are critical to maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. As disclosed in Part II, Item 9A, management identified a material weakness related to the operation of internal controls related to information technology general controls (“ITGCs”) that are used to process and record certain revenue and expense transactions and support our financial reporting processes. The internal control around ITGCs resulted in the lack of certain internal controls over these IT systems and over data and reports accumulated in such IT systems.
Management has also identified another material weakness in our revenue recognition process. Specifically, that we did not adequately design and implement our ITGCs over our revenue process. We did not adequately design controls to validate the delivery of the lab results to ordering physicians to ensure that revenue is being appropriately recognized.
While there can be no assurance that our efforts will be successful, we plan to remediate the material weaknesses during fiscal year 2024. Our ability to comply with the annual internal control report requirements will depend on the effectiveness of our financial reporting and data systems and controls across our company. To effectively manage our IT environment and financial reporting environment, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial, and management controls, and our reporting systems and procedures.
We have had to restate our previously issued consolidated financial statements as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. Additional material weaknesses could result in a misstatement of our account balances or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements that would not be prevented or detected. To remediate the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to the design of controls for system implementations, we have and will continue to update the design and review of controls for system implementations, continue to leverage internal expertise in systems implementation for the design of controls, and work with qualified external advisors to support these efforts. To remediate the material weakness in certain internal controls over financial reporting that were not performed timely in connection with the year-end close and reporting process to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the consolidated financial statements, including significant, non-routine or complex transactions, we have and will continue to implement new procedures and testing for review of our accounting treatment of contracts. To remediate the material weakness in the design and implementation of our control activities over our revenue process, including effectively identifying all relevant IT applications and systems supporting the process, we have and will continue to implement controls around the rigor of the review process and retention of evidence over the review process and the identification of relevant IT applications and systems. We intend to continue to improve our operational, financial, and management controls, and our reporting systems and procedures, in order to remediate the material weaknesses.
There can be no assurance that the measures we have taken to date, and are continuing to implement, will be sufficient to remediate the material weaknesses we have identified or avoid potential future material weaknesses. If the steps we take do not correct the material weaknesses in a timely manner, we will be unable to conclude that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, there could continue to be a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
If we fail to remediate our existing material weaknesses or identify new material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner, if we are unable to conclude that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, or, when applicable, our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected. As a result of such failures, we could also become subject to investigations by The Nasdaq Stock Market, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, and become subject to litigation from investors and stockholders, which could harm our reputation and financial condition or divert financial and management resources from our regular business activities.
If we fail to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq minimum listing requirements, our common stock will be subject to delisting. Our ability to publicly or privately sell equity securities and the liquidity of our common stock could be adversely affected if our common stock is delisted.
The continued listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market require, among other things, that the Market Value of Listed Securities be at least $35 million pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (“MVLS Requirement”). On July 11, 2023, we received a deficiency letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market stating that we were not in compliance with the MVLS Requirement. In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(C), Nasdaq provided us with 180 calendar days, or until January 8, 2024, to regain compliance with the MVLS Requirement. On September 12, 2023, we received notice from Nasdaq that we have regained compliance. There is no assurance that we will maintain compliance with the MVLS Requirement or any of the other Nasdaq continued listing requirements.
Delisting from the Nasdaq Capital Market could adversely affect our ability to raise additional financing through the public or private sale of equity securities, would significantly affect the ability of investors to trade our securities and would negatively affect the value and liquidity of our common stock. Delisting could also have other negative results, including the potential loss of confidence by employees, the loss of institutional investor interest and fewer business development opportunities.
Unless our common stock continues to be listed on a national securities exchange it will become subject to the so-called “penny stock” rules that impose restrictive sales practice requirements.
If we are unable to maintain the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market or another national securities exchange, our common stock could become subject to the so-called “penny stock” rules if the shares have a market value of less than $5.00 per share. The SEC has adopted regulations that define a penny stock to include any stock that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions, including an exception for stock traded on a national securities exchange. The SEC regulations impose restrictive sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors. For transactions covered by this rule, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must have received the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to sale. This means that if we are unable to maintain the listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange, the ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary market could be adversely affected. If a transaction involving a penny stock is not exempt from the SEC’s rule, a broker-dealer must deliver a disclosure schedule relating to the penny stock market to each investor prior to a transaction. The broker-dealer also must disclose the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and its registered representative, current quotations for the penny stock, and, if the broker-dealer is the sole market-maker, the broker-dealer must disclose this fact and the broker-dealer’s presumed control over the market. Finally, monthly statements must be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the customer’s account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.
The liquidity and trading volume of our common stock may be low, and our ownership is concentrated, which could adversely impact the trading price of our common stock and our stockholders’ ability to obtain liquidity.
The liquidity and trading volume of our common stock has at times been low in the past and may again be low in the future. If the liquidity and trading volume of our common stock is low, this could adversely impact the trading price of our common stock and our stockholders’ ability to obtain liquidity in their shares of our common stock. Our stock issuances since May 2013 have primarily involved a significant issuance of stock to a limited number of investors, significantly increasing the concentration of our share ownership in a few holders.
According to publicly available information, we estimate that a total of five investors beneficially own approximately 40.0% of our outstanding common stock.
In addition, pursuant to a stockholders agreement we entered into in connection with a May 2013 private placement, one of our stockholders has the right to designate a director to be nominated by us to serve on our Board of Directors, and the stockholder has not exercised this right for 2023.
Furthermore, this stockholder agreement gives two investors the right to participate in future equity offerings, on the same terms as other investors. In addition, the stockholders agreement prohibits us from taking certain material actions without the consent of at least one of the primary investors in the May 2013 private placement. These material actions include:
making any acquisition with a value greater than $2 million;
offering, selling or issuing securities senior to our common stock or any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for securities ranking senior to our common stock;
taking any action that would result in a change in control of the company or an insolvency event; and
paying or declaring dividends on any of our securities or distributing any of our assets other than in the ordinary course of business or repurchasing any of our outstanding securities.
The foregoing rights terminate for a primary investor when that investor ceases to beneficially own less than 50% of the shares and warrants (taking into account shares issued upon exercise of the warrants), in the aggregate, that were purchased at the closing of the 2013 private placement. We believe that the rights of one of the primary investors have so terminated.
As a result of the foregoing, a limited number of stockholders will be able to affect the outcome of, or exert significant influence over, all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors and any change in control involving us. In addition, this concentration of ownership of our common stock could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of us or otherwise discouraging or preventing a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of us. This, in turn, could have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock. It could also prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over the market prices for their shares of common stock. Moreover, the interests of this concentration of ownership may not always coincide with our interests or the interests of other stockholders. In addition, the interests of the parties to the stockholders agreement could conflict with or differ from our interests or the interests of other stockholders. The concentration of ownership also contributes to the low trading volume and volatility of our common stock.
Our stock price has been, and may continue to be, highly volatile.
The trading price of our common stock has been highly volatile. During the 12 months ended December 31, 2023, the closing trading price of our common stock ranged from a high of $8.70 per share to a low of $2.40 per share. The trading price of our common stock could continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in price in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
failure to significantly increase revenue and volumes of OvaSuite or Aspira Synergy;
actual or anticipated period-to-period fluctuations in financial results;
failure to achieve, or changes in, financial estimates by securities analysts;
announcements or introductions of new products or services or technological innovations by us or our competitors;
failure to complete clinical studies that validate clinical utility sufficiently to increase positive medical policy among payers at large;
publicity regarding actual or potential discoveries of biomarkers by others;
comments or opinions by securities analysts or stockholders;
the inclusion of our common stock in stock market indices such as the Russell 3000 Index;
conditions or trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology or life science industries;
announcements by us of significant acquisitions and divestitures, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
developments regarding our patents or other intellectual property or that of our competitors;
litigation or threat of litigation;
additions or departures of key personnel;
limited daily trading volume;
our ability to continue as a going concern;
economic and other external factors, disasters or crises; and
our announcement of future fundraisings.
In addition, the stock market in general and the market for diagnostic technology companies, in particular, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry factors may adversely affect the market price of our common
stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted. A securities class action suit against us could result in substantial costs, potential liabilities and the diversion of our attention and our resources.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter, bylaws, other agreements and under Delaware law could make a third-party acquisition of the Company difficult.
Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire, control of us, even if a change of control might be deemed beneficial to our stockholders. Such provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for our securities. Our certificate of incorporation eliminates the right of stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders or to act by written consent without a meeting, and our bylaws require advance notice for stockholder proposals and director nominations, which may preclude stockholders from bringing matters before an annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at an annual meeting of stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation authorizes undesignated preferred stock, which makes it possible for our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could adversely affect the voting power of holders of common stock. In addition, the likelihood that the holders of preferred stock will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control.
In connection with our private placement offering of common stock and warrants in May 2013 we entered into a stockholders agreement (the “2013 Stockholders Agreement”) which, among other things, includes agreements limiting our ability to effect a change in control without the consent of at least one of the primary investors in that offering. These and other provisions may have the effect of deferring hostile takeovers or delaying changes in control or management of us. The amendment of any of the provisions of either our certificate of incorporation or bylaws described in the preceding paragraph would require not only approval by our board of directors and the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of our then outstanding voting securities, but also consent pursuant to the terms of the 2013 Stockholders Agreement. We are also subject to certain provisions of Delaware law that could delay, deter or prevent a change in control of the Company. These provisions could make a third-party acquisition of the Company difficult and limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.
Because we do not intend to pay dividends, our stockholders will benefit from an investment in our common stock only if it appreciates in value.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business and do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. As a result, the success of an investment in our common stock will depend entirely upon any future appreciation. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which our stockholders purchased their shares.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Risk Management and Strategy
We have implemented and maintain various information security processes designed to identify, assess and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats to our critical computer networks, third party hosted services, communications systems, hardware and software, and our critical data, including intellectual property, confidential information that is proprietary, strategic or competitive in nature, and trade secrets, data we may collect about trial participants in connection with clinical trials, sensitive third-party data, business plans, transactions, and financial information (“Information Systems and Data”).
Our cybersecurity function, which comprises, in part, our IT department, legal team, human resources team and our audit committee, helps identify, assess and manage our cybersecurity threats and risks. Our cybersecurity function identifies and assesses risks from cybersecurity threats by monitoring and evaluating our threat environment using various methods including, for example, automated tools, subscribing to and analyzing reports and services that identify cybersecurity threats, conducting vulnerability assessments to identify vulnerabilities, and evaluating threats reported to us.
Depending on the environment, we implement and maintain various technical, physical, and organizational measures and processes designed to manage and mitigate material risks from cybersecurity threats to our Information Systems and Data, including, for example: incident detection and response, data encryption, network security controls, employee training, access controls, physical security, systems monitoring, and asset management, tracking, and disposal.
Our assessment and management of material risks from cybersecurity threats are integrated into our overall risk management processes. For example, the cybersecurity function works with management to prioritize our risk management processes and mitigate cybersecurity threats that are more likely to lead to a material impact to our business.
We use third-party service providers to assist us from time to time to identify, assess, and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats, including for example professional services firms (including legal counsel) and cybersecurity consultants. We also use third-party service providers to perform a variety of functions throughout our business, such as hosting companies, application providers, and supply chain resources. We manage cybersecurity risks associated with our use of these providers by, for example, requesting and analyzing responses on a security questionnaire and conducting audits and risk assessments on certain vendors. In particular, our legal department performs an assessment on each vendor and based on certain criteria will have our IT team perform a security assessment.
For a description of the risks from cybersecurity threats that may materially affect the Company and how they may do so, see our risk factors under Part 1. Item 1A. Risk Factors in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including “The operation of Aspira Labs and our Aspira Synergy business depends on the effectiveness and availability of our information systems, including the information systems we use to provide services to our customers and to store employee data, and failures of these systems, including in connection with cyber-attacks, may materially limit our operations or have an adverse effect on our reputation.”
Governance
Our board of directors addresses our cybersecurity risk management as part of its general oversight function. The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing our cybersecurity risk management processes, including oversight and mitigation of risks from cybersecurity threats.
Our cybersecurity risk assessment and management processes are implemented and maintained by certain members of our management, including our Manager of IT Infrastructure, who has over 20 years of experience in various IT administration roles, five of which have been in cybersecurity.
Our HR department is responsible for hiring appropriate personnel, helping to integrate cybersecurity risk considerations into our overall risk management strategy, and communicating key priorities to relevant personnel. Our CFO, working with our Manager of IT Infrastructure, is responsible for approving budgets, helping prepare for cybersecurity incidents, approving cybersecurity processes, and reviewing security assessments and other security-related reports. Our legal department is also responsible for performing a cyber risk assessment on each new vendor.
Our response process to cybersecurity incidents is designed to escalate certain incidents to members of management depending on the circumstances, including our Manager of IT Infrastructure. Our Manager of IT Infrastructure works with our incident response team to help us to mitigate and remediate cybersecurity incidents of which they are notified. In addition, our incident response policy includes reporting to the board of directors committee responsible for certain cybersecurity incidents.
The Audit Committee receives periodic reports from our cybersecurity function concerning our significant cybersecurity threats and risk and the processes we have implemented to address them. The Audit Committee also has access to various reports, summaries or presentations related to cybersecurity threats, risk and mitigation.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
The following chart indicates the facilities that we lease, the location and size of each facility and its designated use. We believe that these facilities are suitable and adequate for our current needs.
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Location | Approximate Square Feet | Primary Functions | Lease Expiration Date |
Austin, Texas | 4,218 sq. ft. | Aspira Labs facility, research and development, clinical and regulatory and administrative offices | February 28, 2027 |
Shelton, Connecticut | 4,614 sq. ft. | Administrative offices | September 30, 2028 |
Palo Alto, California | 2,714 sq. ft. | Administrative offices | May 31, 2024 |
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings and regulatory proceedings arising out of our operations. We establish reserves for specific liabilities in connection with legal actions that we deem to be probable and estimable. As of the date of the filing of this Form 10-K, we are not a party to any proceeding, the adverse outcome of which would have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “AWH.”
Holders of Common Stock
On March 28, 2024, there were 40 registered holders of record of our common stock. The closing price of our common stock on March 28, 2024 was $3.10.
Dividends
We have never paid or declared any dividend on our common stock and we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. If we pay a cash dividend on our common stock, we also may be required to pay the same dividend on an as-converted basis on any outstanding warrants or other securities. Moreover, any preferred stock or other senior debt or equity securities to be issued and any future credit facilities might contain restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends on our common stock. We intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
Information about our equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K
Stock Performance Graph
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information required under this item.
ITEM 6. [Reserved]
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with our audited Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes thereto, included on pages F-1 through F-29 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The statements below contain forward-looking statements based upon current plans, expectations, and beliefs that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, due to a number of factors, including those discussed in the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K. You should read these sections carefully.
Overview
We are dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of noninvasive, AI-powered tests to aid in the diagnosis of gynecologic diseases.
We plan to broaden our focus to the differential diagnosis of other gynecologic diseases that typically cannot be assessed through traditional non-invasive clinical procedures. We expect to continue commercializing our existing and new technology and to distribute our tests through our decentralized technology transfer service platform, Aspira Synergy. We also intend to continue to raise public awareness regarding the diagnostic superiority of the Ova1Plus workflow as compared to CA-125 on its own for all women with adnexal masses, as well as the superior performance of machine learning algorithms in detecting ovarian cancer in different racial and ethnic populations. We plan to continue to expand access to our tests among Medicaid patients as part of our corporate mission to make the best care available to all women, and we plan to advocate for legislation and the adoption of our technology in professional society guidelines to provide broad access to our products and services.
We are focused on commercializing our products and have established medical and advisory support and a Key Opinion Leader Network aligned with our territories in the U.S. In addition, we added to our direct salesforce, and in 2021, we put Ova1 on our global testing platform, Aspira Synergy. This platform allows tests to be deployed internationally as well as run by clients in the United States at major customer sites. In 2024, we plan to continue our efforts to commercialize the Ova1Plus workflow by utilizing select partnerships for distribution and expanding our managed care coverage and contracts in select markets.
We plan to develop additional diagnostic algorithms utilizing proteins and molecular markers to boost predictive value. OvaWatch, our first series of LDT algorithms was designed to be launched in two phases. We launched the first phase in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a single use point in time test. Phase II, which is planned for launch in the second quarter of 2024, has been designed to improve the effectiveness of ongoing monitoring of lower risk adnexal masses. We believe the patient population for the single-use product could be more than three times greater than the patient population for the Ova1Plus workflow and that the longitudinal monitoring test may expand that larger patient application.
We expect that our second diagnostic algorithm, EndoCheck, will be an aid in the diagnosis of endometriomas. We are currently evaluating the potential commercial application and appropriate launch timeline of EndoCheck.
To continue our commercialization objectives and reach our financial and operational goals, we require skilled sales individuals with familiarity in our industry. We have from time to time experienced, including as a result of labor shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, and may in the future experience, shortages of certain types of qualified employees.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, Basis for Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in conformity with GAAP. Preparation of the financial statements requires us to make critical judgments, estimates, and assumptions that affect the amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial statements and revenues and expenses during the reporting periods (and related disclosures). We believe the policies discussed below are our critical accounting estimates, as they include the more significant, subjective, and complex judgments and estimates made when preparing our consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize product revenue in accordance with the provisions of ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”); all revenue is recognized upon completion of the OvaSuite or Aspira GenetiX tests based on estimates of amounts that will ultimately be realized. In determining the amount to accrue for a delivered test result, we consider factors such as historical payment history and amount, payer coverage, whether there is a reimbursement contract between the payer and us, and any current developments or changes that could impact reimbursement. These estimates are subject to uncertainty and require
significant judgment by management because of the various inputs of the factors considered. We also review our patient account population and determine an appropriate distribution of patient accounts by payer (i.e., Medicare, patient pay, other third-party payer, etc.) into portfolios with similar collection experience. When evaluated for collectability, this results in a materially consistent revenue amount for such portfolios as if each patient account were evaluated on an individual contract basis.
Stock-Based Compensation
We record the fair value of non-cash stock-based compensation costs for stock options and stock purchase rights related to the 2010 and 2019 Plans. We estimate the fair value of stock options using a Black-Scholes option valuation model. This model requires the input of subjective assumptions including expected stock price volatility, expected life and estimated forfeitures of each award. We use the straight-line method to amortize the fair value over the vesting period of the award. These assumptions consist of estimates of future market conditions, which are inherently uncertain, and therefore are subject to management’s judgment.
The expected life of options is based on historical data of our actual experience with the options we have granted and represents the period of time that the options granted are expected to be outstanding. This data includes employees’ expected exercise and post-vesting employment termination behaviors. The expected stock price volatility is estimated using our historical volatility in deriving the expected volatility assumption. We made an assessment that our historic volatility is most representative of future stock price trends. The expected dividend yield is based on the estimated annual dividends that we expect to pay over the expected life of the options as a percentage of the market value of our common stock as of the grant date. The risk-free interest rate for the expected life of the options granted is based on the United States Treasury yield curve in effect as of the grant date.
There is inherent uncertainty in our forecasts and projections and, if we had made different assumptions and estimates than those described previously, the amount of our stock-based compensation expense, net loss and net loss per common stock amounts could have been materially different.
Liquidity
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, we have incurred significant net losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception, and as a result have an accumulated deficit of approximately $518,303,000 at December 31, 2023. We expect to incur a net loss in 2024 as well. In order to continue our operations as currently planned through 2024 and beyond, we will need to raise additional capital. Given the above conditions, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis and do not include any adjustments that might result from these uncertainties.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The information set forth in Note 2 in our consolidated financial statements contained in Part II, Item 8, “Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is hereby incorporated by reference.
Results of Operations – Year Ended December 31, 2023 as compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
Our selected summary financial and operating data for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 were as follows:
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|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
| Year Ended |
|
| |||||||
|
| December 31, |
| Increase (Decrease) | |||||||
(dollars in thousands) |
| 2023 |
| 2022 |
| Amount |
| % | |||
Revenue: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Product |
| $ | 9,153 |
| $ | 7,970 |
| $ | 1,183 |
| 15 |
Genetics |
|
| 1 |
|
| 214 |
|
| (213) |
| (100) |
Total revenue |
|
| 9,154 |
|
| 8,184 |
|
| 970 |
| 12 |
Cost of revenue: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Product |
|
| 3,892 |
|
| 3,694 |
|
| 198 |
| 5 |
Genetics |
|
| - |
|
| 167 |
|
| (167) |
| - |
Total cost of revenue |
|
| 3,892 |
|
| 3,861 |
|
| 31 |
| 1 |
Gross profit |
|
| 5,262 |
|
| 4,323 |
|
| 939 |
| 22 |
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research and development |
|
| 4,035 |
|
| 5,917 |
|
| (1,882) |
| (32) |
Sales and marketing |
|
| 7,812 |
|
| 14,915 |
|
| (7,103) |
| (48) |
General and administrative |
|
| 12,267 |
|
| 14,629 |
|
| (2,362) |
| (16) |
Total operating expenses |
|
| 24,114 |
|
| 35,461 |
|
| (11,347) |
| (32) |
Loss from operations |
|
| (18,852) |
|
| (31,138) |
|
| 12,286 |
| (39) |
Other income (expense), net: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
|
| 629 |
|
| 1,704 |
|
| (1,075) |
| (63) |
Interest income, net |
|
| 48 |
| |||||||