UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

☐ REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR 12(g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☐ SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of event requiring this shell company report

Commission File Number: 001-41636

OCULIS HOLDING AG

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Bahnhofstrasse 7

CH-6300

Zug, Switzerland

(Address of principal executive offices)

Riad Sherif, MD

EPFL Innovation Park, Bat D 3e Route J-D.

Colladon, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

+41-41-711-9325

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual company report: 36,649,705 Ordinary Shares and 4,254,138 Warrants to purchase Ordinary Shares.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item17 ☐ Item18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEFINED TERMS

In this Annual Report:

“2023 Plan” means the Stock Option and Incentive Plan Regulation 2023 of the registrant.

“Acquisition Closing” means the closing of the First Merger, Second Merger and Oculis Share Contribution related to the Business Combination.

“Acquisition Closing Date” means March 2, 2023, the date upon which the Acquisition Closing occurred.

“Ancillary Agreements” means the Business Combination Agreement (together with the Oculis Disclosure Letter and the EBAC Disclosure Letter), the Subscription Agreements, the Convertible Loan Agreements, the Sponsor Support Agreement, the Non-Redemption Agreement, the Confidentiality Agreement, dated as of February 22, 2022, by and between Oculis and EBAC, the Oculis Shareholders Support Agreement and when entered into at the Acquisition Closing, the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement and the Warrant Assignment and Assumption Agreement.

“Annual Report” means this annual report of Oculis on Form 20-F.

“Business Combination” means the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, including the Mergers and the Oculis Share Contribution.

“Business Combination Agreement” means the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of October 17, 2022, as may be amended from time to time, by and among EBAC, Legacy Oculis, and Oculis.

“Closing” means the consummation of the Business Combination, which occurred on March 2, 2023.

“Closing Date” means March 2, 2023, the date upon which the Closing occurred.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

“Company” means the legal entity named Oculis Holding AG, individually or together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

“Company Share Capital” has the meaning ascribed to such term in the Business Combination Agreement.

“Continental” means Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the transfer agent and warrant agent of EBAC and the Company.

“Convertible Loan Agreements” means the convertible loan agreements, dated as of October 17, 2022 and January 20, 2023 (as amended and restated on February 22, 2023), by and among Oculis and certain lenders party thereto.

“EBAC” means European Biotech Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company.

“EBAC Class A Common Stock” means Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of EBAC.

“EBAC Class B Common Stock” or “Founder Shares” means Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of EBAC.

“EBAC Common Stock” means EBAC Class A Common Stock and EBAC Class B Common Stock.

“EBAC Disclosure Letter” means that certain disclosure letter delivered to Oculis by EBAC on the date of the Business Combination Agreement.

“EBAC Private Placement Warrant” means a warrant to purchase one share of EBAC Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 issued to the Sponsor.

“EBAC Public Warrant” means a warrant to purchase one share of EBAC Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 that was included in the units sold as part of EBAC’s initial public offering.

“EBAC Shareholders” means the shareholders of EBAC as of any applicable determination time prior to the Acquisition Closing.

“EBAC Share Redemption” means the election of an eligible (as determined in accordance with EBAC’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) holder of shares of EBAC Class A Common Stock to redeem all or a portion of the shares of EBAC Class A Common Stock held by such holder in return for the right to receive a per-share price, payable in cash by Oculis, equal to a pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in the Trust Account (including any interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account) (as determined in accordance with EBAC’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) in connection with the Business Combination. The redeemed shares of EBAC Class A Common Stock shall be held in treasury for re-issuance to new investors.

“EBAC Share Redemption Amount” means the aggregate amount payable by Oculis with respect to all EBAC Share Redemptions.

“EBAC Warrants” means the EBAC Public Warrants and the EBAC Private Placement Warrants.

“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

“Exchange Agent” means Continental, which was selected by Oculis, Legacy Oculis and EBAC to act on behalf of EBAC, EBAC Shareholders, Oculis and Oculis Shareholders.

“Exchange Agent Contribution” means the contribution by the Exchange Agent of Surviving EBAC Shares to the Company.

“Exchange Agent Contribution Actions” means the distribution by the Exchange Agent of Ordinary Shares and Warrants to the holders of Surviving EBAC Shares and Surviving EBAC Warrants, respectively.

“Existing Warrant Agreement” means the Warrant Agreement, dated March 15, 2021, between EBAC and the Exchange Agent, as warrant agent.

“First Merger” means when Merger Sub 1 merged with and into EBAC, with EBAC as the surviving company.

“First Merger Effective Time” means the time at which the First Merger became effective pursuant to the filing and registration of the plan of merger with the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies or at such later time as may be agreed by Oculis and Legacy Oculis in writing and specified in such plan of merger.

“IFRS” means IFRS Accounting Standards as adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board.

“Initial PIPE Financing” means the private placement pursuant to which the Initial PIPE Investors subscribed for EBAC Class A Common Stock, for a subscription price of $10.00 per share.

“Initial PIPE Investors” means the institutional investors that committed to subscribe for EBAC Class A Common Stock in the Initial PIPE Financing.

“Initial Subscription Agreements” means the subscription agreements, each dated as of October 17, 2022, by and among EBAC and the Initial PIPE Investors party thereto.

“Legacy Oculis” means Oculis SA, a stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft), which was incorporated in Lausanne, Switzerland on December 11, 2017, individually or together with its consolidated subsidiaries, which together with its consolidated subsidiaries formed the Oculis group prior to the Closing.

“Lenders” means those certain Oculis Shareholders party to the Convertible Loan Agreements pursuant to which, among other things, such Oculis Shareholders agreed to grant Oculis a right to receive a convertible loan with certain conversion rights in an aggregate amount of $19,670,000.

“Mergers” means the two consecutive mergers between Merger Sub 1 and EBAC, and EBAC and Merger Sub 2, EBAC, after which Merger Sub 1 ceased to exist and Merger Sub 2 was the surviving company.

“Merger Sub 1” means Oculis Merger Sub I Company, a Cayman Islands exempted company that was a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Oculis prior to the Acquisition Closing.

“Merger Sub 2” means Oculis Merger Sub II Company, a Cayman Islands exempted company that is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Oculis.

“Merger Sub 3” means Oculis Operations GmbH, a limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) incorporated and existing under the laws of Switzerland that is a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Oculis.

“Nasdaq” means the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.

“New Parent Interests” means the Ordinary Shares and Warrants which were held by the Exchange Agent solely on behalf of holders of Surviving EBAC Shares and Surviving EBAC Warrants.

“Oculis” means as the context requires, (a) the registrant, a legal entity named Oculis Holding AG, a stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) incorporated and existing under the laws of Switzerland having its registered office at Bahnhofstrasse 7, CH-6300, Zug, Switzerland, individually or together with its consolidated subsidiaries; or (b) Legacy Oculis.

“Oculis Disclosure Letter” means that certain disclosure letter delivered to EBAC by Oculis on the date of the Business Combination Agreement.

“Oculis Shareholders” means, collectively, the holders of shares of Company Share Capital as of any applicable determination time prior to the Acquisition Closing.

“Oculis Shareholders Support Agreement” means that certain agreement entered into concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of October 17, 2022, by and among Oculis, EBAC and the Oculis Shareholders party thereto.

“Oculis Share Contribution” means the contribution by the Oculis Shareholders of the full legal and beneficial ownership of the applicable Company Share Capital to Oculis.

“Ordinary Shares” means ordinary shares, nominal value CHF 0.01 per share of Oculis.

“PIPE Financing” means the Initial PIPE Financing and the Subsequent PIPE Financing, pursuant to which the PIPE Investors subscribed for EBAC Class A Common Stock, for a subscription price of $10.00 per share.

“PIPE Investors” means the Initial PIPE Investors and the Subsequent PIPE Investors.

“PIPE Shares” means the shares of EBAC Class A Common Stock purchased by the PIPE Investors and transferred to them by EBAC from treasury.

“Public Warrant” means a warrant to purchase an Ordinary Share at an exercise price of $11.50 originally issued as an EBAC Public Warrant.

“Private Placement Warrant” means a warrant to purchase an Ordinary Shares at an exercise price of $11.50 originally issued to Sponsor as an EBAC Private Placement Warrant.

“Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement” means the Amended and Restated Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement, dated as of the Acquisition Closing Date, by and among Oculis, Sponsor and certain Legacy Oculis Shareholders.

“SEC” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Second Merger” means when EBAC merged with and into Merger Sub 2, with Merger Sub 2 as the surviving company.

“Second Merger Effective Time” means the time at which the Second Merger became effective pursuant to the filing and registration of the plan of merger with the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies or at such later time as may be agreed by Oculis and Legacy Oculis in writing and specified in such plan of merger.

“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“Share Cancellation” means the cancellation of the Ordinary Shares held by EBAC concurrently with the Exchange Agent Contribution.

“Sponsor” means LSP Sponsor EBAC B.V. a Dutch limited liability company.

“Sponsor Support Agreement” means the Sponsor Support Agreement, dated October 17, 2022, by and among EBAC, Oculis and Sponsor.

“Subscription Agreements” means the Initial Subscription Agreements and the Subsequent Subscription Agreements.

“Subsequent PIPE Financing” means the private placement pursuant to which the Subsequent PIPE Investors subscribed for EBAC Class A Common Stock, for a subscription price of $10.00 per share.

“Subsequent PIPE Investors” means the institutional investors that committed to subscribe for EBAC Class A Common Stock in the Subsequent PIPE Financing.

“Subsequent Subscription Agreements” means the subscription agreements, entered into in January 2023, by and among EBAC and the Subsequent PIPE Investors party thereto.

“Surviving EBAC Shares” means EBAC Common Stock, including those held by the PIPE Investors, automatically converted into one class of common stock of EBAC, as the surviving company of the First Merger.

“Surviving EBAC Warrants” means EBAC Warrants outstanding immediately prior to the First Merger Effective Time automatically converted into warrants of EBAC, as the surviving company of the First Merger.

“Swiss Code of Obligations” means the Swiss Federal Act on the Amendment of the Swiss Civil Code of March 30, 1911.

“Third Merger” means when Legacy Oculis merged with and into Merger Sub 3, with Merger Sub 3 as the surviving company and wholly owned subsidiary of Oculis.

“Third Merger Effective Time” means the time at which the Third Merger became effective pursuant to the filing and the registration of the plan of merger in accordance with the provisions of the Swiss Code of Obligations or at such later time as may be agreed by Oculis and Legacy Oculis in writing and specified in such plan of merger.

“Transfer Agent” means Continental.

“Trust Account” means that certain trust account with Continental, as trustee, containing the cash proceeds of EBAC from its initial public offering and private placement of securities (and all accrued interest earned thereon), deposited therein for the benefit of EBAC and EBAC’s public shareholders.

“Warrant Agreement Assumption” means the assignment by EBAC of all its right, title and interest in the Existing Warrant Agreement to the Company and the acceptance by Company of such assignment.

“Warrant Assignment and Assumption Agreement” means the Warrant Assignment and Assumption Agreement entered into among EBAC, the Company and the Exchange Agent, which became effective immediately following the completion of the Exchange Agent Contribution and concurrent Share Cancellation.

“Warrant” means a right to acquire Ordinary Shares, on substantially the same terms as an EBAC Warrant.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Unless context otherwise requires, all references in this Annual Report on Form 20-F (“Annual Report”) to “Oculis,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Oculis and, where appropriate, its consolidated subsidiaries. Unless otherwise stated or unless the context otherwise requires, references to “Oculis” or the “Company” are to the registrant named “Oculis Holding AG” and its subsidiaries after the consummation of the Business Combination, whereas references to “Legacy Oculis” are to Oculis SA and its subsidiaries prior to the Closing.

This Annual Report includes trademarks, trade names and service marks, certain of which belong to us and others that are the property of other organizations. Solely for convenience, trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this Annual Report appear without the ®, ™ and SM symbols, but the absence of those symbols is not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert our rights or that the applicable owner will not assert its rights to these trademarks, trade names and service marks to the fullest extent under applicable law. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, trade names or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 20-F (the “Annual Report”) contains or may contain forward-looking statements as defined in 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”), that involve significant risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include information about our possible or assumed future results of operations or our performance. Words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “targets”, “possible,” “project,” and “predict” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may include, for example, statements about:

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this Annual Report, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in deciding to invest in our securities. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, our actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should refer to the section titled “Item 3.D Risk Factors” for a discussion of important factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, if our forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this Annual Report.

PART I

Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers.

Not applicable.

Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable.

Not applicable.

Item 3. Key Information.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

An investment in our securities carries a significant degree of risk. In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 20-F, including the matters addressed under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements,” you should carefully consider the following risk factors in deciding whether to invest in our securities. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may have a material adverse effect relating to our business, financial condition, and results of operations and future prospects, in which event the market price of our securities could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are not presently aware or that we currently deem immaterial could also affect our business operations and financial condition.

Summary Risk Factors

Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. You should carefully review and consider the full discussion of our risk factors in this section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 3.D. of this Annual Report. Set forth below is a summary list of the principal risk factors as of the date of the filing of this Annual Report:

Risk Factors

Risks related to our business, financial condition, capital requirements, or financial operations

We have a very limited operating history and no products approved for commercial sale, which may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and predict our future success and viability.

We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in novel therapeutics to treat ophthalmic diseases. We commenced operations in October 2003 and formed Legacy Oculis in December 2017, have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. Drug development is a highly uncertain undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. To date, we have not obtained marketing approval for any product candidates, manufactured a commercial scale product, or conducted sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization.

Our limited operating history as a company and early stage of drug development make any assessment of our future success and viability subject to significant uncertainty. We will encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies in rapidly evolving fields, and we have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome such risks and difficulties. If we do not address these risks and difficulties successfully, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects may be impaired.

We have incurred significant net losses in each period since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant and increasing net losses for the foreseeable future.

We have incurred net losses in each reporting period since our inception, including net losses of CHF 88.8 million and CHF 38.7 million for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, we had accumulated losses of CHF 199.8 million.

We have invested significant financial resources in research and development activities, including for our product candidates. We do not expect to generate revenue from product sales in the foreseeable future, if at all. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the level of our future expenditures and our ability to generate revenue. Moreover, our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance quarter to quarter or year to year due to factors including the timing of clinical trials, any litigation that we may file or that may be filed against us, the execution of collaboration, licensing or other agreements and the timing of any payments we make or receive thereunder.

We expect to continue to incur significant and increasingly higher expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:

Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our shareholders’ deficit and working capital. In any particular quarter or quarters, our operating results could be below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which could cause the share price of Ordinary Shares to decline.

As of December 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term financial assets of CHF 91.7 million. We believe that these cash, cash equivalents and short-term financial assets will be sufficient to enable us to fund our current operations for at least the next twelve months.

Drug development is a highly uncertain undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We have never generated any revenue from product sales, and we may never generate revenue or be profitable.

We have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. We do not anticipate generating any revenue from product sales until after we have successfully completed clinical development and received regulatory approval for the commercial sale of a product candidate, if ever.

Our ability to generate revenue, alone or with strategic collaboration, and achieve profitability depends significantly on many factors, including:

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with drug development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of our expenses, or when we will be able to generate any meaningful revenue or achieve or maintain profitability, if ever. In addition, our expenses could increase beyond our current expectations if we are required by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies to perform studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate, or if there are any delays in any of our or our future collaborators’ clinical trials or the development of any of our product candidates. Even if one or more of our product candidates is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate and ongoing compliance efforts.

Even if we are able to generate revenue from the sale of any approved products, we may not become profitable, and we will need to obtain additional funding through one or more debt or equity financings in order to continue operations. Revenue from the sale of any product candidate for which regulatory approval is obtained will be dependent, in part, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval, the accepted price for the product, the ability to get reimbursement at any price and whether we own the commercial rights for that territory. If the number of addressable patients is not as significant as we anticipate, the indication approved by regulatory agencies is narrower than we expect, or the reasonably accepted population for treatment is narrowed by competition, physician choice or treatment guidelines, we may not generate significant revenue from sales of such products, even if approved. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis.

Our failure to become and remain profitable could decrease the value of our Company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our research and development efforts, diversify our pipeline of product candidates or continue our operations and cause a decline in the value of Ordinary Shares, all or any of which may adversely affect our viability.

Our operating and financial results are subject to concentration risk.

Our operational and financial results are subject to concentration risk. Our success will depend significantly on the development of OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) and OCS-05, their regulatory approval in a limited number of jurisdictions and their commercialization by a limited number of commercial partners. Even if we are successful in developing and commercializing all of these products, our revenue may be dependent on a limited number of products that would account for a significant majority of our revenues. This concentration risk would increase to the extent we are successful in developing and commercializing fewer products as we would be dependent on a lower number of products for the significant majority of our revenues. Unfavorable changes or the non-occurrence of certain anticipated events with respect to any of these limited number of products, jurisdictions or commercial partners may disproportionately affect our global results.

If we fail to obtain additional financing, we may be unable to complete the development and, if approved, commercialization of our product candidates.

Our operations have required substantial amounts of cash since inception. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity securities. Developing our product candidates is expensive, and we expect to substantially increase our spending as we advance our product candidates in clinical trials. Even if we are successful in developing our product candidates, obtaining regulatory approvals and launching and commercializing any product candidate will require substantial additional funding.

As of December 31, 2023, we had CHF 91.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term financial assets. Although we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term financial assets will be sufficient to fund our projected operations through at least the next 12 months, our estimate as to how long we expect our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term financial assets to fund our operations is based on assumptions that may prove inaccurate, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. In addition, changing circumstances may cause us to increase our spending significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more money than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. We may need to raise additional funds sooner than we anticipate if we choose to expand more rapidly than we presently foresee.

We will require additional capital for the further development and, if approved, commercialization of our product candidates. Additional capital may not be available when we need it, on terms acceptable to us or at all. We have no committed source of additional capital. If adequate capital is not available to us on a timely basis, we may be required to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue our research and development programs or the commercialization of any product candidates, if approved, or be unable to continue or expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, as desired, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and cause the price of Ordinary Shares to decline.

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

We are highly dependent on the research and development, clinical and business development expertise of our chief executive officer as well as other principal members of our management, scientific and clinical team. Although we have entered into employment agreements with our executive officers, each of them may terminate their employment with us at any time.

Laws and regulations on executive compensation, including legislation in our home country, Switzerland, may restrict our ability to attract, motivate and retain the required level of qualified personnel. In Switzerland, legislation affecting public companies is in force that, among other things, (i) imposes an annual binding shareholders’ “say on pay” vote with respect to the compensation of our executive committee and board of directors, (ii) generally prohibits severance, advances, transaction premiums and similar payments to members of our executive committee and board of directors, and (iii) requires companies to specify certain compensation-related matters in their articles of association, thus requiring them to be approved by a shareholders’ vote.

Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our success. The loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives and seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business strategy. Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key employees may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to successfully develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize products. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these key personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific, medical, clinical and regulatory advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth strategy will be limited.

We will continue to incur significant expenses and devote other significant resources and management time as a result of being a public company, which may negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

We will continue to incur significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses as a result of being a public company. The rules implemented by the SEC, Nasdaq and Swiss corporate law require changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. We expect that compliance with these laws, rules and regulations will continue to substantially increase our expenses as a result of being a public company, including our legal, accounting and information technology costs and expenses, and make some activities more time consuming and costly. These obligations require attention from our executive officers and senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business. These laws, rules and regulations and the move from a private to a public company has made, and we expect will continue to make, it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. Due to increased risks and exposure it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as officers. As a result of the foregoing, we expect to continue to experience a substantial increase in legal, accounting, insurance and certain other expenses in the future, which will negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of Ordinary Shares, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation, which could adversely impact our business, results of operation, financial condition and the price of Ordinary Shares.

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

As of December 31, 2023, we had 36 employees. Additionally, we may rely on a number of temporary workers and contractors from time-to-time as needed. As our development and commercialization plans and strategies develop, we expect to need additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing, financial, legal and other resources. Our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of our attention away from our day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. In addition, our success depends on our ability to attract and retain a talented workforce with a specialized set of skills. Our expected growth could also require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of our current and potential future product candidates. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize product candidates and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2022 requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected.

If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner, or if we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal controls, we may not be able to produce timely and accurate financial statements. If that were to happen, the market price of our common stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities.

Economic, financial, geopolitical, epidemiological, or other conditions could result in business disruptions which could seriously harm our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.

Concerns over inflation, geopolitical issues, conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, the U.S. financial markets, foreign exchange rates, capital and exchange controls, unstable global credit markets and financial conditions, post-COVID-19 economic environment, supply chain disruptions and economic issues, have led to periods of significant economic instability, declines in consumer confidence and discretionary spending, diminished expectations for the global economy and expectations of slower global economic growth going forward, and increased unemployment rates. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturns, volatile business environments and continued unstable or unpredictable economic and market conditions. If these conditions continue to deteriorate or do not improve, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to complete, more costly and more dilutive. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current or future service providers, manufacturers, suppliers and other partners could be negatively affected by difficult economic times, which could adversely affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget or meet our business and financial objectives.

Our operations, and those of our contract research organizations (“CROs”), contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”), suppliers, and other third-party contractors and consultants upon which we rely, could be subject to wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, power shortages or outages, floods or monsoons, public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, political crises, such as terrorism, war (including trade wars), political instability or other conflicts, and other natural or man-made disasters or other events outside of our control that could disrupt our business.

In addition, our available cash, cash equivalents and investments (short-term financial assets) are held in accounts managed by third party financial institutions and consist of cash in our operating accounts and cash invested in money market funds. At any point in time, the funds in our U.S. operating accounts may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limits. While we monitor the cash balances in our operating accounts and adjust the cash balances as appropriate, these cash balances could be impacted if the underlying financial institutions fail. Our active treasury strategy is to minimize risk through natural hedging of currencies, bank diversification and cash preservation. To date, we have experienced no loss or lack of access to cash in our operating accounts or our invested cash, cash equivalents or investments; however, we can provide no assurances that access to our operating cash or invested cash, cash equivalents or investments will not be impacted by adverse conditions in the financial markets.

The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. For example, we rely on third-party manufacturers to produce our product candidates. Our ability to obtain supplies of our product candidates, or other necessary supplies, could be disrupted if the operations of our suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption. Damage or extended periods of interruption to our corporate, development or research facilities due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, communications failure, unauthorized entry or other events could cause us to cease or delay the marketing or development of some or all of our product candidates. Although we maintain property damage and business interruption insurance coverage, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be seriously harmed should the losses we suffer as a result of such property damage and/or business interruption substantially exceed our insurance coverage and we are required to make up for this shortfall.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations would suffer in the event of computer system failures, security breaches or other disruptions to our information technology systems.

In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store and transmit sensitive data, including protected health information (“PHI”), intellectual property, proprietary business information and other personal information. We rely on information technology systems, networks and services, some of which are managed, hosted or provided by third parties, to assist in conducting our business. While we have not previously experienced a security breach or computer failure resulting in destruction, theft, or other loss of this information, and we and our service providers have implemented a number of security measures designed to protect against security breaches, these measures could fail or may be insufficient, resulting in the unauthorized disclosure, modification, misuse, unavailability, destruction, or loss of confidential information or personal information we collect, store and transmit. Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems, and those of our contract research organizations ("CROs"), and other third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to attack, damage or interruption from computer viruses,

unauthorized access, cyberattacks, employee theft or misuse, human error, hacking, fraud, natural disasters, fire, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures.

Cyberattacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity. Cyberattacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, “phishing attacks”, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. The use of cloud-based computing also creates opportunities for the unintentional dissemination or intentional destruction of confidential information stored in our or our third-party providers’ systems, portable media or storage devices. Furthermore, we may also face increased cybersecurity risks due to our reliance on internet technology and the number of our employees who are working remotely, which may create additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities.

Significant disruptions of our information technology systems or security breaches could adversely affect our business operations and/or result in the loss, misappropriation, and/or unauthorized access, use or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, confidential information (including trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information), and could result in financial, legal, business and reputational harm to us. If such disruptions were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our product development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed, ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Despite our efforts to ensure the security, privacy, integrity, confidentiality, availability, and authenticity of our information technology networks and systems, processing and information, we may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive and remedial measures against all data security and privacy threats. We cannot guarantee that the recovery systems, security protocols, network protection mechanisms and other security measures that we or our third-party providers have integrated into our or their systems, networks and physical facilities, which are designed to protect against, detect and minimize security breaches will be adequate to prevent or detect service interruption, system failures, data loss or theft, or other material adverse consequences. No security solution, strategy, or measures can address all possible security threats or block all methods of penetrating a network or otherwise perpetrating a security incident. The risk of unauthorized circumvention of our security measures has been heightened by advances in computer and software capabilities and the increasing sophistication of hackers who employ complex techniques, including without limitation, the theft or misuse of personal and financial information, counterfeiting, “phishing” or social engineering, ransomware, extortion, publicly announcing security breaches, account takeover attacks, denial or degradation of service attacks, malware, fraudulent payment and identity theft. Furthermore, because the techniques used to sabotage, disrupt or to obtain unauthorized access to our systems, networks, or physical facilities in which data is stored or through which data is transmitted change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we or our third-party providers may be unable to implement adequate preventative measures or stop security breaches while they are occurring. We or our third-party providers may also experience security breaches that may remain undetected for an extended period. Even if identified, we or our third-party providers may be unable to adequately investigate or remediate incidents or breaches due to attackers increasingly using tools and techniques that are designed to circumvent controls, to avoid detection, and to remove or obfuscate forensic evidence, or we or our third-party providers may be unable to repair our or their systems in an efficient and timely manner. In addition, laws, regulations, government guidance, and industry standards and practices are rapidly evolving to combat these threats, including new rules and regulations of the SEC. We expect to face increased compliance burdens regarding such requirements from regulators and incur additional costs for oversight and monitoring of security risks relating to our own supply chain.

If we or our third-party providers were to experience a significant cybersecurity breach of our or their information systems or data, the costs associated with the investigation, remediation and potential notification of the breach to counterparties and data subjects could be material. Unauthorized access to our systems, networks, or physical facilities could result in litigation with our customers or other relevant stakeholders, which may adversely affect our business. These proceedings could force us to spend money in defense or settlement, divert management’s time and attention, increase our costs of doing business, or adversely affect our reputation.

Further, we may not have adequate insurance coverage for security incidents or breaches, including fines, judgments, settlements, penalties, costs, attorney fees and other impacts that arise out of incidents or breaches. Depending on the facts and circumstances of such an incident, the damages, penalties and costs could be significant and may not be covered by insurance or could exceed our applicable insurance coverage limits. If the impacts of a security incident

or breach, or the successful assertion of one or more large claims against us, exceeds our available insurance coverage, or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), it could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms, or at all, or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to all or part of any future claim or loss.

Further, the number of our employees and partners working remotely increases the risk of a data breach or issues with data and cybersecurity. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the further development of our future product candidates could be delayed.

We are subject to numerous laws, regulations, standards and other requirements related to personal information, privacy and data protection. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such laws, regulations, standards and other requirements could negatively affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The global data protection landscape is rapidly evolving, and we are subject to numerous federal, state and foreign laws, regulations, standards and other requirements governing the collection, use, disclosure, retention and security of personal information, such as information that we may collect in connection with clinical trials in the United States and abroad. Implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and we cannot yet determine the impact future laws, regulations, standards or requirements may have on our business. This evolution may create uncertainty in our business, affect our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions or to collect, store, transfer, use and share personal information, necessitate the acceptance of more onerous obligations in our contracts, result in liability or impose additional costs on us. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal, state or foreign laws or regulations, our internal or external policies and procedures or our contracts governing our processing of personal information could result in negative publicity, government investigations, enforcement actions, claims by third parties or damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy laws, and consumer protection laws and regulations that govern the collection, processing, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners. For example, in the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) imposes among other things, certain standards relating to the privacy, security, transmission and breach reporting of individually identifiable health information. Entities that are found to be in violation of HIPAA, whether as the result of a breach of unsecured PHI, a complaint about privacy practices, or an audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative fines and penalties and/or additional reporting and oversight obligations if required to enter into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with HHS to settle allegations of HIPAA non-compliance. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to penalties if we violate HIPAA.

Even when HIPAA does not apply, according to the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business, and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. Individually identifiable health information is considered sensitive data that merits stronger safeguards.

In addition, certain state laws govern the privacy and security of health-related and other personal information in certain circumstances, some of which may be more stringent, broader in scope or offer greater individual rights with respect to protected health information than HIPAA, many of which may differ from each other, thus, complicating compliance efforts. Such laws and regulations will be subject to interpretation by various courts and other governmental authorities, thus creating potentially complex compliance issues for us and our future customers and strategic partners. Failure to comply with these laws, where applicable, can result in the imposition of significant civil and/or criminal penalties and private litigation. For example, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act, (“CCPA”), which creates individual privacy rights for California consumers, including the right to opt out of certain disclosures of their information, and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling certain personal data of consumers or households and may apply to us in the future. The CCPA provides for civil penalties

for violations and also creates a private right of action with statutory damages for certain data breaches, thereby potentially increasing risks associated with a data breach. Further, the majority of the provisions of the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"), went into effect on January 1, 2023 and additional compliance investment and potential business process changes may be required. The CRPA significantly amends the CCPA and imposes additional data protection obligations on covered businesses, including additional consumer rights processes, limitations on data uses, new audit requirements for higher risk data, and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It also creates a new California data protection agency authorized to issue substantive regulations and could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. The CCPA and CPRA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the U.S., as other states or the federal government may follow California’s lead and increase protections for U.S. residents, which creates the potential for a patchwork of overlapping but different state laws and could increase our potential liability and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The enactment of such laws could add layers of complexity to compliance in the U.S. market, increase our compliance costs and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, we are subject to international data protection laws and regulations, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation and applicable national supplementing laws ("GDPR"), which may apply to health-related and other personal information obtained outside of the United States. The GDPR imposes strict requirements for collection, control, sharing, disclosure, transfer, use and other processing of the personal data of individuals located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including clinical trial data, as well as potential fines for noncompliant companies. The GDPR also imposes strict requirements relating to obtaining consent, providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities, implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data, providing notification of data breaches, taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors. Compliance with the GDPR may increase our cost of doing business or require us to change our business practices, and despite those efforts, there is a risk that we may be subject to fines and penalties, litigation, and reputational harm in connection with our activities carried out in the context of our EEA operations.

Recent legal developments in Europe have created complexity and uncertainty regarding transfers of personal data from the EEA to the United States. On July 16, 2020, in a case known as Schrems II, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU"), invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework under which personal data could be transferred from the EEA to U.S. entities who had self-certified under the Privacy Shield scheme. While the CJEU upheld the adequacy of the Standard Contractual Clauses (a standard form of contract approved by the European Commission as an adequate personal data transfer mechanism, and potential alternative to the Privacy Shield), it made clear that reliance on them alone may not necessarily be sufficient in all circumstances. Use of the standard contractual clauses must now be assessed on a case-by-case basis taking into account the legal regime applicable in the destination country, in particular applicable surveillance laws and rights of individuals and additional measures and/or contractual provisions may need to be put in place. Additionally, new Standard Contractual Clauses that repealed the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted under the Data Protection Directive have been adopted by the European Commission. As supervisory authorities issue further guidance on personal data export mechanisms, including on the new Standard Contractual Clauses, and/or start taking enforcement action, we could suffer additional costs, complaints and/or regulatory investigations or fines, and/or if we are otherwise unable to transfer personal data between and among countries and regions in which we conduct clinical trials, it could affect our business. U.S. President Joseph Biden and the President of the European Commission announced on March 25, 2022 that they had reached an agreement in principle for a Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, which would allow personal data to flow freely and safely between the EU and participating U.S. companies. To that end, U.S. President Joseph Biden signed the Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguard for United States Signals Intelligence Activities ("EO"), on October 7, 2022. The EO answers to certain shortcomings identified by the EU but it does not yet allow for the free transfers of personal data to the United States. Organizations must continue to implement a valid compliance mechanism for cross-border data transfers, such as the Standard Contractual Clauses, and conduct an assessment of the U.S. laws prior to transferring personal data to the United States. As the EO introduces safeguards for U.S. intelligence services’ access to European personal information, certain supplementary measures that have been implemented and are linked to these practices could be softened and the overall risk associated to the data transfer could be lowered. A new EU-U.S. data transfer framework is not yet available.

Relatedly, following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EEA and the EU, we are required to comply with both the GDPR and, separately, the UK GDPR, which, together with the amended UK Data Protection Act 2018, retains the GDPR in UK national law. The UK GDPR sets out the UK-specific requirements related to data protection,

including with respect to transfer of personal data outside of the UK, which increases our regulatory compliance burden. Further, in July 2022, the UK government published a Data Reform Bill that will amend the UK GPDR. This creates uncertainty with regard to the data protection regulatory regime in the United Kingdom and could result in the introduction of data privacy laws that materially deviate from the EU GDPR. This would expose us to two parallel regimes. Further, the entry into force of the US-UK Data Access Agreement on 3 October 2022 may put at risk the European Commission’s adequacy decision granted to the UK. If such adequacy decision were to be withdrawn, personal data would not flow freely between the UK and the EU and additional safeguards would need to be adopted, which could result in additional costs for us.

Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our legal obligations concerning privacy, data protection or information security could result in claims by data subjects, governmental investigations and enforcement action against us, including fines, enforcement orders, imprisonment of company officials and public censure, (individual and collective) claims for damages by affected individuals and damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results. Companies that must comply with the GDPR and UK GDPR face increased compliance obligations and risk, including more robust regulatory enforcement of data protection requirements and potential fines for noncompliance of up to €20 million or 4.0% of the annual global revenues of the noncompliant company, whichever is greater, litigation (including private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests), regulatory investigations, enforcement actions that require us to change the way we use personal data, and/or prohibitions on the use of personal data. Such penalties may be in addition to any civil litigation claims by data subjects. We may not be successful in avoiding potential liability or disruption of business resulting from the failure to comply with these laws and, even if we comply with laws, we may be subject to liability because of a security incident. Further, complying with the applicable notification requirements in the event of a security breach could result in significant costs. Furthermore, future interpretations of existing data protection laws or regulations could be inconsistent with our current interpretations, increase our compliance burden, make it more difficult to comply, and/or increase our risk of regulatory investigations and fines.

EU data protection laws also require opt-in consent to send marketing emails or use cookies and similar technologies for advertising, analytics and other purposes – activities on which our marketing strategies may rely. Enforcement of these requirements has increased and a new regulation that has been proposed in the EU, known as the Privacy Regulation, may make these requirements more stringent and increase the penalties for violating them. Such restrictions could increase our exposure to regulatory enforcement action, increase our compliance costs, and adversely affect our business. The relationship between the UK and the EU in relation to certain aspects of data protection law remains unclear, and it is unclear how UK data protection laws and regulations will develop in the medium to longer term, and how data transfers to and from the UK will be regulated in the long term. These changes will lead to additional costs and increase our overall risk exposure. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision permitting flows of personal data between the EU and the UK to continue without additional requirements. However, the UK adequacy decision will automatically expire in June 2025 unless the European Commission re-assesses and renews or extends that decision and remains under review by the European Commission during this period.

Additionally, we contract with, and are accountable for, third-party service providers we engage to process personal data on our behalf, including our CROs. We cannot assure you that our service providers with access to our or our customers’, suppliers’, trial patients’ and employees’ personal information, including health data and other sensitive or confidential information, will not breach contractual obligations imposed by us, or that they will not experience data security breaches or attempts thereof. If they were to breach their contractual obligations or experience a security incident, such event could have an adverse effect on our business, including putting us in breach of our obligations under privacy laws and regulations, which could in turn adversely affect our business, financial conditions and results of operations. We cannot assure you that our contractual measures and our own privacy and security-related safeguards will protect us from the risks associated with the third-party processing, storage and transmission of such information.

The Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection ("DPA") also applies to the collection and processing of personal data by companies located in Switzerland, or in certain circumstances, by companies located outside of Switzerland. The DPA, which was revised along with its ordinances, with effect per September 1, 2023 may lead to an increase in our costs of compliance, risk of noncompliance and penalties for noncompliance.

In addition to data privacy and security laws, we may be contractually subject to industry standards adopted by industry groups and may become subject to such obligations in the future. We may also be bound by other contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful.

We may publish privacy policies, marketing materials, and other statements, such as compliance with certain certifications or self-regulatory principles, regarding data privacy and security. If these policies, materials or statements are found to be deficient, lacking in transparency, deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our practices, we may be subject to investigation, enforcement actions by regulators, or other adverse consequences.

Compliance with applicable United States and foreign data protection, privacy and security laws, regulations and standards could require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts, require us to engage in costly compliance exercises, restrict our ability to collect, use and disclose data, or in some cases, impact our ability, or our that of our partners or suppliers, to operate in certain jurisdictions. Each of these constantly evolving laws can also be subject to varying interpretations. Any failure or perceived failure to comply could result in government investigations and enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), fines, private litigation, and/or adverse publicity, and could negatively affect our operating results and business. Moreover, patients about whom we or our partners obtain information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, may contractually limit our ability to use and disclose the information. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights, failed to comply with data protection laws, or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business.

We may not realize the benefits of acquired assets or other strategic transactions.

We evaluate various strategic transactions on an ongoing basis. We may acquire other businesses, products or product candidates, intellectual property, or technologies as well as pursue joint ventures or investments in complementary businesses. The success of any potential future strategic transaction depends on various risks and uncertainties, including:

Foreign acquisitions and joint ventures are subject to additional risks, including those related to regulatory or compliance issues, integration of operations across different cultures and languages, currency risks, potentially adverse tax consequences of overseas operations, and the particular economic, political, and regulatory risks associated with specific countries.

Future acquisitions or dispositions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, or amortization expenses or write-offs of goodwill, any of which could harm our financial condition. We could also incur losses resulting from undiscovered liabilities that are not covered by the indemnification we may obtain from the seller.

For existing in-licensed or future in-license product candidates or products or acquire businesses, we may not be able to realize the benefit of those transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations

and company culture. We cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve the results, revenue, or specific net income that justifies the transaction. Future acquisitions or dispositions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, or amortization expenses or write-offs of goodwill, any of which could harm our financial condition.

We could be subject to securities class action litigation.

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because biopharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.

Risks related to development and regulatory approval of our investigational therapies

The success of our product candidates, and our ability to generate revenue in the future, will depend upon a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control.

The success of our business, including our ability to finance and generate revenue in the future, primarily depends on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) and OCS-05. The clinical and commercial success of our product candidates depend on a number of factors, including the following:

The sizes of the market opportunities for our product candidates have not been established with precision and may be smaller than we estimate, possibly materially. If we overestimate the sizes of these markets, our sales growth may be adversely affected. We may also not be able to grow the markets for our product candidates as intended or at all.

Our assessment of the potential market opportunity the product candidates that we develop is based on industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties and our own internal epidemiology and market research studies. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe these industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies are reliable, we have not independently verified such data. Similarly, although the studies we have conducted are based on information that we believe to be complete and reliable, we cannot guarantee that such information is accurate or complete. The potential market opportunities of our product candidates are difficult to precisely estimate. Therefore, our estimates of the potential market opportunities for our product candidates include several key assumptions based on our industry knowledge, industry publications, third-party research and our own epidemiology studies and market research, which may be based on a small sample size and fail to accurately reflect market opportunities. While we believe that our internal assumptions and the bases of the studies and research we have conducted are reasonable, no independent source has verified such assumptions or bases. If any of our assumptions or estimates, or these publications, research, surveys or studies prove to be inaccurate, then the actual market for our product candidates may be smaller than we expect, and as a result our product revenue may be limited and it may be more difficult for us to achieve or maintain profitability.

Our future growth may depend, in part, on our ability to penetrate foreign markets, where we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and other risks and uncertainties.

Our future profitability may depend, in part, on our ability to commercialize our product candidates in foreign markets where we lack familiarity with local regulations, environment and procedures and for which we may rely on collaboration with third parties. We are evaluating the opportunities for the development and commercialization of our product candidates in other foreign markets. We are not permitted to market or promote any of our product candidates before we receive regulatory approval from the applicable regulatory authority in that foreign market, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for any of our product candidates. To obtain separate regulatory approvals in other countries we may be required to comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of such countries regarding the safety and efficacy of our product candidates and governing, among other things, clinical trials and commercial sales, pricing and distribution of our product candidates, and we cannot predict success in these jurisdictions. If we obtain approval of our product candidates and ultimately commercialize our product candidates in foreign markets, we would be subject to additional risks and uncertainties, including:

Our approach to the treatment of retinal disease with OCS-01 is unproven, and we do not know whether we will be able to successfully develop OCS-01.

OCS-01 is designed to deliver therapeutic drug levels to the retinal tissue by a topical route of administration as an eye drop formulation. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies that treat retinal diseases by a topical route of administration. Our future success partially depends on the successful development of OCS-01 which is based on this novel therapeutic approach. We have not yet obtained marketing approval of any product candidate. In Stage 2 of our DIAMOND Phase 3 clinical trial in Diabetic Macular Edema ("DME") and in OPTIMIZE-2 Phase 3 clinical trial in inflammation and pain following cataract surgery, OCS-01 may not demonstrate in patients any or all of the pharmacological benefits we believe it may possess. If we are unsuccessful in our development efforts, we may not be able to advance the development and commercialization of OCS-01.

Our potential approach to use OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) for the treatment of dry eye disease in patients identified with a biomarker is unproven, and we do not know whether we will be able to successfully confirm the role of the biomarker and successfully develop OCS-02.

OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) is in development for treating ophthalmic diseases including dry eye disease. One of our potential strategies for OCS-02 is also to develop it for patients identified with a biomarker to predict patients that may respond well to OCS-02 treatment. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies that treat dry eye disease in this “precision medicine” approach. If we choose to utilize this biomarker strategy, then our future success partially depends on the successful development of both OCS-02 and a companion diagnostic for the biomarker and our ability to demonstrate that patients with that biomarker are likely to respond well to OCS-02 treatment. We have not yet demonstrated efficacy and safety for OCS-02 or any other product candidates in patients with or without a biomarker in a pivotal trial or obtained marketing approval of any of our product candidates. OCS-02 may not demonstrate in patients with or without the biomarker any or all of the pharmacological benefits we believe it may possess. If we are unsuccessful in our development efforts, we may not be able to advance the development and commercialization of OCS-02.

Our approach to the treatment of ophthalmic disease with OCS-05 is unproven, and we do not know whether we will be able to successfully develop OCS-05.

OCS-05 is intended to prevent or reverse nerve damage (“neuroprotection”) in ophthalmic diseases in which patients lose vision due to nerve damage. There are currently no FDA-approved therapies that treat ophthalmic diseases in this “neuroprotective” way. Our future success partially depends on the successful development of OCS-05 which is based on this novel therapeutic approach. We have not yet demonstrated efficacy and safety for OCS-05 or any other product candidates in a pivotal trial or obtained marketing approval of any product candidate. OCS-05 may not demonstrate in patients any or all of the pharmacological benefits we believe it may possess. If we are unsuccessful in our development efforts, we may not be able to advance the development and commercialization of OCS-05.

We in-licensed OCS-05 from Accure in 2022. Accure was previously unable to establish a no-observed-adverse-effect-level (“NOAEL") for the product candidate. If our studies do not satisfy the FDA’s requirements, OCS-05 may not receive clearance from the FDA to proceed with human clinical trials, may never receive clearance from the FDA to proceed with human clinical trials and may never receive regulatory approval from the FDA, and we may be unable to market and commercialize OCS-05 in the United States.

We have not yet successfully completed any Phase 3 clinical trials, received any marketing approvals or commercialized any pharmaceutical products, which may make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects.

Our operations to date have been limited to financing and staffing our company, developing our technology and conducting preclinical research as well as Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials for our product candidates. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully complete Phase 3 clinical trials, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale product or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Accordingly, you should consider our prospects in light of the costs, uncertainties, delays and difficulties frequently encountered by clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies such as ours. Any predictions made about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.

We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known or unknown factors in achieving our business objectives. We will eventually need to transition from a company with a development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.

We depend significantly on our product candidates, OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) and OCS-05, which are being developed for the treatment of multiple diseases. If we are unable to complete the clinical development of any of these product candidates, if we are unable to obtain marketing approvals for any of these product candidates, or if any of these product candidates are approved and we fail to successfully commercialize the product candidate or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

We depend significantly on the success of our lead product candidate, OCS-01, which we are developing for the treatment of patients with DME, for the treatment of patients with pain or inflammation following ocular surgery and for the treatment of patients with Cystoid Macular Edema ("CME"). In addition, we also depend on the success of OCS-02, which we are developing for the treatment of Dry Eye Disease ("DED") and non-infectious anterior uveitis and on the success of OCS-05, which we are initially developing for the treatment of Acute Optic Neuropathy ("AON").

We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of OCS-01 for the treatment of patients with DME as well as for the treatment of patients with pain or inflammation following ocular surgery. There remains a significant risk that we will fail to successfully develop OCS-01 in one or both of these indications. The results of our first Phase 3 clinical trials in each indication may not be predictive of the results of our Stage 2 Phase 3 clinical programs due, in part, to the fact that (i) we have no clinical data on OCS-01 therapy in DME in any clinical trial with treatment longer than 12 weeks, (ii) we have modified the methodology used to determine a patient’s eligibility under certain of the inclusion and exclusion criteria for our Phase 3 clinical trial as compared to our Phase 2 clinical trial, (iii) we have no clinical data from a trial of similar size to that anticipated for our Phase 3 clinical trial, and (iv) we plan to conduct our Phase 3 clinical trials at many clinical centers that were not included in our Phase 2 clinical trial. The results of our first Phase 3 clinical trial (“DIAMOND trial”) for DME may not be

predictive of the results of the planned Stage 2 Phase 3 clinical trials (“DIAMOND-1 and DIAMOND-2”). The results of our first Phase 3 clinical trial (“OPTIMIZE-1”) for the treatment of inflammation and pain following cataract surgery may not be predictive of the results of the second Phase 3 clinical trial (“OPTIMIZE-2”). Furthermore, despite consultation with regulatory agencies, no assurance can be provided that the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies would consider the completed and planned Phase 3 DIAMOND clinical trials to be sufficient to serve as the basis for approval in DME, or that the completed and planned Phase 3 OPTIMIZE trials for inflammation and pain following cataract surgery will be adequate to support a New Drug Application (NDA) submission, with such a final determination only made by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies following review of the NDA.

We cannot accurately predict when or if any of our product candidates will prove effective or safe in humans or whether these product candidates will receive marketing approval. Our ability to generate product revenues sufficient to achieve profitability will depend heavily on our obtaining marketing approval for and commercializing OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) or OCS-05.

The success of OCS-01, OCS-02, OCS-05 and other product candidates will depend on many factors, including:

If we do not achieve one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize our product candidates, which would materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

The results of previous clinical trials may not be predictive of future results, and the results of our current and planned clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies.

The results from the prior preclinical studies and clinical trials for OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) and OCS-05 may not necessarily be predictive of the results of future preclinical studies or clinical trials. Even if we are able to complete our planned clinical trials of our product candidates according to our current development timelines, the results from our prior clinical trials of our product candidates may not be replicated in these future trials. Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries (including those with greater resources and experience than us) have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials after achieving positive results in early-stage development, and we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, preclinical findings made while clinical trials were underway or safety or efficacy observations made in clinical trials, including previously unreported adverse events. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials nonetheless have failed to obtain FDA or non-U.S.-regulatory authority approval. If we fail to produce positive results in our clinical trials of any of our product candidates, the development timelines, regulatory approvals and commercialization prospects for our product candidates, as well as our business and financial prospects, would be adversely affected. For example, in May 2023, we announced topline data for Stage 1 of the DIAMOND Phase 3 clinical trial of OCS-01 in DME and in August 2023, we announced topline data from the OPTIMIZE Phase 3 clinical trial of OCS-01 in cataract surgery. Although OCS-01 met the primary and secondary endpoints in Stage 1 of the DME trial with robust statistical significance, there is no guarantee that these results will be replicated in Stage 2, which is the pivotal part of the trial. Similarly, although OCS-01 met both hierarchical primary endpoints of the OPTIMIZE trial, there is no guarantee that these results will be replicated in the second Phase 3 OPTIMIZE-2 trial that we are conducting.

Further, our product candidates may not be approved even if they achieve their respective primary endpoints in Phase 3 registration trials. The FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies may disagree with our trial designs or our interpretation of data from preclinical studies and clinical trials. In addition, any of these regulatory agencies may change requirements for the approval of a product candidate even after reviewing and providing comments or advice on a protocol for a pivotal clinical trial that has the potential to result in approval by the FDA or another regulatory agency. Furthermore, any of these regulatory agencies may also approve our product candidates for fewer or more limited indications than it requests or may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials.

Some of our clinical data results come from previous trials of less than 100 patients each, including a Phase 2a clinical trial of OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) for the treatment of DED, a Phase 2a clinical trial of OCS-02 for the treatment of non-infectious anterior uveitis, and a Phase 1 dose-ranging study of OCS-05 in healthy volunteers, making it difficult to predict whether the favorable results from such trials will be repeatable in larger, more advanced clinical trials. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their products.

We cannot assure you that the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies would consider our completed and planned clinical trials used for an NDA submission or comparable foreign submissions to be sufficient to serve as the basis for approval of our product candidates for any indication. Even if the results of future Phase 3 clinical trials are positive, the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory agencies retain broad discretion in evaluating the results of our clinical trials and in determining whether the results demonstrate that our product candidates are safe and effective. If we are required to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates in addition to those we have planned prior to approval, we will need substantial additional funds, and cannot assure you that the results of any such outcomes trial or other clinical trials will be sufficient for approval.

If we experience any or a number of possible unforeseen events in connection with our clinical trials, potential marketing approval or commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed or prevented.

We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize any product candidate that we may develop, including:

If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates, if the results of these trials or other tests are not favorable or are only modestly favorable or if there are safety concerns, we may:

Our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in testing or marketing approvals. We do not know whether any of our preclinical studies or clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant preclinical or clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates.

We may be required, or choose, to suspend, vary, repeat or terminate our clinical trials if they are not conducted in accordance with regulatory requirements, the results are negative or inconclusive, the trials are not well-designed, or research participants experience adverse safety outcomes.

Regulatory agencies, IRBs, ethics committees or data safety monitoring boards may at any time recommend the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical trials or request that we vary clinical trials or cease using investigators in the clinical trials if they believe that the clinical trials are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, or that they present an unacceptable safety risk to participants. Clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practices ("GCPs") and other applicable non-U.S. regulatory authority guidelines. Clinical trials are subject to oversight by the FDA, non-U.S. regulatory agencies, IRBs and ethics committees at the study sites where the clinical trials are conducted. In addition, clinical trials must be conducted with product candidates produced in accordance with applicable current good manufacturing practices. Clinical trials may be placed on a full or partial clinical hold by the FDA, non-U.S. regulatory agencies, or us for various reasons, including, but not limited to: deficiencies in the conduct of the clinical trials, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or clinical protocols; deficiencies in the clinical trial operations or trial sites; deficiencies in the trial designs necessary to demonstrate efficacy; fatalities or other adverse effects arising during a clinical trial due to medical problems that may or may not be related to clinical trial treatments; the product candidates may not appear to be more effective than current therapies; or the quality or stability of the product candidates may fall below acceptable standards.

If we elect or are forced to suspend, vary or terminate a clinical trial of any of our current or future product candidates, the commercial prospects for that product may be harmed and our ability to generate product revenue from that product may be delayed or eliminated. Furthermore, any of these events could prevent us or our partners from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product and could substantially increase the costs of commercializing our product candidates and impair our ability to generate revenue from the commercialization of these products either by us or by our collaboration partners.

Any additional serious adverse events ("SAEs") could result in the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory agencies delaying our clinical trials or denying or delaying clearance or approval of a product. Even though an adverse effect may not be the result of the failure of our drug candidate, the FDA, non-U.S. regulatory agency, IRB or ethics committee could delay or halt a clinical trial for an indefinite period of time while an adverse effect is reviewed, and likely would do so in the event of multiple such events. Any delay or termination of our current or future clinical trials as a result of the risks summarized above, including delays in obtaining or maintaining required approvals from IRBs, or positive opinions from ethics committees, delays in patient enrollment, the failure of patients to continue to participate in a clinical trial, and delays or termination of clinical trials as a result of protocol modifications or adverse effects during the trials, may cause an increase in costs and delays in the submission of any NDAs, to the FDA, or comparable foreign submissions to non-U.S. regulatory agencies, delay the approval and commercialization of our products or result in the failure of the clinical trial, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Lengthy delays in the completion of clinical trials of our products would adversely affect our business and prospects and could cause us to cease operations.

If preliminary data demonstrate that any of our product candidates has an unfavorable safety profile and is unlikely to receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized, we may voluntarily suspend or terminate future development of such product candidate. Any one or a combination of these events could prevent us from obtaining approval and achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing the product candidate, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant revenues from the sale of the product.

Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other unexpected properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in post-approval regulatory action. OCS-05 was placed on a clinical hold with the FDA in 2016. If we are unable to establish a NOAEL, or if our studies otherwise do not satisfy the FDA’s requirements, OCS-05 may not receive clearance from the FDA to proceed with human clinical trials, may never receive regulatory approval from the FDA, and we may not be able to market and commercialize OCS-05 in the United States, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Unforeseen side effects varying in severity (from minor reactions to death) and frequency (infrequent or prevalent) from OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab), or OCS-05 could arise either during clinical development or, if approved, after marketing. Undesirable side effects could cause us, any partners with which we may collaborate, or regulatory agencies to interrupt, extend, modify, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive or narrower label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign agencies.

During the conduct of clinical trials, subjects report changes in their health, including illnesses, injuries, and discomforts, to their study doctor. Often, it is not possible to determine whether or not the product candidate being studied caused these conditions. It is possible that as we test our product candidates in larger, longer and more extensive clinical trials, or as use of these product candidates becomes more widespread if they receive regulatory approval, illnesses, injuries, discomforts and other adverse events that were not observed in earlier trials, as well as conditions that did not occur or went undetected in previous trials, will be reported by subjects. Many times, side effects are only detectable after investigational products are tested in large-scale, Phase 3 clinical trials or, in some cases, after they are made available to subjects on a commercial scale after approval.

If OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) or OCS-05 or any of our other product candidates are associated with SAEs or other undesirable side effects in clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may need to abandon their development or limit development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the SAEs, undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective.

In addition, OCS-05 was placed on a clinical hold by the FDA in 2016. We licensed OCS-05 from Accure in 2022. Accure had conducted a limited set of animal regulatory toxicology studies in 2016 and submitted them to the FDA in an IND requesting the initiation of human testing. Upon review, the FDA found the data insufficient and asked for more animal toxicology data to be generated prior to human studies, thereby placing OCS-05 on the regulatory status of “clinical hold” pending the availability of the requested data. In response, Accure chose to withdraw the IND in 2017 rather than invest in further toxicology studies to address the FDA’s request. Upon our license of OCS-05 from Accure in 2022, we reinstated the IND and are currently working on activities to enable a trial under the IND in the U.S., including conducting the necessary toxicology studies. Other regulatory agencies where clinical studies have been proposed, including the UK and France, have authorized us to commence clinical studies of selected doses and reinforced safety measures as in our European Phase 1 trial in AON. If our studies do not satisfy the FDA’s requirements, OCS-05 may not receive clearance from the FDA to proceed with human clinical trials, may never receive regulatory approval from the FDA, and we may be unable to market and commercialize OCS-05 in the United States, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects could be materially adversely affected.

Results of clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects. In such an event, trials could be suspended, varied or terminated, and the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies could order us to cease further development of or deny approval of a product candidate for any or all targeted indications. Such adverse event findings also could require us or our collaboration partners to perform additional studies or halt development or sale of these product candidates or expose us to product liability lawsuits which would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In such an event, we could be required by the FDA or other comparable regulatory agencies to conduct additional animal or human studies regarding the safety and efficacy of our product candidates which we have not planned or anticipated or our studies could be suspended, varied or terminated, and the FDA or comparable regulatory agencies could order us to cease further development of or deny, vary, or withdraw approval of our product candidates for any and all intended indications. The drug-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial. There can be no assurance that we will resolve any issues related to any product-related adverse events to the satisfaction of the FDA or any comparable regulatory agency in a timely manner, if ever, and any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Additionally, if we or others identify undesirable side effects, or other previously unknown problems, caused by a product after obtaining U.S. or non-U.S. regulatory approval, a number of potentially negative consequences could result, including but not limited to, regulatory agencies suspending, withdrawing or varying approvals of such product, regulatory agencies requiring additional warnings on the label or otherwise requiring labeling to be updated or narrowed, us becoming liable for harm caused to patients and the diminution of our reputation, which could prevent us or our potential partners from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the product candidate, if approved,

and could substantially increase the costs of commercializing such product, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation, financial condition and prospects.

If any of our product candidates receives approval, regulatory agencies including the FDA and other non-U.S. regulatory agencies will require that we regularly report certain information, including information about adverse events that may have caused or contributed by those products. The timing of adverse event reporting obligations would be triggered by the date we become aware of the adverse event as well as the nature of the event. We may fail to report adverse events we become aware of within the prescribed timeframe especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of our products. If we fail to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA or other regulatory agencies could take action that may include criminal prosecution, the imposition of civil monetary penalties, seizure of our products, or suspension of market approval, and delay in approval or clearance of future products.

Interim, topline and preliminary data from our clinical trials may change as more patient data becomes available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary, interim or topline data from our clinical trials. These interim updates are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions may be subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data. We also may use assumptions and estimates as part of our preliminary analyses of the data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. Topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures before they can be finalized. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is typically selected from a more extensive amount of available information. For example, we may report interim analyses of only certain of the endpoints of the clinical trial, rather than all of the endpoints. Additional disclosure of interim data by us or by our competitors in the future could result in volatility in the price of Ordinary Shares. Further, investors may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our public disclosures, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant by us or, if subsequently disclosed, by investors, with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product candidate or our business. Further, others, including regulatory agencies and investors may not accept our conclusions regarding such preliminary or interim analyses, which could impact the value of a particular program or the approval or commercialization of the particular product candidate, or result in volatility in the price of Ordinary Shares.

The topline results that we report may differ significantly from the final results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. As a result, topline and interim data from clinical trials are subject to the risk that one or more of the reported clinical outcomes may materially change, and should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. For example, in May 2023, we announced topline data for Stage 1 of the DIAMOND Phase 3 clinical trial of OCS-01 in DME and in August 2023, we announced topline data from the OPTIMIZE Phase 3 clinical trial of OCS-01 in cataract surgery. These topline results may differ from the final results of the DIAMOND and OPTIMIZE trials. As a result, topline and interim data from clinical trials are subject to the risk that one or more of the reported clinical outcomes may materially change, and should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. If the preliminary or topline data that we report differ from the final results, or if others, including regulatory agencies, disagree with our conclusions, then our ability to obtain approval for, and to successfully commercialize our product candidates may be harmed, which could materially affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical trials, or may not be able to conduct or complete our clinical trials on the timelines we expect, if at all.

Clinical testing is expensive, time consuming, and subject to uncertainty. We cannot guarantee that any clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. We cannot be sure that submission of an investigational new drug application ("IND"), or a clinical trial application ("CTA"), will result in the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies, or any other regulatory authority as applicable, allowing clinical trials to begin in a timely manner, if at all. Moreover, even if these trials begin, issues may arise that could suspend or terminate such clinical trials. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing, and our future clinical trials may not be successful.

Any difficulties we experience relating to the initiation or completion of patient visits in clinical trials, could delay regulatory approval for our product candidates. Identifying and qualifying subjects to participate in clinical trials of our product candidates is critical to our success. The timing of clinical trials depends on our ability to recruit subjects to participate, as well as the completion of required follow-up periods. Patients may be unwilling to participate in clinical trials because of negative publicity from adverse events related to the biotechnology or pharmaceutical fields, competitive clinical trials for similar patient populations, the existence of current treatments or for other reasons. The timeline for recruiting patients, conducting studies and obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates may be delayed, which could result in increased costs, delays in advancing our product candidates, delays in testing the effectiveness of our product candidates or termination of the clinical trials altogether. Patient enrollment for any of our future clinical trials may be affected by other factors, including:

Any inability to successfully initiate or complete clinical trials could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue. In addition, if we make manufacturing or formulation changes to our product candidates, we may be required to or we may elect to conduct additional studies to bridge our modified product candidates to earlier versions. Clinical trial delays could also shorten any periods during which our products have patent protection and may allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.

We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the data safety monitoring board for such trial or by the FDA, or comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies, or any other regulatory authority, or if the IRBs or ethics committees of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted suspend or terminate the participation of their clinical investigators and sites subject to their review. Such agencies may suspend, vary or terminate a clinical trial due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA, or comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies, or other regulatory agencies resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product candidate, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

Delays in the commencement or completion of any clinical trial of our product candidates will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and delay or potentially jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates.

We do, and may in the future, conduct clinical trials for our product candidates outside the United States, and the FDA and applicable non-U.S. regulatory agencies may not accept data from such trials.

We and investigator sponsors have conducted clinical trials, are conducting clinical trials, and may in the future choose to conduct one or more clinical trials outside of the United States. Although the FDA or applicable non-U.S. regulatory agencies may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States or the applicable jurisdiction, acceptance of such study data by the FDA or applicable non-U.S. regulatory agency may be subject to certain conditions or exclusions. Where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless such data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; the studies were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence; and the data are considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA or, if the FDA considers such an inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means. Many non-U.S. regulatory agencies have similar requirements. In addition, such non-U.S. studies would be subject to the applicable local laws of the jurisdictions where the studies are

conducted. There can be no assurance the FDA or applicable non-U.S. regulatory agency will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States or the applicable home country. If the FDA or applicable non-U.S. regulatory agency does not accept such data, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our business plan.

We rely on and expect to continue to rely on third-party CROs and other third parties to conduct and oversee our clinical trials. If these third parties do not meet our requirements or otherwise conduct clinical trials as required, we may not be able to satisfy our contractual obligations or obtain regulatory approval for, or commercialize, our product candidates.

We rely on, and expect to continue to rely on, third-party CROs to conduct and oversee our clinical trials and other aspects of product development. We also expect to rely on various medical institutions, clinical investigators and contract laboratories to conduct our trials in accordance with our clinical protocols and applicable regulatory requirements, including the FDA’s regulations and good clinical practice, or GCP requirements, and equivalent non-U.S. and international standards, which are international standards meant to protect the rights and health of patients and to define the roles of clinical trial sponsors, administrators and monitors, and national, supranational, and state regulations governing the handling, storage, security and recordkeeping for drug and biologic products. These CROs and other third parties are expected to play a significant role in the conduct of these trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data from the clinical trials. We expect to rely heavily on these parties for the execution of our clinical trials and preclinical studies and will control only certain aspects of their activities. We and our CROs and other third-party contractors will be required to comply with GCP and good laboratory practice ("GLP"), requirements, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies. Regulatory agencies enforce these GCP and GLP requirements through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or any of these third parties fail to comply with applicable GCP and GLP requirements, or reveal noncompliance from an audit or inspection, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or other comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our or our partners’ marketing applications. We cannot provide assurance that upon inspection by a given regulatory authority, such regulatory authority will determine whether or not any of our clinical or preclinical trials comply with applicable GCP and GLP requirements. In addition, our clinical trials generally must be conducted with product produced under cGMP regulations. Our failure to comply with these regulations and policies may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process, and adversely affect our operations.

If any of our CROs or clinical trial sites terminate their involvement in one of our clinical trials for any reason, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or clinical trial sites or do so on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, if our relationship with clinical trial sites is terminated, we may experience the loss of follow-up information on patients enrolled in our ongoing clinical trials unless we are able to transfer the care of those patients to another qualified clinical trial site. In addition, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to it from time to time and could receive cash or equity compensation in connection with such services. If these relationships and any related compensation result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site may be questioned by the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies, which could delay the regulatory approval process and adversely affect our operations.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, our products will remain subject to continuous subsequent regulatory obligations and scrutiny.

If our product candidates are approved, they will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for pharmacovigilance, manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing studies (if any) and submission of other post-market information, including both federal and state requirements in the United States and equivalent requirements of comparable regulatory agencies.

Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive FDA, and comparable regulatory authority requirements, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to cGMP regulations. As such, we and our contract manufacturers will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMP regulations and adherence to commitments made in any marketing authorization application ("MAA"). Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control.

Any regulatory approvals that we or our collaboration partners receive for our product candidates may be subject to limitations on the approved conditions of use for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval or may contain requirements for potentially costly additional data generation, including clinical trials. We will be required to report certain adverse reactions and production problems, if any, to the FDA and comparable regulatory agencies, and to conduct surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. Any new legislation addressing drug safety or biologics issues could result in delays in product development or commercialization or increased costs to assure compliance.

We will have to comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion for our product candidates, if approved. Promotional communications with respect to prescription drugs are subject to a variety of legal and regulatory restrictions that vary throughout the world and must be consistent with the information in the product’s approved label. As such, we may promote our products in ways that are not consistent with FDA-approved labeling, e.g., for indications or uses for which they do not have approval.

If a regulatory authority discovers previously unknown problems with one of our products such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or if there are problems with the facility where the product is manufactured or the regulatory authority disagrees with the advertising, promotion, marketing or labeling of a product, such regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product or us. If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory authority such as FDA may, among other things:

Any government investigation of alleged violations of law or regulations could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity. Any failure to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may significantly and adversely affect our ability to commercialize and generate revenue from our products. If regulatory sanctions are applied or if regulatory approval is suspended, varied or withdrawn, the value of us and our operating results will be adversely affected.

If we are not successful in discovering, developing, and commercializing additional product candidates beyond our current portfolio, our ability to expand our business and achieve our strategic objectives would be impaired.

A key element of our strategy is to discover, develop, and potentially commercialize additional product candidates beyond our current portfolio to treat various conditions in a variety of therapeutic areas. We intend to do so by investing in our own drug discovery efforts, exploring potential strategic alliances for the development of new products, and in-licensing technologies. Identifying new product candidates requires substantial technical, financial, and human resources. We may fail to identify promising product candidates and, even if we do identify such product

candidates, we may fail to successfully develop and commercialize such product candidates for many reasons, including:

We have several early-stage programs in preclinical development as we seek to expand our pipeline. Preclinical development programs in the biotechnology industry carry high risk of failure. If any of these programs fails due to, among others, adverse formulation, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamics, or safety, we may need to terminate the program. If we are unsuccessful in identifying and developing additional product candidates and progressing those into clinical development, our potential for growth may be impaired.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on research programs and product candidates that we identify for specific indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate. As a result of the foregoing, our business, operations and prospects could be materially adversely affected.

We may choose to discontinue developing or commercializing any of our product candidates, or may choose not to commercialize product candidates in approved indications, at any time during development or after approval, which would reduce or eliminate our potential return on investment for those product candidates.

At any time, we may decide to discontinue the development of any of our product candidates for a variety of reasons, including the appearance of new technologies that make our product candidates obsolete, competition from a competing product, cost concerns, manufacturing challenges, analysis of preclinical and clinical trial results or changes in or failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. If we terminate a program in which we have invested significant resources, we will not receive any return on our investment and we will have missed the opportunity to have allocated those resources to potentially more productive uses. As a result, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects may be adversely affected.

Risks related to our manufacturing activities

We have no experience manufacturing any of our product candidates at a commercial scale. If we or any of our third-party manufacturers encounter difficulties in production, or fail to meet rigorously enforced regulatory standards, our ability to provide supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or our products for patients, if approved, could be delayed or stopped, or we may be unable to establish a commercially viable cost structure.

In order to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates, or supply commercial products, if approved, we need to manufacture them in small and large quantities. The manufacturing processes for OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) and OCS-05 have never been tested at commercial scale, and the process validation requirement (the requirement to consistently produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient used in these drug candidates in commercial quantities and of specified quality on a repeated basis and document our ability to do so) for each of OCS-01, OCS-02, and OCS-05 has not yet been satisfied. Our manufacturing partners may be unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for any of our product candidates in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, quality issues may arise during scale-up activities. If our manufacturing partners are unable to successfully scale up the manufacture of our product candidates in sufficient quality and quantity, the development, testing and clinical trials of our product candidates may be delayed or become infeasible, and regulatory approval or commercial launch of any resulting product may be delayed or not obtained, which could significantly harm our business. The same risks would apply to any internal manufacturing facilities, should we in the future decide to build internal manufacturing capacity.

In addition, the manufacturing process for any products that we may develop is subject to FDA, competent agencies of EU member states, NMPA and other non-U.S. regulatory authority approval processes and continuous oversight. We will need to contract with manufacturers who can meet all applicable FDA, European Commission, EMA, NMPA and other non-U.S. regulatory authority requirements, including complying with cGMPs on an ongoing basis. If we or our third-party manufacturers are unable to reliably produce products to specifications acceptable to the FDA, EU, NMPA or other regulatory agencies, we may not obtain or maintain the approvals we need to commercialize such products. Even if we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, there is no assurance that either we or our CMOs will be able to manufacture the approved product to specifications acceptable to the FDA, European Commission, EMA, NMPA or other regulatory agencies, to produce it in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements for the potential launch of the product, or to meet potential future demand. Any of these challenges could delay completion of clinical trials, require bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our product candidate, impair commercialization efforts, increase our cost of goods, and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

In the event that we need to change our CMOs, our clinical trials or the commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed, adversely affected or terminated, or such a change may result in significantly higher costs.

Various steps in the manufacture of our product candidates may need to be sole-sourced. In accordance with cGMP, changing manufacturers may require the re-validation of manufacturing processes and procedures, and may require further clinical trials to show comparability between the materials produced by different manufacturers. Changing our current or future CMOs may be difficult for us and could be costly, which could result in our inability to manufacture our product candidates for an extended period of time and therefore a delay in the development of our product candidates. Further, in order to maintain our development time lines in the event of a change in our CMOs, we may incur significantly higher costs to manufacture our product candidates

The manufacture of OCS-02 (Licaminlimab), a biologic, is highly complex, costly and requires substantial lead time to produce.

Manufacturing OCS-02 (Licaminlimab), a biologic, involves complex processes, including developing cells or cell systems to produce the biologic, growing large quantities of such cells, and harvesting and purifying the biologic produced by them. These processes require specialized facilities, highly specific raw materials and other production constraints. As a result, the cost to manufacture a biologic is generally far higher than traditional small molecule chemical compounds, and the biologics manufacturing process is less reliable and is difficult to reproduce. Because of the complex nature of this product candidate, we need to oversee manufacture of multiple components that require a diverse knowledge base and specialized personnel.

Moreover, unlike chemical pharmaceuticals, the physical and chemical properties of a biologic such as OCS-02 generally cannot be adequately characterized prior to manufacturing the final product. As a result, an assay of the finished product is not sufficient to ensure that the product will perform in the intended manner. Accordingly, we expect to employ multiple steps to attempt to control our manufacturing process to assure that the process works and the product or product candidate is made strictly and consistently in compliance with the process.

Manufacturing biologics is highly susceptible to product loss due to contamination, equipment failure, improper installation or operation of equipment, vendor or operator error, improper storage or transfer, inconsistency in yields and variability in product characteristics. Even minor deviations from normal manufacturing, distribution or storage processes could result in reduced production yields, product defects and other supply disruptions. Some of the raw materials required in our manufacturing process are derived from biological sources. Such raw materials are difficult to procure and may also be subject to contamination or recall. A material shortage, contamination, recall or restriction on the use of biologically derived substances in the manufacture of our product candidates could adversely impact or disrupt commercialization. Production of additional drug substance and drug product for OCS-02 may require substantial lead time. In the event of significant product loss and materials shortages, we may be unable to produce adequate amounts of our product candidates or products for our operational needs, which would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, as product candidates are developed through preclinical studies to late-stage clinical trials towards approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize processes and results. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives, and any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials. We and our third-party manufacturing partner are engaged in efforts to reduce the expected costs for OCS-02. In the future, if the proposed manufacturing plans to reduce OCS-02 costs does not succeed when producing OCS-02 at commercial scale, we may not be able to proceed with OCS-02 commercialization, if approved.

Any of the foregoing could potentially materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Risks related to our future commercialization activities

Even if a product candidate obtains regulatory approval, it may fail to achieve the broad degree of physician and patient adoption and use necessary for commercial success.

The commercial successes of OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) or OCS-05, if approved, will depend significantly on attaining broad adoption and use of the products by physicians and patients for approved indications, and any of these product candidates may not be commercially successful even if shown to be effective in clinical trials. The degree and rate of physician and patient adoption of a product, if approved, will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

Even if we receive marketing approvals for OCS-01, OCS-02 (Licaminlimab), OCS-05 or any future product candidate, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates due to unfavorable pricing regulations or third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, which could make it difficult for us to sell our product candidates profitably.

Obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval for a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time consuming and costly process that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost effectiveness data to the payor. There may be significant delays in obtaining such coverage and reimbursement for newly approved products, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the product is approved by the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies. Moreover, eligibility for coverage and reimbursement does not imply that a product will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers costs, including research, development, intellectual property, manufacture, sale and distribution expenses. Interim reimbursement levels for new products, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the product and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost products and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for products may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors, by any future laws limiting drug prices and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of product from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. Third-party payors in the United States often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting reimbursement policies, but also have their own methods and approval process apart from Medicare coverage and reimbursement determinations. Pricing and reimbursement outside of the United States vary widely and are constantly evolving, with requirements and limitations becoming increasingly strict.

Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor or competent foreign authority may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor’s or competent foreign authority’s determination that use of a product is:

We cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for any product that we commercialize and, if coverage and reimbursement are available, what the level of reimbursement will be. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement rates from both government-funded and private payors for any approved products that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.

Reimbursement may impact the demand for, and the price of, any product for which we obtain marketing approval. Assuming we obtain coverage for a given product by a third-party payor, the resulting reimbursement payment rates

may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Patients who are prescribed medications for the treatment of their conditions, and their prescribing physicians, generally rely on third-party payors or competent foreign authorities to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with those medications. Patients are unlikely to use our products unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover all or a significant portion of the cost of our products. Therefore, coverage and adequate reimbursement is critical to new product acceptance. Coverage decisions may depend upon clinical and economic standards that disfavor new products when more established or lower cost therapeutic alternatives are already available or subsequently become available. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.

We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of any of our product candidates due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations, and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription medicines, medical devices and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the successful commercialization of new products. Further, the adoption and implementation of any future governmental cost containment or other health reform initiative may result in additional downward pressure on the price that we may receive for any approved product.

Outside of the United States, many countries require approval of the sale price of a product before it can be marketed and the pricing review period only begins after marketing approval is granted. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some of these countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a product candidate in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenues, if any, we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if such product candidates obtain marketing approval.

If, in the future, we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market any product candidates we may develop, we may not be successful in commercializing those product candidates if and when they are approved.

We do not have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have no experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for any approved product for which we retain sales and marketing responsibilities, we must either develop a sales and marketing organization or outsource these functions to third parties. In the future, we may choose to build a focused sales, marketing and commercial support infrastructure to sell, or participate in sales activities with our collaborators for, some of our product candidates if and when they are approved.

There are risks involved with both establishing our own commercial capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training a sales force or reimbursement specialists is expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing and other commercialization capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our commercialization personnel.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize any approved product on our own include:

If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing, commercial support and distribution services, our product revenue or the profitability of product revenue may be lower than if we were to market and sell any products we may develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to commercialize our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We may have little control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our products effectively. If we do not establish commercialization capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates if approved, which would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects.

We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.

The development and commercialization of new drug products are highly competitive. We face competition with respect to our product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize, from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. Potential competitors may also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization.

The DME market is already served by multiple approved products, such as ranimizumab, aflibercept, brolucizumab, faricimab VEGF inhibitors as well as dexamethasone and fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implants. These drugs are well established therapies and are widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors, which may make it difficult to convince these parties to switch to OCS-01. Companies that we are aware are commercializing or are developing therapeutics for DME include large companies with significant financial resources, such as Roche (Genentech), Novartis, Bayer, Regeneron, Abbvie (Allergan) and Alimera Sciences, among others. In addition, OCS-01 will compete with the current status quo practice of treating DME, which is often observing and not treating milder patients before they often progress to invasive treatments.

The post-operative inflammation and pain market is already served by multiple approved steroid products, such as difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion, loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic gel and suspension, prednisolone acetate ophthalmic suspension, among others. These drugs are well established therapies with multiple generics in the market and are widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors, which may make it difficult to convince these parties to switch to OCS-01. Companies that we are aware are commercializing or are developing therapeutics for post-operative inflammation and pain include large companies with significant financial resources, such as Bausch + Lomb, Kala Pharmaceuticals, Alcon Laboratories, Abbvie (Allergan), TEVA Pharmaceuticals, among others.

The DED market is already served by multiple approved products, such as cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion and solution, lifitegrast ophthalmic solution, loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic suspension, varenicline solution and perfluorohexyloctane ophthalmic solution. These drugs are well established therapies and are widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors. This, as well as the emerging development of generics, may make it difficult to convince these parties to switch to OCS-02 (Licaminlimab). Companies that we are aware are commercializing or are developing therapeutics for DED include large companies with significant financial resources, such as Abbvie (Allergan), Bausch + Lomb, Alcon, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Viatris, among others. In addition, over the counter products are currently available for the treatment of DED which may impact sales of our products.

The non-infectious anterior uveitis market is already served by multiple approved steroid products indicated to treat inflammation of the eyes, such as prednisolone acetate suspension, loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic formulations, dexamethasone sodium phosphate formulations, fluorometholone ophthalmic suspension, among others. These drugs

are well established therapies with multiple generics in the market and are widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors, which may make it difficult to convince these parties to switch to OCS-02 (Licaminlimab). Companies that we are aware are commercializing or are developing therapeutics for non-infectious anterior uveitis include large companies with significant financial resources, such as Abbvie (Allergan) and Bausch + Lomb, among others.

The glaucoma market is already served by multiple approved drug classes to reduce elevated intraocular pressure ("IOP"), such as Alpha Agonists, Beta Blockers Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors, Cholinergic (Myotic), Prostaglandin Analogs, Rho Kinase Inhibitors and combination products, however no drug for neuroprotection has been approved so far. These drugs are well established therapies with multiple generics in the market and are widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors. OCS-05 is not meant to replace IOP lowering but rather be an add-on to IOP lowering to tackle neuroprotection. Companies that we are aware are commercializing or are developing therapeutics for glaucoma include large companies with significant financial resources, such as Novartis, Abbvie (Allergan), Bausch + Lomb, Alcon, Akorn, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Merck and Sun Ophthalmics among others.

In addition to competition from other companies targeting the diseases which we target, any products we may develop may also face competition from other types of therapies, such as gene-editing therapies or drug delivery devices. Our commercial opportunity for any of our product candidates could also be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize new products that are safer, more effective, are more convenient, or are less expensive than our products. The competitors also may obtain FDA or other non-U.S. regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for our candidates, which could result in competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market for a new product candidate. If our product candidates are not perceived as more effective, safe, cost-effective, or otherwise medically beneficial than current practices or products in their respective target market segments, then our commercial opportunities will be negatively impacted. If we are unable to demonstrate the value of our product candidates based on our clinical data, patient experience, or real-world evidence, future successful commercialization of such product candidates could be adversely affected.

In addition, our ability to compete may be affected in many cases by insurers or other third-party payors, including Medicare and equivalent foreign health insurance programs, seeking to encourage the use of generic products. For example, a generic version of Restasis® to treat DED received FDA approval and was launched in 2022. Generic products are generally offered at lower prices than branded products, and consequently, after the introduction of a generic competitor, a significant percentage of the sales of any branded product may be lost to the generic product. Accordingly, competition from generic products could have a material adverse impact on our ability to successfully commercialize OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) for DED or any other product candidate or indication, if approved, or negatively impact sales or pricing of our products or our ability to gain market acceptance or market share.

Many of our current and future competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller and other early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, including through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and to limit commercialization of any products that we develop.

We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the use of our product candidates that we develop in clinical trials. We face an even greater risk for any products we develop and sell commercially. Off-label use or misuse of our products if and when commercialized may harm our reputation in the marketplace, result in injuries that lead to costly product liability suits, or subject us to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with any product. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our product candidates or products caused injuries, we will incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

We may need to purchase insurance coverage as we expand our clinical trials and should we eventually realize sales of any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive, restrictive and narrow. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost, upon adequate terms or in a sufficient amount necessary to protect us against losses due to product liability or other similar legal actions that may arise. A successful product liability claim or series of claims brought against us which substantially exceeds our insurance coverage will require us to make up the shortfall, which may in turn require us to drawdown on our cash reserve, and harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Risks related to our reliance on third parties

We may enter into collaborations with third parties for the development and commercialization of our product candidates. If our collaborations are not successful, we may not be able to capitalize on the market potential of these product candidates.

We may enter into a combination of exclusive and non-exclusive collaboration arrangements with third parties to develop or commercialize some or all of our product candidates. We also may enter into arrangements with third parties to perform these services in the United States and other jurisdictions if we do not establish our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities in the United States and other jurisdictions for our product candidates or if we determine that such arrangements are otherwise beneficial. We also may seek collaborators for development and commercialization of other product candidates. Our likely collaborators for any sales, marketing, distribution, development, licensing or broader collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies. While we are not currently party to any such arrangement, our ability to generate revenues from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators’ abilities and efforts to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in the future in these arrangements.

Collaborations that we enter into may pose a number of risks, including the following:

Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner, or at all. If any collaborations that we enter into do not result in the successful development and commercialization of products or if one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may not receive any future research funding or milestone or royalty payments, or be able to recover any costs and expenses incurred by us under the collaboration arrangement. If we do not receive the funding we expect, or recover any costs and expenses incurred under these agreements, our development of our product candidates could be delayed and we may need additional resources to develop our product candidates. All of the risks relating to product development, regulatory approval and commercialization described herein also apply to the activities of our collaborators.

Additionally, subject to its contractual obligations to us, if a collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, it might deemphasize or terminate the development or commercialization of any product candidate licensed to it by us. If one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may find it more difficult to attract new collaborators and our perception in the business and financial communities could be harmed.

We rely completely on third-party contractors to supply, manufacture and distribute clinical drug supplies for our product candidates, which may include sole-source suppliers and manufacturers; we intend to rely on third parties for commercial supply, manufacturing and distribution if any of our product candidates receives regulatory approval and for any future product candidates.

We do not currently have, nor do we plan to acquire, the infrastructure or capability to supply, store, manufacture or distribute preclinical, clinical or commercial quantities of drug substances or products. Additionally, we have not entered into a long-term commercial supply agreement to provide us with such drug substances or products. As a result, our ability to develop our product candidates is dependent, and our ability to supply our products commercially

will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain the active pharmaceutical ingredients "(APIs"), and other substances and materials used in our product candidates successfully from third parties and to have finished products manufactured by third parties in accordance with regulatory requirements and in sufficient quantities for preclinical and clinical testing and commercialization. If we fail to develop and maintain supply and other technical relationships with these third parties, and if we are unable to seek suitable replacements in a timely manner or at all, we may face delays or be unable to continue to develop or commercialize our products and product candidates.

We have limited control over whether or not our contract suppliers and manufacturers will maintain current pricing terms, be willing to continue supplying us with APIs and finished products or maintain adequate capacity and capabilities to serve our needs, including quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. We are dependent on our contract suppliers and manufacturers for day-to-day compliance with applicable laws and cGMP regulations for production of both APIs and finished products. If the safety or quality of any product or product candidate or component is compromised due to a failure to adhere to applicable laws or for other reasons, we may not be able to commercialize or obtain regulatory approval for the affected product or product candidate successfully, and we may be held liable for injuries sustained as a result.

We may be unable to establish any further agreements with third-party manufacturers or to do so on acceptable terms. Even if we are able to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails additional risks, including:

Third-party manufacturers may not be able to comply with cGMP regulations or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. We, or our contract manufacturers, or any future collaborators and their contract manufacturers could be subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA, competent authorities of EU member states, or other comparable foreign regulatory agencies, to monitor and ensure compliance with cGMP. Despite our efforts to audit and verify regulatory compliance, one or more of our third-party manufacturing vendors may be found on regulatory inspection by the FDA, competent agencies of EU member states, or other comparable foreign regulatory agencies to be noncompliant with cGMP regulations. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in clinical holds on our trials, sanctions being imposed on us, including shutdown of the third-party vendor or invalidation of drug product lots or processes, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension, variation or withdrawal of approvals, license revocations, seizures or recalls of product candidates or medicines, operating restrictions, and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our products and harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Any products that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that might be capable of manufacturing our products or product candidates.

Any performance failure on the part of our existing or future manufacturers could delay clinical development or marketing approval. We do not currently have arrangements in place for redundant supply for any of our product candidates. If any one of our current contract manufacturers cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace that manufacturer and may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement. Furthermore, securing and reserving production capacity with contract manufacturers may result in significant costs.

By relying on third-party manufacturers for outsourced, custom manufacturing, we may encounter difficulties in production, particularly with respect to formulation, process development or scaling up of manufacturing capabilities. If we, or our CMOs, encounter such difficulties, our ability to provide supply of our product candidates for preclinical studies, clinical trials or our products for patients, if approved, could be delayed or halted, or we may be unable to maintain a commercially viable cost structure, which would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

If third-party suppliers on which we rely fail to successfully scale up their production of our product candidates, we may face delays and lost opportunities with our development or future commercialization efforts.

In order to conduct larger or late-stage clinical trials for a product candidate and supply sufficient commercial quantities of the resulting drug product and its components, if that product candidate is approved for sale, our contract manufacturers and suppliers will need to produce our drug substances and product candidates in larger quantities more cost-effectively and, in certain cases, at higher yields than they currently achieve. If our third-party contractors are unable to scale up the manufacture of any of our product candidates successfully in sufficient quality and quantity and at commercially reasonable prices, or are shut down or put on clinical hold by government regulators, and we are unable to find one or more replacement suppliers or manufacturers capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost in substantially equivalent volumes and quality, and we are unable to transfer the processes successfully on a timely basis, the development of that product candidate and regulatory approval or commercial launch for any resulting products may be delayed, or there may be a shortage in supply, either of which could significantly harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

We expect to continue to depend on third-party contract suppliers and manufacturers for the foreseeable future. Our supply and manufacturing agreements do not guarantee that a contract supplier or manufacturer will provide services adequate for our needs. Additionally, any damage to or destruction of our third-party manufacturers’ or suppliers’ facilities or equipment, may significantly impair our ability to have our products and product candidates manufactured on a timely basis. Our reliance on contract manufacturers and suppliers further exposes us to the possibility that they, or third parties with access to their facilities, will have access to and may misappropriate our trade secrets or other proprietary information. In addition, the manufacturing facilities of certain of our suppliers may be located outside of the United States. This may give rise to difficulties in importing our products or product candidates or their components into the United States or other countries.

We rely on third-party suppliers for key raw materials used in our manufacturing processes, and the loss of these third-party suppliers or their inability to supply us with adequate raw materials could harm our business.

We rely on third-party suppliers for the raw materials required for the production of our product candidates. Our reliance on these third-party suppliers and the challenges we may face in obtaining adequate supplies of raw materials involve several risks, including limited control over pricing, availability, quality and delivery schedules. As a small company, our negotiation leverage is limited and we are likely to get lower priority than our competitors who are larger than we are. We cannot be certain that our suppliers will continue to provide us with the quantities of these raw materials that we require or satisfy our anticipated specifications and quality requirements. Any supply interruption in limited or sole sourced raw materials could materially harm our ability to manufacture our product candidates until a new source of supply, if any, could be identified and qualified. We may be unable to find a sufficient alternative supply channel in a reasonable time or on commercially reasonable terms. Any performance failure on the part of our suppliers could delay the development and potential commercialization of our product candidates, including limiting supplies necessary for clinical trials and regulatory approvals, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our rights to develop and commercialize our technology are subject, in part, to the terms and conditions of licenses granted to us by others. In particular, we depend on licenses for development and commercialization rights to OCS-02 (Licaminlimab) and OCS-05. If these rights are terminated or we fail to comply with our obligations under these agreements or any other license, collaboration or other agreement, we may be required to pay damages and we could lose intellectual property rights that are necessary for the development and protection of our product candidates.

We currently and may in the future license from third parties certain intellectual property relating to current and future product candidates. For example, we are party to various license agreements, including with Novartis and Accure, that we depend on for rights to OCS-02 and OCS-05, respectively. These agreements impose, and other potential agreements we may enter into with third parties may impose, diligence, development and commercialization timelines

and milestone payment, royalty, insurance and other obligations on us. Under the Novartis Agreement (as defined below) and Accure Agreement (as defined below), for example, we are obligated to make payments to the counterparty upon us achieving certain development or commercialization milestones and to make royalty payments to Novartis and Accure on net product sales of OCS-02 and OCS-05, respectively.

We also have diligence and development obligations under the Novartis Agreement and Accure Agreement. Generally, these diligence obligations require us to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop, manufacture, seek regulatory approval for and commercialize the licensed products. If we fail to comply with our obligations under current or future license agreements, use the licensed intellectual property in an unauthorized manner or otherwise breach a license agreement, our counterparties may have the right to terminate these agreements, in which event we might not have the rights or the financial resources to develop, manufacture or market any licensed product that is covered by these agreements. Future counterparties also may have the right to convert an exclusive license to non-exclusive in the territory in which we fail to satisfy our diligence obligations, which could materially adversely affect the value of the product candidate being developed under any such agreement. Termination of these agreements or reduction or elimination of our rights under these agreements may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms, seek alternative sources of financing or cause us to lose our rights under these agreements, including our rights to OCS-02, OCS-05 or other important intellectual property or technology. Any of the foregoing could prevent us from commercializing OCS-02 or OCS-05 or cause a competitor to gain access to the licensed technology, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and overall financial condition.

Our license agreements are, and future license agreements are likely to be, complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Disputes may arise between us and our licensors or future licensors, including:

If disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed from third parties prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidates.

The licensing or acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and several more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. If we are unable to license such technology, or if we are forced to license such technology on unfavorable terms, our business could be harmed. If we are unable to obtain a necessary license, we may be unable to develop or commercialize the affected product candidates, which could harm our business, and the third parties owning such intellectual property rights could seek either an injunction prohibiting sales or an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation.

Even if we are able to obtain a license, it may be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us.

Additionally, our licensors may have relied on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties such that our licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents we in-licensed. Some of our in-licensed patent rights are sublicensed to us pursuant to parent license agreements we are not a party to. If any such parent licenses terminate, whether due to our licensor’s breach of the parent license agreement or for other reasons outside of our control, we could lose our rights to such sublicensed patent rights. Furthermore, if other third parties have ownership rights to our in-licensed patents, the license granted to us in jurisdictions where the consent of a co-owner is necessary to grant such a license may not be valid, in any case, and such co-owners may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. In addition, certain of our in-licensed patent rights are dependent, in part, on inter-institutional or other operating agreements between the joint owners of such in-licensed patent rights. If one or more of such joint owners breaches such inter-institutional or operating agreements, our rights to such in-licensed patent rights may be adversely affected. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.

Our current and future licenses may not provide us with exclusive rights to use the licensed intellectual property and technology, or may not provide us with exclusive rights to use such intellectual property and technology in all relevant fields of use and in all territories in which we may wish to develop or commercialize our technology. Patents licensed to us could be put at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly in litigation filed by or against our licensors or another licensee or in administrative proceedings brought by or against our licensors or another licensee in response to such litigation or for other reasons. As a result, we may not be able to prevent competitors or other third parties from developing and commercializing competitive products, including in territories covered by our licenses. Some of our in-licensed patent rights are subject to pre-existing rights granted by the licensor to third parties and our acquired technologies and current or future licensed technology may also be subject to retained rights. Our predecessors or licensors may retain certain rights under their agreements with us, including the right to use the underlying technology for noncommercial academic and research use, to publish general scientific findings from research related to the technology, and to make customary scientific and scholarly disclosures of information relating to the technology. It is difficult to monitor whether our predecessors or future licensors limit their use of the technology to these uses, and we could incur substantial expenses to enforce our rights to our licensed technology in the event of misuse.

In addition, certain of our current or future agreements with third parties may limit or delay our ability to consummate certain transactions, may impact the value of those transactions, or may limit our ability to pursue certain activities. If we are limited in our ability to utilize acquired technologies or current or future licensed technologies, or if we lose our rights to critical acquired or in-licensed technology, we may be unable to successfully develop, out-license, market and sell our products, which could prevent or delay new product introductions. Our business strategy depends on the successful development of acquired technologies, and current or future licensed technology, into commercial products. Therefore, any limitations on our ability to utilize these technologies may impair our ability to develop, out-license or market and sell our product candidates.

For more information on our license agreements with third parties, please see the section entitled “Business Overview—Material Licenses, Partnerships and Collaborations.”

Risks related to our intellectual property

If we are unable to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce patent or other intellectual property protection for our current and future technology and products, or if the scope of the patent or other intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.

We rely upon a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secrets and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our development programs and product candidates. These legal measures afford only limited protection, and competitors or others may gain access to our intellectual property and proprietary information. Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain, maintain, expand, enforce and defend the scope of our intellectual property protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our product candidates.

We have sought and will continue to seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our development programs and product candidates. However, the patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, enforce or license all necessary or desirable patents or patent applications at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions where protection may be commercially advantageous, or we may not be able to protect our proprietary rights at all. Additionally, in some instances, we have submitted and expect to submit provisional patent applications. Corresponding non-provisional patent applications must be filed not later than 12 months after the provisional application filing date. While we intend to timely file non-provisional patent applications relating to our provisional patent applications, we cannot predict whether any such patent applications will result in the issuance of patents that provide us with competitive advantage. Any failure to obtain or maintain patent and other intellectual property protection with respect to our product candidates could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, although we seek to enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to patentable aspects of our research and development output, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection.

The patents and patent applications that we own or in-license may fail to result in issued patents with claims that protect our product candidates in the United States or in other foreign countries. There is no assurance that all of the potentially relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found, which can prevent a patent from issuing from a pending patent application, or be used to invalidate a patent. Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents cover our product candidates, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable. Any successful opposition to these patents or any other patents owned by or licensed to us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we may develop. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a product candidate under patent protection could be reduced.

The patent application process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we or any of our licensors will be successful in protecting our product candidates by obtaining, maintaining, enforcing and defending patents. These risks and uncertainties include the following:

We may also choose not to seek patent protection for certain innovations and may choose not to pursue patent protection in certain jurisdictions, and under the laws of certain jurisdictions, patents or other intellectual property rights may be unavailable or limited in scope. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. If we fail to timely file for patent protection in any jurisdiction, we may be precluded from doing so at a later date.

Moreover, we are, and could become in the future, a licensee of a third party’s patents or patent applications and we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing or prosecution of such patent applications, or to maintain, enforce or protect the patents in-licensed from those third parties. We may also require the cooperation of our licensors in order to enforce the licensed patent rights, and such cooperation may not be provided. Therefore, any licensed patents or patent applications may not be prosecuted, maintained, enforced or protected in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. We also cannot be certain that patent prosecution and maintenance activities by any of our licensors will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, which may affect the validity and enforceability of such patents or any patents that may issue from such applications. If any of our licensors fail to do so, this could cause us to lose rights in any applicable intellectual property, and as a result our ability to develop and commercialize products or product candidates may be adversely affected and we may be unable to prevent competitors from making, using and selling competing products. In addition, even where we have the right to control the prosecution of patents and patent applications under a license from third parties, we may still be adversely affected or prejudiced by actions or inactions of our predecessors or licensors and their counsel that took place prior to us assuming control over patent prosecution. If our current or future licensors are not fully cooperative or disagree with us as to the prosecution, maintenance or enforcement of any patent rights, such patent rights could be compromised. If disputes over intellectual property that we license prevents or impairs our ability to maintain our licensing arrangements on acceptable terms, we may not be able to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

If the patent applications we own, license, or may own or license in the future with respect to our development programs and product candidates fail to issue, if their breadth or strength of protection is threatened, or if they fail to provide meaningful exclusivity for our product candidates, it could dissuade other companies from collaborating with us to develop product candidates, and threaten our ability to commercialize our product candidates, if approved. Any such outcome could have a materially adverse effect on our business.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions, and has been and will continue to be the subject of litigation and new legislation. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. For example, many countries restrict the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body. Publications in scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, there is a risk that we cannot know with certainty whether we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned or in-licensed patents or pending patent applications, or that we or our licensors were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result of these and other factors, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability, and commercial value of our owned and in-licensed patent rights are highly uncertain. Our owned and in-licensed pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our owned and in-licensed patents or narrow the scope of patent protection for our product candidates.

Moreover, we or our licensors may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the USPTO or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our owned or in-licensed patent rights or the patent rights of others. In particular, the costs of defending patents or enforcing our proprietary rights in post-issuance administrative proceedings and litigation can be substantial and the outcome can be uncertain. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our owned or in-licensed patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our owned or in-licensed patents and patent applications is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating to license, develop or commercialize current or future product candidates. We may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our products, product candidates or their intended uses, and as a result the impact of such third-party intellectual property rights upon the patentability of our owned and in-licensed patents and patent applications, as well as the impact of such third-party intellectual property upon our freedom to operate, is highly uncertain. We cannot ensure that we do not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights held by others or

that we will not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate intellectual property or proprietary rights held by others in the future. If our products were found to infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any proprietary intellectual property or right of another party, we could be required to pay significant damages or license fees to such party and/or cease production, marketing and distribution of those products. Litigation may also be necessary to defend infringement, misappropriation or other violation claims of third parties or to enforce patent or other intellectual property rights we hold or protect trade secrets or techniques or other intellectual property we own. Further, third parties may seek approval to market their own products similar to or otherwise competitive with our products. In these circumstances, we may need to defend and/or assert our patents or other intellectual property, including by filing lawsuits alleging patent infringement. In any of these types of proceedings, a court or agency with jurisdiction may find our owned or in-licensed patents invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed; competitors may then be able to market products and use manufacturing and analytical processes that are substantially similar. Even if we own or in-license valid and enforceable patents, these patents still may not provide protection against competing products or processes sufficient to achieve our business objectives.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and patents in which we or our licensors have an interest may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. Generally, issued patents are granted a term of 20 years from the earliest claimed non-provisional filing date. In certain instances, patent terms can be adjusted to recapture a portion of delay incurred by the USPTO in examining the patent application (patent term adjustment). The scope of patent protection may also be limited. In addition, the laws of foreign jurisdictions may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S. For example, certain countries outside of the U.S. do not allow patents for methods of treating the human body. This may preclude us from obtaining method patents outside of the U.S. having similar scope to those we have obtained or may obtain in the future in the U.S.

It is possible that defects of form in the preparation or filing of our owned or in-licensed patents or patent applications may exist, or may arise in the future, for example with respect to proper priority claims, inventorship, claim scope, or requests for patent term adjustments. The acquisition or licensing of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and our competitors may pursue strategies to acquire or license third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. Our competitors may have a competitive advantage due to their size, capital resources and greater development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to acquire or license third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment or at all. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights or maintain the existing intellectual property rights we have, we may have to abandon development of the relevant product, and our customers may be forced to stop using the relevant products. If we or our current or future licensors fail to establish, maintain or protect such patents and other intellectual property rights, such rights may be reduced or eliminated. If there are material defects in the form, preparation, prosecution, or enforcement of our patents or patent applications, such patents may be invalid and/or unenforceable, and such applications may never result in valid, enforceable patents. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

Without patent protection for our current or future product candidates, we may be open to competition from generic versions of such products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing, and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to our own.

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA marketing approval of future product candidates, one or more of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term restoration under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years beyond the normal expiration of the patent as compensation for patent term lost during drug development and the FDA regulatory review process, which is limited to the approved indication (or any additional indications approved during the period of extension). A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond 14 years from the date of product approval. This

extension is based on the first approved use of a product and is limited to only one patent that covers the approved product, the approved use of the product, or a method of manufacturing the product. However, the applicable agencies, including the FDA and the USPTO in the U.S., and any equivalent regulatory authority in other countries, may not agree with our assessment of whether such extensions are available, and may refuse to grant extensions to our patents, or may grant more limited extensions than we request. We may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time-period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to extend the expiration date of our existing patents or obtain new patents with longer expiry dates, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our investment in development and clinical trials by referencing our clinical and preclinical data to obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration and launch our product earlier than might otherwise be the case.

Obtaining and maintaining intellectual property, including patent protection, depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment, and other requirements imposed by domestic and international governmental agencies, and our intellectual property, including patent protection, could be reduced or eliminated for noncompliance with these requirements.

The patent prosecution process is expensive, time-consuming and complex. Periodic maintenance, renewal, annuity and various other fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and other foreign governmental agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the intellectual property. The USPTO and various national or international agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the intellectual property, resulting in partial or complete loss of rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of rights include, but are not limited to, failure to timely file national and regional stage patent applications based on our international application, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees, and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. If we or any of our licensors fail to maintain the intellectual property covering our product candidates, our competitors may be able to enter the market, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may not identify relevant third-party patents or may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third-party patent, which might adversely affect our ability to develop and market our products.

We cannot guarantee that any of our patent searches or analyses, including the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third-party patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is relevant to or necessary for the commercialization of our current and future product candidates in any jurisdiction. The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to market our product candidates, if approved. We may incorrectly determine that our products are not covered by a third-party patent or may incorrectly predict whether a third-party’s pending application will issue with claims of relevant scope. Our determination of the expiration date of any patent in the United States or abroad that we consider relevant may be incorrect, and our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our products. Also, because the claims of published patent applications can change between publication and patent grant, there may be published patent applications that may ultimately issue with claims that we infringe. As the number of competitors in the market grows and the number of patents issued in this area increases, the possibility of patent infringement claims escalates. Moreover, in recent years, individuals and groups that are non-practicing entities, commonly referred to as “patent trolls,” have purchased patents and other intellectual property assets for the purpose of making claims of infringement in order to extract settlements. From time to time, we may receive threatening letters, notices or “invitations to license,” or may be the subject of claims that our products and business operations infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of others. The defense of these matters can be time consuming, costly to defend in litigation, divert management’s attention and resources, damage our reputation and brand and cause us to incur significant expenses or make substantial payments.

We may become subject to third-party claims or litigation alleging infringement, misappropriation or other violation of such third party’s patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights, or seeking to invalidate our patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights, which could be costly, time consuming, and, if successfully asserted against us, may delay or prevent the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates.

Our commercial success depends in part on us and our licensors avoiding infringement, misappropriation and other violations of the patents and other intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the U.S., involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, derivation, and administrative law proceedings, inter partes review, and post-grant review before the USPTO, as well as oppositions and similar processes in foreign jurisdictions. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical products and techniques without payment, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we and our collaborators are developing product candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, and as we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company, the risk increases that our product candidates or other business activities may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent and other proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may assert that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights or employing their proprietary technology without authorization.

Also, there may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods of treatment related to the use or manufacture of our current and future product candidates. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications which may later result in issued patents that our current or future product candidates may infringe.

In addition, third parties may obtain patent rights in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon their rights. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover the manufacturing process of any of our product candidates, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process, methods of treating certain diseases or conditions that we are pursuing with our product candidates, our formulations including combination therapies, or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate unless we obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire. Such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In addition, we may be subject to claims that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating other intellectual property rights, such as trademarks or copyrights, or misappropriating the trade secrets of others, and to the extent that our employees, consultants or contractors use intellectual property or proprietary information owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.

Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our current and future product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful infringement or other intellectual property claim against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our affected products, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. We cannot predict whether any such license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our product candidates, and we have done so from time to time. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly. We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights do not exist which might be enforced against our product candidates, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting sales, or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties or other forms of compensation to third parties.

During the course of any intellectual property litigation, there could be public announcements of the initiation of the litigation as well as results of hearings, rulings on motions, and other interim proceedings in the litigation. If securities

analysts or investors regard these announcements as negative, the perceived value of our existing product candidates, programs or intellectual property could be diminished. Accordingly, the market price of Ordinary Shares may decline. Such announcements could also harm our reputation or the market for future products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Lawsuits or other proceedings to protect or enforce our patents, the patents of any licensors or our other intellectual property rights could be expensive, time consuming, and unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe or otherwise violate our patents, the patents of our licensors or our other intellectual property rights. To counter infringement or unauthorized use or misappropriations, we may be required to file legal claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that one or more patents of us or any of our current or future licensors is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing. The initiation of a claim against a third party may also cause the third party to bring counterclaims against us, such as claims asserting that our patents are invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the U.S., defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, non-enablement or lack of statutory subject matter. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant material information from the USPTO, or made a materially misleading statement, during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar validity claims before the USPTO in post-grant proceedings such as ex parte reexaminations, inter partes review, post-grant review or oppositions or similar proceedings outside the U.S., in parallel with litigation or even outside the context of litigation. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. We cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. Additionally, for any patents and patent applications that we license from third parties, we may have limited or no right to participate in the defense of such licensed patents against challenge by a third-party. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our current or future product candidates. Such a loss of patent protection could harm our business.

Furthermore, even if our patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights are found to be valid and infringed, a court may refuse to grant injunctive relief against the infringer and instead award us monetary damages or ongoing royalties. Such monetary compensation may be insufficient to adequately offset the damage to our business caused by the infringer’s competition in the market. Because of the expense and uncertainty of litigation, we may conclude that even if a third party is infringing our current or future owned or in-licensed patents, any patents that may be issued as a result of our current or future owned or in-licensed patent applications, or other intellectual property rights, the risk-adjusted cost of bringing and enforcing such a claim or action may be too high or not in the best interest of us or our shareholders. In such cases, we may decide that the more prudent course of action is to simply monitor the situation or initiate or seek some other non-litigious action or solution. Moreover, even if we are successful in any litigation, we may incur significant expense in connection with such proceedings, and the amount of any monetary damages may be inadequate to compensate us for damage as a result of the infringement and the proceedings.

In addition, third parties may assert infringement claims against our customers. These claims may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of our customers or indemnify our customers for any costs associated with their own initiation or defense of infringement claims, regardless of the merits of these claims. If any of these claims succeed or settle, we may be forced to pay damages or settlement payments on behalf of our customers or may be required to obtain licenses for the products they use. If we cannot obtain all necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all, our customers may be forced to stop using our products.

We may not be able to prevent, alone or with our licensors, infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our intellectual property or other proprietary rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Our business could be harmed if in litigation the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Any litigation or other proceedings to enforce our intellectual property or proprietary rights may fail, and even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract the management and other employees.

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

Changes in U.S. or foreign patent laws or their interpretations could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

The United States government has enacted and implemented wide-ranging patent reform legislation. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on several patent cases in recent years, either narrowing the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weakening the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on actions by Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce patents that we have licensed or that we might obtain in the future. Similarly, changes in patent law and regulations in other countries or jurisdictions or changes in the governmental bodies that enforce them or changes in how the relevant governmental authority enforces patent laws or regulations may weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce patents that we have licensed or that we may obtain in the future.

In 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the “Leahy-Smith Act”) was signed into law. The Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and also affect patent litigation. These also include provisions that switched the U.S. from a “first-to-invent” system to a “first-to-file” system, allow third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and set forth additional procedures to attack the validity of a patent by the USPTO administered post grant proceedings. Under a first-to-file system, assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application generally will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether another inventor had made the invention earlier. The USPTO recently developed new regulations and procedures to govern administration of the Leahy-Smith Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the Leahy-Smith Act, and in particular, the first to file provisions, only became effective on March 16, 2013. A third-party that files a patent application in the USPTO after March 2013, but before the Company could therefore be awarded a patent covering an invention even if the Company had made the invention before it was made by such third-party. This will require the Company to be cognizant of the time from invention to filing of a patent application. Since patent applications in the U.S. and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing or until issuance, the Company cannot be certain that it was the first to file any patent application related to its products or invent any of the inventions claimed in its patents or patent applications.

The Leahy-Smith Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the way patent applications will be prosecuted and also may affect patent litigation. These include allowing third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures to attack the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review and derivation proceedings. Because of a lower evidentiary standard in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in U.S. federal courts necessary to invalidate a patent claim, a third-party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the USPTO to hold a claim invalid even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in a district court action. Accordingly, a third-party may attempt to use the USPTO procedures to invalidate the Company’s patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first challenged by the third-party as a defendant in a district court action. Therefore, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of the Company’s patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents. In addition, future actions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO could cause the laws and regulations governing patents to change in unpredictable ways. The Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world, which could impair our business.

Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents covering our product candidates throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, the requirements for patentability and obtaining other intellectual property protection may differ in certain countries, particularly developing countries. In addition, the laws of many foreign countries will not protect our intellectual property or other proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent or other intellectual property protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we may have or obtain patent or other intellectual property protection, but where patent or other intellectual property enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These unauthorized products may compete with our products in such jurisdictions and take away our market share where we do not have any issued or licensed patents or other intellectual property protection and any future patent claims or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from so competing. Our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may be adversely affected by unforeseen changes in foreign intellectual property laws.

Our reliance on third parties may require us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.

Because we rely on third parties for a wide variety of services, including the manufacture and continuing development of our product candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. We seek to protect our trade secrets in part by entering into agreements containing confidentiality and use restrictions and obligations prior to disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third parties to use or disclose our confidential information, including our trade secrets. Despite the contractual provisions employed when working with third parties, the need to share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Given that our proprietary position is based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, a competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure could impair our competitive position and may have an adverse effect on business and results of operations.

Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, our competitors may discover our trade secrets, either through breach of agreements with third parties, independent development or publication of information by any of the third-party collaborators. A competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets could impair our competitive position and have an adverse impact on our business.

If we fail to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets and other proprietary information, the value of our product candidates and our business and competitive position may be harmed.

In addition to patent protection, we also rely on other proprietary rights, including protection of trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent. Trade secrets can be difficult to protect, and some courts are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. To maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets and proprietary information, we rely heavily on confidentiality provisions that we have in contracts with our employees, consultants, collaborators and others upon the commencement of their relationship with us. However, we cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or has had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology and processes and we may not enter into such agreements with all employees, consultants and third parties who have been involved in the development of our intellectual property rights. In addition, monitoring unauthorized use and disclosure of our intellectual property rights by employees, consultants and other third parties who have access to such intellectual property or other proprietary rights is difficult. Therefore, we may not be able to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our technical knowledge or other trade secrets by such employees, consultants, advisors or third parties, despite the existence generally of these confidentiality restrictions. There can be no assurance that such employees, consultants, advisors or third parties will not breach their agreements with us, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or independently developed by third parties, including our competitors.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated the intellectual property of a third party, including trade secrets or know-how of their former employers or other third parties.

We may be subject to claims that our employees or consultants have wrongfully used for our benefit or disclosed to us confidential information of third parties. We employ individuals who were previously employed at other

biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, or at research institutions. Some of these employees, consultants and contractors may have executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in connection with such previous employment. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the intellectual property rights, proprietary information, know-how or trade secrets of others in their work for us and seek to protect our ownership of intellectual property rights by ensuring that our agreements with employees, collaborators, and other third parties with whom we do business include provisions requiring such parties to assign rights in inventions to us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of our employees’ former employers or other third parties. To the extent that our employees, consultants or contractors use intellectual property rights or proprietary information owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in any related or resulting know-how and inventions. We may also be subject to claims that former employers or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. Litigation may be necessary to defend against any of these claims. There is no guarantee of success in defending these claims, and if we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. In addition, we may lose personnel as a result of such claims and any such litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with independent contractors. Even if we are successful, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and other employees.

If we fail to validly execute invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors involved in the development of intellectual property, the value of our products, business and competitive position may be harmed. Our patent rights and other intellectual property may also be subject to priority, ownership or inventorship disputes, interferences, and similar proceedings.

To maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets, proprietary information and other intellectual property rights, we generally have confidentiality and invention assignment provisions in place with our employees, consultants, suppliers, contract manufacturers, collaborators, and others upon the commencement of a relationship. However, we may not enter into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology and processes or who conceives or develops intellectual property rights that we regard as our own. Moreover, even when we obtain agreements assigning intellectual property to us, the assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties or defend claims that they may bring against us to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. There can be no assurance that such agreements will be upheld in the face of a potential challenge or that third parties will not breach their agreements with us, or that we will have adequate remedies for any breach.

We may also be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators, or other third parties have an interest in our current or future patents and patent applications or other intellectual property rights, including as an inventor or co-inventor. If we are unable to obtain an exclusive license to any such third-party co-owners’ interest in such patents and patent applications, such co-owners rights may be subject, or in the future subject, to assignment or license to other third parties, including competitors. In addition, we may need the cooperation of any such co-owners to enforce any such patents and any patents issuing from such patent applications against third parties, and such cooperation may not be provided. Additionally, we may be subject to claims from third parties challenging our ownership interest in or inventorship of intellectual property we regard as our own, for example, based on claims that our agreements with employees or consultants obligating them to assign intellectual property rights to us are ineffective or in conflict with prior or competing contractual obligations to assign inventions to another employer, to a former employer, or to another person or entity, despite the inclusion of valid, present-tense intellectual property assignment obligations. Litigation may be necessary to defend against claims, and it may be necessary or we may desire to enter into a license to settle any such claim.

If we or our licensors are unsuccessful in any priority, validity (including any patent oppositions), ownership or inventorship disputes to which we or they are subject, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights through the loss of one or more of our patents, or such patent claims may be narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable, or through loss of exclusive ownership of or the exclusive right to use our owned or in-licensed patents. In the event of loss of patent rights as a result of any of these disputes, we may be required to obtain and maintain licenses from third parties, including parties involved in any such interference proceedings or other priority or inventorship disputes. Such licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may be non-exclusive. If we are unable

to obtain and maintain such licenses, we may need to cease the development, manufacture, and commercialization of one or more of the product candidates we may develop. An inability to incorporate technologies, features or other intellectual property that are important or essential to our products could have a material adverse effect on our business and competitive position. The loss of exclusivity or the narrowing of our patent claims could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and product candidates. Even if we are successful in priority, inventorship or ownership disputes, such disputes could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees. Any litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with independent sales representatives. Any of the foregoing could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business, or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. The following examples are illustrative:

Should any of these events occur, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

If our current and future trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets and markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.

We intend to use registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names to brand and market our products. Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we

need to build name recognition among potential partners or customers in the markets of interest. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections of our applications by the USPTO or in other foreign jurisdictions. Although we would be given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products, which could result in loss of brand recognition, and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands. In addition, in the USPTO and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to us, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. We may license our trademarks and trade names to third parties, such as distributors. Though these license agreements may provide guidelines for how trademarks and trade names may be used, a breach of these agreements or misuse of such trademarks and trade names by our licensees may jeopardize our rights in or diminish the goodwill associated with our trademarks and trade names. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade names, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely affect our business, growth prospects, operating results and financial condition.

Risks related to government regulations

The regulatory approval processes of the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory agencies are highly complex, lengthy, and inherently unpredictable. If we are unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, or to do so in a timely manner, we will be unable to generate product revenue and our business will be substantially harmed.

The processes that must be followed to obtain approval by the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory agencies to market a pharmaceutical product are highly complex and unpredictable, and typically take many years following the commencement of clinical trials. A company’s ability to obtain such an approval, and the time necessary to obtain it, depends upon numerous factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. In addition, approval policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions, which may cause delays in the approval or the decision not to approve an application. Regulatory agencies have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other data. Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval of any regulatory filing for our product candidates, the FDA and non-U.S. regulatory agencies may approve our product candidates for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested.

Further, development of a company’s product candidates and/or regulatory approval may be impacted or delayed by events beyond our control. For example, our competitors may file citizens’ petitions with the FDA in an attempt to persuade the FDA that our product candidates, or the clinical trials that support their approval, contain deficiencies. Such actions by our competitors could delay or even prevent the FDA from approving any of our NDAs or biologics license applications ("BLAs").

Applications for our product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:

This complex and lengthy approval process, as well as the unpredictability of the results of clinical trials, may result in us failing to obtain regulatory approval to market any of our product candidates, or a failure to obtain such approval in a timely manner, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

We may face difficulties in commercializing and achieving reimbursement of our products from changes to current regulations and future legislation.

In the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes to the healthcare system that could affect our future results of operations. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are unable to maintain regulatory compliance, we may be unable to successfully commercialize our products, and may not achieve or sustain profitability.

For example, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (or collectively, the “ACA”), substantially affects the way healthcare is financed by both the government and private insurers, and significantly impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The ACA contains provisions that can reduce the profitability of drug products through increased rebates for drugs reimbursed by Medicaid programs, extension of Medicaid rebates to Medicaid managed care plans, mandatory discounts for certain Medicare Part D beneficiaries and annual fees based on pharmaceutical companies’ share of sales to federal health care programs. There have been extensive judicial, Congressional and executive branch challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, as well as efforts and proposals to revise or repeal the law and its application, to control the prices at which pharmaceutical products are sold, and to implement other healthcare reform measures. For example, on August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) into law, which among other things, extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. The IRA also eliminates the “donut hole” under the Medicare Part D program beginning in 2025 by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost and through a newly established manufacturer discount program. Such efforts can be expected to continue in the future, but it is unclear what measures will be enacted or implemented, or how they might affect our business.

In addition, other legislative and administrative changes have been adopted in the United States in recent years, and others continue to be proposed. These changes include reductions to payments made under the Medicare program. In addition, during 2021, the Biden administration proposed additional potential legislative and administrative actions to, among other things, reform drug pricing. For example, in July 2021, the Biden administration released an executive order, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” with multiple provisions aimed at prescription drugs. In response to Biden’s executive order, on September 9, 2021, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released a Comprehensive Plan for Addressing High Drug Prices that outlines principles for drug pricing reform and sets out a variety of potential legislative policies that Congress could pursue as well as potential administrative actions HHS can take to advance these principles. In addition, the IRA, among other things, (i) directs HHS to negotiate the price of certain drugs and biologics covered under Medicare, and subjects drug manufacturers

to civil monetary penalties and a potential excise tax by offering a price that is not equal to or less than the negotiated “maximum fair price” under the law, and (ii) imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation. The IRA permits HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. HHS has and will continue to issue and update guidance as these programs are implemented. These provisions take effect progressively starting in fiscal year 2023. On August 29, 2023, HHS announced the list of the first ten drugs that will be subject to price negotiations, although the Medicare drug price negotiation program is currently subject to legal challenges. It is currently unclear how the IRA will be effectuated but is likely to have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry. In response to the Biden administration’s October 2022 executive order, on February 14, 2023, HHS released a report outlining three new models for testing by the CMS Innovation Center which will be evaluated on their ability to lower the cost of drugs, promote accessibility, and improve quality of care. It is unclear whether the models will be utilized in any health reform measures in the future. Further, on December 7, 2023, the Biden administration announced an initiative to control the price of prescription drugs through the use of march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act. On December 8, 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology published for comment a Draft Interagency Guidance Framework for Considering the Exercise of March-In Rights which for the first time includes the price of a product as one factor an agency can use when deciding to exercise march-in rights. While march-in rights have not previously been exercised, it is uncertain if that will continue under the new framework.

These recent laws, administrative decisions and proposals, and any new ones that follow, may result in additional reductions in Medicare payments and other healthcare funding, which could have a material adverse effect on customers for our products and product candidates, if approved, and accordingly, on our results of operations.

At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. For example, on January 5, 2024, the FDA approved Florida’s Section 804 Importation Program (SIP) proposal to import certain drugs from Canada for specific state healthcare programs. It is unclear how this program will be implemented, including which drugs will be chosen, and whether it will be subject to legal challenges in the United States or Canada. Other states have also submitted SIP proposals that are pending review by the FDA.

We expect that the ACA, the IRA, as well as other healthcare reform measures that have been adopted, or may be adopted in the future, could result in more rigorous healthcare insurance coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our product candidates, if approved.

In the European Union and other countries, similar political, economic and regulatory developments may affect our ability to profitably commercialize our product candidates, if approved. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. As an example, the regulatory landscape related to clinical trials in the EU has evolved. The EU Clinical Trials Regulation, or CTR, which was adopted in April 2014 and repeals the EU Clinical Trials Directive, became applicable on January 31, 2022. The CTR permits trial sponsors to make a single submission to both the competent authority and an ethics committee in each EU member state, leading to a single decision for each EU member state. The assessment procedure for the authorization of clinical trials has been harmonized as well, including a joint assessment of some elements of the application by all EU member states in which the trial is to be conducted, and a separate assessment by each EU member state with respect to specific requirements related to its own territory, including ethics rules. Each EU member state’s decision is communicated to the sponsor through a centralized EU portal, the Clinical Trial Information System, or CTIS. The CTR provides a three-year transition period. The extent to which ongoing clinical trials will be governed by the CTR varies. For clinical trials in relation to which an application for approval was made on the basis of the Clinical Trials Directive before January 31, 2023, the CTD will continue to apply on a transitional basis until January 31, 2025. By that date, all ongoing trials will become subject to the provisions of the CTR. The CTR will apply to clinical trials from an earlier date if the related clinical trial application was made on the basis of the CTR or if the clinical trial has already transitioned to the CTR framework before January 31, 2025.

In addition to continuing pressure on prices and cost containment measures, legislative developments at the European Union or at the EU member state level may result in significant additional requirements or obstacles that may increase our operating costs. In many EU member states, healthcare budgetary constraints have resulted in restrictions on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines by relevant health service providers. This could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to commercialize our product candidates, if approved. Moreover, in the European Union, some EU member states may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular medicinal product to currently available therapies. This Health Technology Assessment ("HTA"), which is currently governed by the national laws of the individual EU member states, is the procedure according to which the assessment of the public health impact, therapeutic impact and the economic and societal impact of use of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country is conducted. The outcome of HTA regarding specific medicinal product will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these products by the competent agencies of individual EU member states. On December 15, 2021, the Health Technology Regulation ("HTA Regulation"), was adopted. The HTA Regulation is intended to boost cooperation among EU member states in assessing health technologies, including new medicinal products, and providing the basis for cooperation at EU level for joint clinical assessments in these areas. When it enters into application in 2025, the HTA Regulation will be intended to harmonize the clinical benefit assessment of HTA across the European Union.

In addition, on April 26, 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Directive and Regulation to revise the existing pharmaceutical legislation. If adopted in the form proposed, the recent European Commission proposals to revise the existing EU laws governing authorization of medicinal products may result in a decrease in data and market exclusivity opportunities for our product candidates in the EU. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether FDA, European Union, or other jurisdictions’ regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased scrutiny by, for example, United States Congress of the FDA approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.

If the FDA does not conclude that OCS-01 satisfies the requirements for the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory approval pathway, or if the requirements under Section 505(b)(2) are not as we expect, the approval pathway for OCS-01 will likely take significantly longer, cost significantly more and entail significantly greater complications and risks than anticipated, and in either case may not be successful.

We plan to seek FDA approval through the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for OCS-01. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments added Section 505(b)(2) (“Section 505(b)(2)”) to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”). Section 505(b)(2) permits the submission of an NDA where at least some of the information required for approval comes from studies that were not conducted by or for the applicant and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference. Section 505(b)(2), if applicable to us under the FDCA, would allow an NDA to rely in part on data in the public domain or the FDA’s prior conclusions regarding the safety and effectiveness of approved drug products, which could expedite the development program for OCS-01 by potentially decreasing the amount of preclinical or clinical data that we would need to generate in order to obtain FDA approval.

If we cannot pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for OCS-01, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials, provide additional data and information, and meet additional standards for regulatory approval. If this were to occur, the time and financial resources required to obtain FDA approval for OCS-01, and complications and risks associated with OCS-01, would likely substantially increase. Moreover, our inability to pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway would likely result in new competitive products reaching the market more quickly than OCS-01, which would likely adversely impact our competitive position and prospects. Even if we can pursue the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, we cannot assure you that OCS-01 will receive the requisite approvals for commercialization.

In addition, notwithstanding the approval of products by the FDA under Section 505(b)(2), certain pharmaceutical companies and others have objected to the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2). If the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2) is successfully challenged, the FDA may change its 505(b)(2) policies and practices, which could delay or even prevent the FDA from approving any NDA that we submit under Section 505(b)(2). In addition, the pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive, and Section 505(b)(2) NDAs are subject to special requirements designed to protect the patent rights of sponsors of previously approved drugs that are referenced in a Section 505(b)(2)

NDA. These requirements may give rise to patent litigation and mandatory delays in approval of our NDAs for up to thirty (30) months or longer depending on the outcome of any litigation. It is not uncommon for the owner of the NDA of an approved product to file a citizen petition with the FDA seeking to delay approval of, or impose additional approval requirements for, pending competing products. If successful, such petitions could significantly delay, or even prevent, the approval of a new product. However, even if the FDA ultimately denies such a petition, the FDA may substantially delay approval while it considers and responds to the petition. In addition, even if we are able to utilize the Section 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, there is no guarantee this would ultimately lead to earlier approval.

Moreover, even if OCS-01 is approved under Section 505(b)(2), the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to other conditions of approval, or may contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product.

The U.S. Government and non-U.S. regulatory agencies actively enforce laws and regulations regarding the promotion of pharmaceutical products, and if we are found to have violated any such laws or regulations, we may be subject to significant liability.

The FDA and other U.S. Government agencies and non-U.S. regulatory agencies strictly regulate the manner in which medicinal products may be marketed. In particular, a medicinal product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA or such other regulatory agencies as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. In addition, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the health care industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such laws, and the application of those laws, are complex and evolving.

If we are found to have improperly promoted the sale of any of our product candidates, if approved, such as through the promotion of the off-label use of those products, or through kickbacks or fraud, or through any other conduct or activity deemed to be unlawful, then we may become subject to significant liability. For example, if we receive marketing approval for a product as a treatment for a disease, physicians may nevertheless choose to prescribe the product for their patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the approved label. If we are found to have promoted such off-label uses, we may become subject to significant liability. The U.S. federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion of off-label use and has enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. The FDA has also requested that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. If we cannot successfully manage the promotion of our product candidates, if approved, we could become subject to significant liability, which would materially adversely affect our business, growth prospects, operating results and financial condition.

In the EU, the advertising and promotion of medicinal products are subject to both EU and EU member states’ laws governing promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians and other healthcare professionals, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices. Although general requirements for advertising and promotion of medicinal products are established under EU legislation, the details are governed by regulations in individual EU member states and can differ from one country to another. For example, applicable laws require that promotional materials and advertising in relation to medicinal products comply with the product’s Summary of Product Characteristics ("SmPC"), as approved by the competent agencies in connection with a marketing authorization. The SmPC is the document that provides information to physicians concerning the safe and effective use of the product. Promotional activity that does not comply with the SmPC is considered off-label and is prohibited in the EU. Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicinal products is also prohibited in all EU member states. The competent regulatory agencies of the EU member states actively enforce the laws and regulations governing promotion of medicinal products. If we are found to have undertaken improper promotional activities we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, as well as reputational harm, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, principal investigators, CROs, suppliers and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, consultants, principal investigators, CROs, suppliers, vendors and other third parties with which we do business may engage in misconduct or other improper activities. Misconduct by these parties could include failures to comply with federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws and regulations and equivalent foreign laws, FDA regulations and equivalent regulations of foreign agencies, requirements to provide accurate information to the FDA or equivalent foreign agencies, data privacy and security laws and requirements to accurately report financial information or data or to disclose unauthorized activities to us. Misconduct by these parties could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. Although we have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics with respect to our employees, agents and contractors, it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by these parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid and equivalent foreign health insurance programs, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in other jurisdictions. The FDA and non-U.S. regulatory agencies may not accept data from trials conducted in locations outside of their jurisdiction.

Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction. For example, even if the FDA approves a drug candidate for an indication in the U.S., comparable regulatory agencies in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion and reimbursement of the product in those countries. In addition, a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from those in the U.S., including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, since clinical trials conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory agencies in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the U.S., a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval.

Obtaining non-U.S. regulatory approvals and establishing and maintaining compliance with non-U.S. regulatory requirements could result in significant difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our product candidates, if approved, in certain countries. If we or any future collaborator fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets or fail to receive applicable marketing approvals, then our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates, if approved, will be harmed.

Our business operations and current and future relationships with healthcare professionals, clinical investigators, consultants, patient organizations, commercial partners, customers, CROs and third-party payors in connection with our current and future business activities may be subject to federal, state and foreign healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, transparency laws, government price reporting, and health information privacy and security laws, which could expose us to, among other things, criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, exclusion from governmental healthcare programs, reputational harm, administrative burdens and diminished profits and future earnings.

Healthcare providers and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our current and future arrangements with healthcare professionals, including physicians, clinical investigators, CROs, third-party payors and customers may expose it to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable healthcare laws and regulations include the following:

State and foreign laws require biotechnology companies to comply with the biotechnology industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the government and may require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. Some state and foreign laws require biotechnology companies to report

information on the pricing of certain drug products. Certain state and local jurisdictions require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives. State, federal and foreign laws also govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

Efforts to ensure that our current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve ongoing substantial costs. It is possible that governmental agencies will conclude that our business practices, including the provision of compensation for consulting services to physicians and other healthcare providers, some of whom may be in a position to recommend, purchase and/or prescribe our product candidates, if approved, may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to it, we may be subject to significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid or similar programs in other countries or jurisdictions, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against it, our business may be impaired. Further, if any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs, which could have an adverse effect on our business and reputation.

Our business activities are subject to the FCPA and similar anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws of other countries in which we operate, as well as U.S. and certain foreign export controls, trade sanctions, and import laws and regulations. Compliance with these legal requirements could limit our ability to compete in foreign markets and subject us to liability if we violate them.

We may conduct clinical trials in countries other than the United States. In addition, we have entered into a license agreement with Accure, a biotechnology company headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. Our business activities are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), and similar anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws, regulations or rules of Switzerland and other countries in which we operate. Anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA, generally prohibit offering, promising, giving or authorizing others to give anything of value, either directly or indirectly, to a government official in order to influence official action or otherwise obtain or retain business. The FCPA also requires public companies to make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. Our business is heavily regulated and therefore involves significant interaction with public officials, potentially including officials of foreign governments. Additionally, although none of our product candidates is yet approved for sale in any country, in many countries other than the U.S., the healthcare providers who prescribe pharmaceuticals like our product candidates are employed by their government, and the purchasers of pharmaceuticals are government entities. Therefore, any future dealings by us with these prescribers and purchasers may be subject to regulation under the FCPA and other applicable anti-corruption laws.

The SEC and Department of Justice have increased their FCPA enforcement activities with respect to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. There is no certainty that all of our employees, agents or contractors, or those of our affiliates, will comply with all applicable anti-corruption laws and regulations, particularly given the high level of complexity of these laws. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines, criminal sanctions against us, our officers or our employees, the closing down of our facilities, cessation of business activities in certain countries, implementation of compliance programs and prohibitions on the conduct of our business. Any such violations could include prohibitions on our ability to offer our products, if approved, in one or more countries and could materially damage our reputation, our brand, international activities, our ability to attract and retain employees and our business, growth prospects, operating results and financial condition.

In addition, our products may be subject to U.S. and foreign export controls, trade sanctions and import laws and regulations. Governmental regulation of the import or export of our products, or our failure to obtain any required import or export authorization for our products, when applicable, could harm our international sales and adversely affect our revenue. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements regarding the export of our products may

create delays in the introduction of our products in international markets or, in some cases, prevent the export of our products to some countries altogether. Furthermore, export control laws and economic sanctions may prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to specified countries, governments, and persons. If we fail to comply with export and import regulations and such economic sanctions, we may be fined or other penalties could be imposed, including a denial of certain export privileges. Moreover, any new export or import restrictions, new legislation or shifting approaches in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or in the countries, persons, or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export products to existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell access to our products could adversely affect our business.

Disruptions at the FDA, the SEC and other government agencies and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies caused by funding shortages or global health concerns could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner, or otherwise prevent those agencies from performing normal business functions on which the operation of our business may rely, which could negatively impact our business.

The ability of the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, our ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, statutory, regulatory, and policy changes, and other events that may otherwise affect the ability of the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies to perform routine functions. Average review times at the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of the SEC and other government agencies on which our operations may rely, including those that fund research and development activities, is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.

Disruptions at the FDA, other agencies, and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies may slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed or approved, which could adversely affect our business. For example, in recent years, including in 2013, 2018 and 2019, the U.S. government shut down several times, and in 2020 and 2021 the FDA diverted significant resources to handle the SARS-CoV-2 virus public health emergency and pandemic. Certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA and the SEC, have had to furlough critical FDA, SEC and other government employees for a time, and to stop critical activities in response to such events, and may be required to do so again in the future.

If such disruptions recur, or if a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory agencies to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, in our operations as a public company, future government disruptions or shutdowns could impact our ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.

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

We and any contract manufacturers and suppliers we engage are subject to numerous federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety laws, regulations, and permitting requirements, including those governing laboratory procedures; the generation, handling, use, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous and regulated materials and waste; the emission and discharge of hazardous materials into the ground, air, and water; and employee health and safety. Our operations may involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological and radioactive materials. Our operations also may produce hazardous waste. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. Under certain environmental laws, we could be held responsible for costs relating to any contamination at our current or past facilities and at third-party facilities. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.