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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

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

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022

OR

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

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO___________

Commission File Number 001-39587

23ANDME HOLDING CO.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

(650) 938-6300

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

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

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

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. 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, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not 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. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ☒

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The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of September 30, 2021, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $0.82 billion (based on the last reported sale price of the Registrant’s Class A common stock of $9.06 per share on September 30, 2021 on the Nasdaq Global Select Market), excluding only shares of Class A common stock held by executive officers and directors of the Registrant as of such date. The Registrant has no non-voting stock outstanding.

As of May 20, 2022, there were 256,405,630 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 192,767,491 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, issued and outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 (this “Form 10-K”), including, without limitation, statements under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”). Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning 23andMe Holding Co.’s (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events, or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. In some instances, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including, without limitation, words like “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations.

The forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs, which we believe to be reasonable, concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Future developments affecting us may not be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control), and other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those factors described under Part I, Item 1A: “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. These risks and others described under Part I, Item 1A: “Risk Factors” may not be exhaustive.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K. In addition, even if our results or operations, financial condition, and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.

You should read this Form 10-K and the documents that we reference in this Form 10-K and have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as exhibits to this Form 10-K with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance, and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

As previously announced, VG Acquisition Corp. (“VGAC” and, after the Domestication as described below, “23andMe Holding Co.”), a Cayman Islands exempted company, entered into that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated February 4, 2021, as amended on February 13, 2021 and March 25, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among VGAC, Chrome Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned direct subsidiary of VGAC (the “Merger Sub”), and 23andMe, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

On June 16, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), as contemplated by the Merger Agreement, VGAC filed a notice of deregistration with the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies, together with the necessary accompanying documents, and filed a certificate of incorporation and a certificate of corporate domestication with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, under which VGAC was domesticated and continued as a Delaware corporation, changing its name to 23andMe Holding Co. (the “Domestication”). As a result of and upon the effective time of the Domestication, among other things, each of the then issued and outstanding Class A and Class B ordinary shares of VGAC automatically converted, on a one-for-one basis, into shares of our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A common stock”). On the Closing Date, VGAC consummated the merger transaction contemplated by the Merger Agreement, whereby the Merger Sub merged with and into 23andMe, Inc., the separate corporate existence of the Merger Sub ceasing and 23andMe, Inc. being the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of VGAC, now known as 23andMe Holding Co. (the “Merger”). Prior to the Merger, VGAC’s units, public shares, and public warrants were listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbols “VGAC.U,” “VGAC,” and “VGAC WS,” respectively. On June 17, 2021, the Company's Class A common stock and public warrants began trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”), under the symbols “ME” and “MEUSW,” respectively.

In this Form 10-K, 23andMe Holding Co. (together with its subsidiaries) is referred to as the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our.”

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PART I

Item 1. Business

Overview

23andMe Holding Co., formerly known as VG Acquisition Corp., is a mission-driven company dedicated to empowering customers to live healthier lives. The Company’s mission is to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. The Company believes that its premier database of genetic and phenotypic information crowdsourced from its millions of customers that separately consent to participate in our research can revolutionize healthcare by enabling us to discover insights into the origins of diseases, to use those insights to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases, and to speed the discovery and development of novel therapies. The Company is committed to rigorous scientific, ethical, and privacy standards and to being one of the most trusted source for genetic and health information.

We pioneered direct-to-consumer genetic testing, giving consumers unique, personalized information about their genetic health risks, ancestry, and traits. We are the only consumer genetic testing company with multiple Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") authorizations for over-the-counter health and carrier status reports. We were the first company to obtain FDA authorization for a direct-to-consumer genetic test, and we are the only company to have FDA authorization, clearance, or an exemption from premarket notification for all carrier status, genetic health risk, cancer predisposition, and pharmacogenetics reports offered to customers. As of March 31, 2022, over 60 health reports were available to customers in the U.S.

We acquired Lemonaid Health, Inc. (“Lemonaid” or “Lemonaid Health”) in November 2021 in an important step to achieve our goal of making personalized healthcare a reality. Lemonaid offers patients affordable and direct online access to medical care, from consultation through treatment, for a number of common conditions, using evidence-based guidelines and up-to-date clinical protocols to deliver quality patient care. When medications are prescribed by our medical professionals, patients can use our convenient online pharmacy for fast and free delivery.

Operating Segments

We operate in two reporting segments: Consumer & Research Services and Therapeutics.

Consumer & Research Services

Our Consumer & Research Services business segment comprises our Personal Genome Service® (“PGS”), our telehealth business, and research services.

PGS

Our PGS service provides customers with a broad suite of genetic reports, including information on customers’ genetic ancestral origins, personal genetic health risks, and chances of passing on certain rare carrier conditions to their children, as well as reports on how genetics can impact responses to medications. We believe that by providing customers with direct access to their genetic information, we can empower them to make better decisions by arming them with information about their risks of developing certain diseases or conditions and by highlighting opportunities for prevention and mitigation of disease.

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In the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”), we offer two PGS services, and also offer a premium service called 23andMe+. Ancestry + Traits Service is our base service and provides customers information about their genetic ancestral origins and how genetics may influence over 30 traits, such as physical features, sense perceptions, reactions to external stimuli and other traits. The service also includes a tool that enables customers who choose to opt in to connect with genetic relatives that are also customers of the Company. Our Health + Ancestry Service builds upon our Ancestry + Traits Service to also provide reports relating to a customer's health predisposition (including certain cancers and other health risks such as late-onset Alzheimer’s disease), carrier status (including for cystic fibrosis and hereditary hearing loss), and wellness (including for deep sleep, lactose intolerance and genetic weight), and carrier status reports. Ancestry + Traits Service customers can upgrade to the Health + Ancestry Service for a fee. We provide customers with an engaging experience, including access to updates to their genetic health and ancestry reports and new product features, and the ability to connect with genetic relatives.

Our 23andMe+ premium subscription service offers customers the Health + Ancestry Service plus pharmacogenetic reports, personalized genetic risk reports based on our research, and advanced ancestry and health features, including insights related to heart, reproductive health and sleep. Our PGS services are available for purchase on our website, 23andMe.com, or mobile app and, in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, through Amazon. Substantially all of the Company’s revenues are derived from the Consumer & Research Services segment, with revenue from PGS representing approximately 75%, 81%, and 89% of our total revenues for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

Customers have the option to participate in our research programs and over 80% of our customers have chosen to do so. We analyze consenting customers’ genotypic data together with phenotypic data they provide to us concerning their health, physical characteristics, family origins, lifestyle, and other habits. We analyze this data using our proprietary machine learning and other analytic techniques in order to discover insights into whether and how particular genetic variants affect the likelihood of individuals developing specific diseases. These insights may highlight opportunities to develop a drug to treat or cure a specific disease, and also provide information that customers can use to enhance their medical care and treatment, including care accessed through our Lemonaid telehealth platform.

Telehealth

The acquisition of Lemonaid provided us with telehealth capabilities and enhances our ability to bring better healthcare and wellness offerings to patients. Our telehealth platform provides patients with easy access to medical consultation and treatment. Within minutes, a patient can interact with one of our affiliated licensed physicians or nurse practitioners via telehealth. If a prescription is warranted, the patient can access our pharmacy services for fast and free delivery. Our pharmacies offer non-controlled medications for prevention and treatment of acute and chronic conditions at affordable prices, and our pharmacists provide ongoing support to ensure proper care by counseling, educating, and following up with patients. Our goal is to make personalized healthcare services affordable and accessible, focusing on both the prevention and treatment of disease. We make telehealth services available in the U.S. and, under a third-party brand, in the U.K.

Affiliated Professional Medical Corporations. Because many states limit the ownership of medical practices to licensed professionals and prohibit corporate ownership of medical practices, we offer medical services through affiliated professional medical corporations (“PMCs”) that are owned by a licensed medical provider in the applicable jurisdiction. All of the doctors and nurse practitioners who provide medical services to our patients are employees of the PMCs. Lemonaid, our wholly owned subsidiary, has a management services agreement (“MSA”) with each PMC pursuant to which Lemonaid provides business, administrative and non-clinical services to the PMC in exchange for a fixed fee. These services include IT, billing, insurance, tax, accounting and other administrative services, and do not include any clinical, diagnostic or treatment decisions, which are made solely by licensed practitioners based on quality medical care guidelines and protocols. The MSAs are exclusive arrangements, and the PMCs were established specifically to provide medical services through our platform.

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Affiliated Pharmacies. Our patients may choose to fill prescriptions provided to them by our affiliated medical professionals by using our pharmacy services. We facilitate the delivery of pharmacy services by our affiliated mail order pharmacy, offering patients affordable, fast and free delivery services throughout the U.S. We also manage an affiliated retail pharmacy that is able to accept insurance from government and commercial providers where applicable. Almost all of our pharmacy services are provided on a self-pay basis and are not covered by third-party payors. We also provide a small number of compounded medications that are fulfilled by a third-party service provider that is not affiliated with us. We manage our affiliated pharmacies under MSAs pursuant to which we provide all administrative services as well as licensed pharmacists, support staff and infrastructure. Our MSAs with our affiliated pharmacies are exclusive arrangements, and the affiliated pharmacies were established specifically to provide prescription medications when patients choose to use our platform to fill prescriptions written by our affiliated licensed medical professionals.

Research Services

Through our research services, we use our vast database of genetic and phenotypic information provided by consenting customers to discover insights into the genetic origins of disease and to identify targets for drug development. These services are performed under agreements with universities, research institutions and pharmaceutical companies, including our multi-year collaboration agreement with an affiliate of GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”), which was signed in July 2018 (the “GSK Agreement”) to leverage genetic insights to validate, develop, and commercialize drugs. The GSK Agreement is expected to identify and prioritize genetically validated drug targets, enable rapid progression of clinical programs, and bring useful new drugs to market. We also provide clinical trial services to accelerate patient recruitment by using our database to identify patients most likely to be eligible for participation in a clinical trial of a new drug. We currently have research programs across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases.

Therapeutics

Our Therapeutics business segment focuses on the use of genetic insights from our vast database of genetic and phenotypic information to develop novel therapies to improve patients’ lives. The Therapeutics segment consists of revenues from the out-licensing of intellectual property associated with identified drug targets and expenses related to therapeutic product candidates under clinical development. In addition to our collaboration with GSK, we have several proprietary programs, one of which is being pursued in collaboration with Almirall, S.A.

As of March 31, 2022, two of our programs had entered Phase 1 trials. One is from our proprietary programs, 23ME-00610, previously known as P006, which had started the Phase 1 in patients with advanced solid tumors. 23ME-00610 is a high-affinity humanized monoclonal antibody that is designed to interfere with the ability of CD200R1 to interact with CD200 found on cancer cells. The other one is immuno-oncology program, GSK6097608, led by GSK, an antibody that targets the CD96. CD96 sequesters a shared ligand (CD155) away from the costimulatory receptor (CD226), effectively attenuating T and NK cell anti-tumor immune responses. By blocking CD96, GSK6097608 may allow activation of CD226 and enhance anti-tumor immunity through T and NK cells. If a successful therapy were to be developed and commercialized by GSK using this target, we would be entitled to a royalty under the GSK Agreement.

Business Strategy

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Acquisitions

VGAC Business Combination

On June 16, 2021, the Company consummated the transactions (the “Merger”) contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated February 4, 2021, as amended on February 13, 2021 and March 25, 2021, by and among VG Acquisition Corp., a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company in 2020 (“VGAC”), Chrome Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned direct subsidiary of VGAC (the “Merger Sub”), and 23andMe, Inc. In connection with the Merger, VGAC changed its jurisdiction of incorporation from the Cayman Islands to the State of Delaware and changed its name to 23andMe Holding Co. (the “Domestication”). On the closing date, the Merger Sub merged with and into 23andMe, Inc., with 23andMe, Inc. being the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (together with the Merger and the Domestication, the “Business Combination”).

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Lemonaid Acquisition

We completed our acquisition of Lemonaid on November 1, 2021 (the “Lemonaid Acquisition”). Lemonaid, an on-demand platform for accessing medical care and pharmacy services online, offers telemedicine, lab, and pharmacy services to patients in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.K. We believe that the addition of Lemonaid's telehealth services to our consumer business will enable us to bring better healthcare to individuals in an affordable and accessible way and offer access to personalized healthcare, based on a patient’s wellness, choices, and genetics.

Market Opportunity

Consumer - PGS

We believe that our ability to analyze genetic information and provide personalized reports on genetic variations that are known to be associated with important health conditions empowers our customers. Armed with this personalized information, our customers have the ability to make informed, proactive decisions about their health and their lives. As of March 31, 2022, we had approximately 12.8 million customers.

We expect to continue to develop and provide to our customers new reports, including reports on cancer risk, diet, reproductive health, fitness and injuries, sleep, pharmacogenetics, and autoimmune conditions. Additionally, we believe that direct-to-consumer genetic health testing is gaining wider acceptance by physicians in the U.S., and that we will be able to drive further acceptance through our telehealth platform.

We expect to continue to invest in expanding our PGS offerings and marketing our PGS to customers, and that as we attract more customers, we will benefit from the network effect created by an increasing cohort of customers who recommend our PGS to their families and friends, and who reap health benefits by using their genetic information to help them and their medical providers make better decisions about their care and lifestyle choices.

23andMe+® Subscription Service

The 23andMe+ service is an annual subscription that provides customers with exclusive reports and features not available in the basic Health + Ancestry Service. This subscription is an add-on to our Health + Ancestry Service. 23andMe+ provides customers with additional health reports, including multiple FDA-authorized pharmacogenetics reports, as well as personalized risk score reports based on 23andMe research. These new risk scores can help customers understand certain genetic risks, such as atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, high LDL cholesterol, hypertension and migraine, and provide them with information on preventing and managing these conditions. The 23andMe+ subscription also provides customers with advanced ancestry-related features, such as enhanced tools and filters for finding genetic relatives. We are continually investing in new reports and features to provide to subscribers, and expect to add new reports for subscribers based on genetic insights from our research. We believe the 23andMe+ subscription will enhance customer engagement as subscribers receive new content with discoveries about themselves throughout the subscription period and meaningful and customized information to help them lead healthier lives. As of the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, our 23andMe+ membership base had approximately 425,000 and 125,000 subscribers, respectively.

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Consumer – Telehealth

Telehealth enables consumers to access healthcare conveniently, from their homes, and to obtain fast and affordable consultation, diagnosis and treatment without the difficulties of scheduling and traveling to physical appointments. By accessing medical consultation and treatment through our telehealth platform, patients are able to take ownership of their health. Support and demand for telehealth services have been increasing due to deregulation and broad societal shifts. We believe that we have the innovative, patient-first care model, the technical platform, the nationwide provider network, and the extensive pharmacy capabilities to be a leading provider of healthcare. Patients can interact with our medical providers through either synchronous or asynchronous consultations, depending on patient's need and applicable regulatory requirements. Our system enables us to deliver convenient, easy-to-access and discrete online care without an appointment. In the future, we plan to offer patients the opportunity to integrate genetic information into their healthcare, which we believe will enhance the ability of our medical providers to offer diagnoses and treatment tailored to our patients’ individual needs.

Therapeutics

We believe our research platform can transform the process of drug development. Genetic data can significantly improve our understanding of diseases, their pathways and mechanisms, leading to the design and development of more targeted medicines. Use of genetic data in selecting drug targets can increase both the probability of success in a particular indication and avoid unwanted safety risks. The scale of our database provides us with a unique opportunity to pursue genetically targeted drug discovery by enabling us to:

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Competition

Consumer (PGS and Telehealth)

The number of companies entering the personal genetics market with offerings similar to our direct-to-consumer PGS continues to increase. We also face competition from other companies attempting to capitalize on the same, or similar, opportunities as we are, including from existing diagnostic, laboratory services and other companies entering the personal genetics market with new offerings such as direct access and/or consumer self-pay tests and genetic interpretation services. Some of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories and greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to respond more quickly or efficiently than we can to new or emerging technologies. These competitors may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more aggressive pricing policies, which may allow them to build larger customer bases than we have. Our competitors may develop products or services that are similar to our products and services or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services. This could attract customers away from our services and reduce our market share. We believe that our ability to compete successfully will depend on the following factors:

Similarly, the markets for healthcare are intensely competitive, subject to rapid change, and significantly affected by new product and technological introductions and other market activities of industry participants. We compete directly not only with other established telehealth providers but also traditional healthcare providers and pharmacies. Our current competitors include traditional healthcare providers expanding into the telehealth market, incumbent telehealth providers, as well as new entrants into our market that are focused on direct-to-consumer healthcare. Our competitors include enterprise-focused companies that may enter the direct-to-consumer healthcare industry, as well as direct-to-consumer healthcare providers. Many of our current and potential competitors may have greater name and brand recognition, longer operating histories, significantly greater resources than we do, and may be able to offer products and services similar to those offered on our platform at more attractive prices than we can.

Additionally, we believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced many new users to telehealth and further reinforced its benefits to potential competitors. We believe this may drive additional industry consolidation or collaboration involving competitors that may create competitors with greater resources and access to potential patients. The COVID-19 pandemic may also cause various traditional healthcare providers to evaluate and eventually pursue telehealth options that can be paired with their in-person capabilities. These industry changes could better position our competitors to serve certain segments of our current or future markets, which could create additional price pressure. In light of these factors, even if our offerings are more effective than those of our competitors, current or potential patients may accept competitive solutions in lieu of purchasing from us.

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Therapeutics

Our therapeutics business faces substantial competition from larger, more established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with marketed products that have been accepted by the medical community, patients, and third-party payors, as well as smaller companies in our industry that have successfully identified and developed drugs. Our ability to compete in this industry may be affected by the previous adoption of such products by the medical community, patients, and third-party payors.

We recognize that other companies, including larger pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, may be developing or have plans to develop drugs that may compete with ours. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, and human resources than we have. In addition, many of our competitors have significantly greater experience than we have in undertaking preclinical studies and human clinical trials of drugs, obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of drugs for use in healthcare and manufacturing, and marketing and selling approved drugs. Our competitors may discover, develop or commercialize products or other novel technologies that are more effective, safer or less costly than any that we are developing. Our competitors may also obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their drugs more rapidly than we may obtain approval for any drug that we develop.

We anticipate that the competition with our drugs will be based on a number of factors, including product efficacy, safety, availability, and price. The timing of market introduction of any successful drug and competitive drugs will also affect competition among products. We expect the relative speed with which we can develop drugs, complete the clinical trials and approval processes, and supply commercial quantities of such drugs to the market to be important competitive factors. Our competitive position will also depend upon our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, to obtain patent protection or otherwise develop proprietary products or processes, protect our intellectual property, and to secure sufficient capital resources for the period between target identification and commercial sales of the resulting drug.

Seasonality

Historically, our PGS business has been seasonal, with our kit sales being dependent on seasonal holiday demand, variability in our advertising expenditures by season, and the timing of Amazon Prime Day, which has varied in recent years. We generate a significant amount of our PGS revenue during the fourth quarter of our fiscal year, due to seasonal holiday demand and our increased advertising expenditures during the holiday period, which occurs during the third quarter of our fiscal year. Kit orders are recognized as revenue when the customer sends in their kit to the laboratory to be processed and genetic reports are delivered to the customer, which typically for holiday purchases tends to occur in our fourth fiscal quarter. For more information on the potential impacts of seasonality, see “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K.

Manufacture/Supply

For our PGS, we do not have in-house manufacturing capabilities and do not plan to develop such capacity in the foreseeable future. We do have a quality system that is compliant to 21 C.F.R. Part 820 for the regulated activities that are performed by us. We rely on third-party suppliers, which we have qualified in accordance with our quality system to provide materials (such as our saliva collection kits, bead chips, reagents or other materials and equipment used in our laboratory operations) and services. Currently, we rely on a sole supplier to manufacture our saliva collection kits. If we were to change the design of certain of the materials which we rely on, such as our bead chip or our saliva collection kit, we may be required to seek additional authorization or clearance from the FDA. Should we seek to utilize additional laboratories, prior to utilizing their services for our U.S. customers the laboratories would need to obtain appropriate Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (“CLIA”) certification and state licensure (if required) including the validation of our testing services in accordance with FDA and CLIA regulations and expectations.

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For our telehealth services, we operate an affiliated mail order pharmacy licensed in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. We rely on multiple third-party suppliers for our pharmaceuticals and there is a risk that we may experience supply chain issues that will impact our ability to fulfill prescriptions which would have a material impact on our business.

For Therapeutics, we do not have capability nor do we plan to develop current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”) capacity for the manufacture, or supply of clinical therapeutics for our clinical trials nor for commercialization. We oversee the development of, and rely on third-party suppliers to provide cGMP material for our planned clinical studies and will continue to work with contract manufacturers to improve process requirements to enable continued progress through clinical development to commercial medicines.

COVID-19

The coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic has disrupted the Company’s general business operations since March 2020. We continue to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in all aspects of our business. We rely entirely on third-party vendors in our PGS and telehealth supply chain, including our PGS kit and array manufacturers, order fulfillment vendor, our DNA-processing lab vendor, and drug suppliers for our pharmacy business. These vendors have independent responses to managing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have not experienced any significant disruptions in our ability to deliver PGS services or fulfill and process telehealth orders to date. If we experience delays or other challenges in obtaining supplies necessary for the production, fulfillment, or distribution of the products or services we offer, it could negatively affect our ability to satisfy our obligations to customers and patients and maintain our operations in a cost-efficient manner, and have a material adverse effect on our business.

With respect to our telehealth services, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness, acceptance, and usage of virtual medical care and pharmacy services, resulting in greater consumer trial and use of telehealth. While we believe that these trends present significant opportunities for our telehealth services, it is uncertain whether the increase in demand caused by COVID-19 will continue.

In our Therapeutics segment, the advancement of our programs requires our scientists to have physical access to our laboratory facilities on a continuing basis, and we have implemented health and safety protocols and procedures to keep our laboratory facilities operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also rely on third-party support for manufacturing of cGMP clinical materials for use in studies as well as healthcare institutions and investigators who participate in studies of our programs. We have yet to experience any disruption. Despite our mitigation efforts, we may experience delays or an inability to execute on our clinical and preclinical development plans, reduced revenues or other adverse impacts to our business, which are described in more detail in “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K.

We have taken other measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including closing our offices and implementing a work-from-home policy for most of our workforce, and amplifying monitoring of our inventory levels and supply chain. Notwithstanding these measures, the spread of COVID-19 has at certain times impacted our staffing and attendance in our laboratory facilities. We may take further actions that alter our business operations that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, and stockholders or as may be required by federal, state, or local authorities.

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To help our customers and others during the pandemic, we created an online COVID-19 Information Center, which contains data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and our own COVID-19 research study that evaluated genetic differences in both susceptibility and severity of the disease. The site includes data from both sources, offers people a place to learn more about the virus, and highlights conditions that carry added risks.

Intellectual Property

Since inception, we have considered our intellectual property (“IP”) as a critical part of our mission. We make every effort to protect our IP, and as of March 31, 2022, have built an extensive patent estate owned by 23andMe, as summarized below:

Consumer (PGS) Patent Estate

Our PGS patent estate consists of 93 granted U.S. patents, which include 76 utility and 17 design patents that cover technologies that include graphical user interfaces, aspects of algorithms for processing genetic data, computer implemented inventions, bioinformatics, and genotyping. The PGS patent estate includes patents from a third-party patent acquisition that closed in 2021. The acquisition included 34 issued patents and six pending patent applications.

Included in these are patents that relate to the following PGS services: (i) 11 design and 43 utility patents relate to our Ancestry + Traits Service, (ii) 13 design and 43 utility patents relate to our Health + Ancestry Service, and (iii) 11 utility patents relate to our 23andMe+ service. The PGS patent estate also includes 51 pending patent applications, which include two design applications, 39 U.S. utility applications, five Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) applications, two Canadian patent applications, and three European patent applications. Included in these are applications that relate to the following PGS services: (i) two design and 29 U.S. utility applications, three European patent applications, two Canadian patent applications, and four PCT applications relate to our Ancestry + Traits Service, (ii) two design, 30 U.S. utility applications, three European patent applications, two Canadian patent applications, and four PCT applications relate to our Health + Ancestry Service, and (iii) five U.S. utility applications and one PCT application relate to our 23andMe+ service.

Our PGS patent portfolio has expected expiration dates ranging from about 2027 to about 2041.

Therapeutics Patent Estate

Our therapeutics patent estate consists of one granted U.S. patent and one granted Nigerian patent, which includes two utility patents that cover key areas of our past and current therapeutic development candidates. The therapeutics patent estate also includes 49 pending U.S. utility and foreign utility patent applications, which include five U.S. utility applications and 44 foreign utility patent applications, covering key areas of our past and current therapeutic development candidates. These applications include those in the following jurisdictions: the PCT, Gulf Cooperation Council, Argentina, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Eurasia, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and South Africa. The subject matter of the therapeutics patent portfolio relates to our immuno-oncology and inflammatory disease and other therapeutic areas. Our therapeutics patent portfolio has expected expiration dates ranging from about 2039 to about 2043.

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Please note that we cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any patent applications we have filed or may file in the future, and we cannot be sure that any patents that have been granted or may be granted to us in the future will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented or that such patents will be commercially useful in protecting our technology.

We also appropriately guard our company trade secrets and know-how to maintain our business advantage and seek to identify and obtain third-party licenses where useful. In circumstances where we rely on trade secrets or proprietary know-how to protect our technology, we seek to protect such IP, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with those who have access to our confidential information, including our employees, contractors, consultants, collaborators, partners and advisors. We also internally designate levels of sensitive information with certain groups within the Company. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our trade secrets or proprietary know-how by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Although we have confidence in these individuals, organizations, and systems, agreements or security measures may be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets or proprietary know-how may otherwise become known or may be independently discovered by competitors. To the extent that our employees, contractors, consultants, collaborators, and advisors use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions. For this and more comprehensive risks related to our proprietary technology, inventions, improvements and product candidates, please see the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks related to our intellectual property” in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K.

Government Regulation

Consumer (PGS) Business

Our genetic health risk, carrier status, and pharmacogenetic reports are subject to regulatory oversight by the FDA under provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and regulations thereunder, including regulations governing the development, marketing, labeling, promotion, manufacturing, distribution, and export of diagnostic products. The third-party laboratories that we contract with to perform the laboratory portions of our service are subject to oversight by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) pursuant to CLIA, as well as agencies in various states, including New York. We are subject to many other federal, state and foreign laws, including anti-fraud and abuse, anti-kickback and patient privacy. Failure to comply with applicable requirements can lead to sanctions, including withdrawal of products from the market, recalls, refusal to authorize government contracts, product seizures, exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, civil money penalties, injunctions, and criminal prosecution.

Regulation of In Vitro (“IVD”) Diagnostics and Medical Devices

IVDs are regulated by the FDA in the U.S. as medical devices in accordance with the FDCA and its implementing regulations. The FDCA and its implementing regulations govern the development, testing, manufacturing, labeling, advertising, marketing and distribution, and market surveillance of our medical devices.

Medical devices must undergo premarket review prior to commercialization unless the device is exempt from such review or was in commercial distribution prior to May 28, 1976 (referred to as a “pre-amendment” device).

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Should a company need clinical data to support a premarket application, the FDA regulates clinical investigations through its Investigational Device Exemption (“IDE”) regulations 21 C.F.R. Part 812. Clinical investigations of devices that are of a significant risk require pre-approval from the FDA. Investigations of devices that are of a non-significant risk do not require FDA pre-approval; however, an Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) must agree that the study is of a non-significant risk. In addition, certain clinical investigations are exempted from IDE regulations including investigations of IVDs so long as certain criteria are met. The IDE regulations place specific requirements on sponsors and investigators of clinical studies including reporting to the FDA certain adverse events and recordkeeping to demonstrate compliance with the regulations. The FDA can conduct periodic, unannounced inspections of sponsors and investigators to evaluate compliance with the IDE regulations. Failure to comply with the IDE regulations can subject the sponsor and investigator to administrative enforcement proceedings, civil penalties, and/or criminal penalties.

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We utilized the 510(k) and De Novo pathways to seek authorization from the FDA for those aspects of the PGS products that are medical devices. Specifically, the FDA granted our first De Novo authorization to market our PGS product for Over-the-Counter Carrier testing for Bloom Syndrome in February 2015. Since 2015, we received three additional FDA De Novo Authorizations for Over-the-Counter Genetic Health Risks, BRCA1/BRCA2 Selected Variants and Pharmacogenetic Metabolism Information as well as two FDA 510(k) Clearances for MUTYH and Pharmacogenetic Drug Response Information. The regulations governing our authorizations and clearances place substantial restrictions on how our PGS service is marketed and sold, specifically, requirements on pre-purchase information we must provide to consumers and special controls we must comply with due to the over-the-counter nature of our PGS service. We may develop new diagnostic products and services that are regulated by the FDA as medical devices, or make changes to our medical devices that trigger a premarket submission that requires clinical data. The regulatory review and approval process for medical devices can be costly, timely, and uncertain. This process may involve, among other things, successfully completing additional clinical trials and submitting a premarket 510(k) notice, De Novo submission, or filing a premarket approval application with the FDA. If premarket review is required by the FDA, there can be no assurance that our tests will be cleared, authorized, or approved on a timely basis, if at all. In addition, there can be no assurance that the claims we propose to the FDA for clearance, authorization, or approval will be cleared, authorized, or approved by the FDA.

We consider certain of our Wellness reports and Polygenic Risk Score reports to be either not medical devices under the FDCA or to be medical devices subject to FDA enforcement discretion from compliance with the requirements of the FDCA in accordance with FDA’s General Wellness: Policy for Low Risk Devices (issued July 29, 2016 and revised September 27, 2019). It is possible in the future that the FDA may disagree and conclude that some or all of our Wellness reports or Polygenic Risk Score reports are medical devices and not subject to enforcement discretion. As a result, we could be subject to enforcement action and penalties. We consider our COVID-19 Severity Calculator to be a medical device that is subject to FDA enforcement discretion in accordance with FDA’s Policy for Device Software Functions and Mobile Medical Applications (issued September 27, 2019). Using a risk-based approach, FDA’s policy established a group of software that meets the definition of a medical device but is subject to enforcement discretion from compliance with the requirements of the FDCA. It’s possible that the FDA may disagree that our COVID-19 Severity Calculator is subject to enforcement discretion and could thus subject us to an enforcement action and penalties. If this were to occur, we will likely have to utilize the premarket pathways described above or seek FDA authorization through the Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) pathway in order to market the COVID-19 Severity Calculator. If we utilize the EUA pathway, the authorization to market the software application will terminate once the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) declares the COVID-19 emergency over.

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Both before and after a medical device is commercially released, we have ongoing responsibilities under FDA regulations which can increase the cost of conducting our business. The FDA reviews design and manufacturing practices, labeling and record keeping, and manufacturers’ required reports of adverse experiences and other information to identify potential problems with marketed medical devices through periodic inspections. Specifically, these inspections evaluate our compliance with its QSR, among other FDA requirements. The QSR includes requirements related to the methods used in, and the facilities and controls used for, designing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, storing, installing, and servicing of medical devices intended for human use. Our manufacturing operations, and those of our third-party finished device manufacturers, are required to comply with the QSR. QSR compliance is required for medical devices that are FDA approved and cleared, and generally required for medical devices exempt from FDA pre-market notification. The FDA conducts announced and unannounced periodic and on-going inspections of medical device manufacturers to determine compliance with the QSR. If in connection with these inspections the FDA believes the manufacturer has failed to comply with applicable regulations and/or procedures, it may issue inspectional observations on Form FDA-483 (“Form 483”) that would necessitate prompt corrective action. If the FDA determines that our response to the Form 483 is not adequate (e.g., the corrective action plan and/or objective evidence is insufficient), the FDA may issue a warning letter (which would similarly necessitate prompt corrective action) and/or proceed directly to other forms of enforcement action, including the imposition of operating restrictions, a ceasing of operations at one or more facilities, enjoining and restraining certain violations of applicable law pertaining to products, seizure of products, and assessing civil or criminal penalties against our officers, employees or us. The FDA could also require the entry of a consent decree of permanent injunction with us. The FDA may also recommend prosecution to the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Any adverse regulatory action, depending on its magnitude, may restrict us from effectively manufacturing, marketing and selling our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Corruption

In situations involving healthcare providers employed by foreign state-funded institutions or national healthcare agencies, violation of the local anti-kickback law may also constitute a violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). The FCPA prohibits any U.S. individual, business entity or employee of a U.S. business entity from offering or providing, directly or through a third party, including the distributors we rely on in certain markets, anything of value to a foreign government official with corrupt intent to influence an award or continuation of business or to gain an unfair advantage, whether or not such conduct violates local laws. In addition, it is illegal for a company that reports to the SEC to have false or inaccurate books or records or to fail to maintain a system of internal accounting controls. We are also required to maintain accurate information and control over sales and distributors’ activities that may fall within the purview of the FCPA, its books and records provisions and its anti-bribery provisions.

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Laboratory Certification, Accreditation and Licensing

We and our third-party laboratories are also subject to U.S. and state laws and regulations regarding the operation of clinical laboratories. Virtually all clinical laboratories operating in the U.S. must be certified by the federal government or by a federally approved accreditation agency. Federal CLIA requirements regulated by the CMS and laws of certain states, including those of California, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Florida, impose certification requirements for clinical laboratories, and establish standards for quality assurance and quality control, among other things. State laws may require that laboratory personnel meet certain qualifications, specify certain quality controls, or require maintenance of certain records. CLIA provides that a state may adopt different or more stringent regulations than federal law and permits states to apply for exemption from CLIA if the state’s laboratory laws are equivalent to, or more stringent than, CLIA. For example, the State of New York’s clinical laboratory regulations, which have received an exemption from CLIA, contain provisions that are in certain respects more stringent than federal law. Therefore, as long as New York maintains a licensure program that is CLIA-exempt, we will need to comply with New York’s clinical laboratory regulations in order to offer our clinical laboratory products and services in New York. Standards for testing under CLIA are based on the complexity of the tests performed by the laboratory, with tests classified as “high complexity,” “moderate complexity,” or “waived.” Laboratories performing high-complexity testing are required to meet more stringent requirements than moderate-complexity laboratories. Laboratories performing only waived tests, which are tests determined by the FDA to have a low potential for error and requiring little oversight, may apply for a certificate of waiver exempting them from most CLIA requirements.

We have current certificates to perform clinical laboratory testing to offer our PGS in all 50 states. Clinical laboratories are subject to inspection by regulators and to sanctions for failing to comply with applicable requirements. The sanctions for failure to comply with CLIA requirements include suspension, revocation or limitation of a laboratory’s CLIA certificate, which is necessary to conduct business; cancellation or suspension of the laboratory’s approval to receive Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement; as well as significant fines and/or criminal penalties. States also have licensure requirements and may impose additional sanctions on us. The loss or suspension of a CLIA certification, state license, imposition of a fine or other penalties, or future changes in CLIA and state law/regulations (or interpretation of the law or regulations) could have a material adverse effect on us.

Regulation of Consumer Products

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) also have jurisdiction over products offered by PGS (especially those aspects of our products that are not regulated by the FDA). The FTC requires that advertising claims be truthful, non-deceptive, fair, and adequately supported. The CPSC protects the American public from products that may present safety hazards, with labeling requirements, as well as reporting and remedial actions required if certain hazards or events are identified. Failure to comply with FTC and/or CPSC laws and implementing regulations could subject us to enforcement proceedings, including mandatory recalls and penalties that could have a material adverse effect on us.

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International

When marketing our PGS health reports outside of the U.S., we are subject to foreign regulatory requirements governing human clinical testing, export of biological or tissue samples, marketing approval for our products and performance and reporting of tests on a local basis. These requirements vary by jurisdiction, differ from those in the U.S. and may require us to perform additional preclinical or clinical testing. Marketing in Europe subjects us to European Union (“EU”) medical device oversight. Accordingly, we and certain of our contract manufacturers would be subject to ongoing compliance with various International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) standards and ongoing regulatory oversight and review. These include routine inspections by EU Notified Bodies, which are entities accredited by an EU Member State to assess whether a product to be placed on the market meets certain preordained standards, of our manufacturing facilities and our records for compliance with requirements such as ISO 13485 and ISO 27001, which establish extensive requirements for quality assurance and control as well as manufacturing and change control procedures. Additionally, the EU adopted the IVD Regulation (“IVDR”) which will increase the regulatory requirements applicable to IVDs in the EU and would require that we classify and obtain pre-approval for our PGS health reports, which would be subject to the IVDR as of May 25, 2022. If we are not able to obtain and maintain regulatory compliance, we may not be permitted to market our PGS health service and/or may be subject to enforcement by EU Competent Authorities, bodies with authority to act on behalf of the government of the applicable EU Member State to ensure that the requirements of the directive or regulation are met.

As of January 1, 2021, due to the U.K. leaving the EU, the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA") began implementation of new requirements for medical devices, including our health reports, marketed in Great Britain. The new regulations require that on or before January 1, 2022, we register with the MHRA, designate a U.K. Responsible Person and prior to June 30, 2023 obtain a United Kingdom Conformity Assessed mark for our health reports, which are Class I In Vitro Diagnostic Devices. Prior to that time, the U.K. will continue to allow marketing of our health reports pursuant to our existing CE mark.

In situations involving healthcare providers employed by state-funded institutions or national healthcare agencies, violation of the local anti-kickback law may also constitute a violation of the FCPA. The FCPA prohibits any U.S. individual, business entity or employee of a U.S. business entity from offering or providing, directly or through a third party, including the distributors we rely on in certain markets, anything of value to a foreign government official with corrupt intent to influence an award or continuation of business or to gain an unfair advantage, whether or not such conduct violates local laws. In addition, it is illegal for a company that reports to the SEC to have false or inaccurate books or records or to fail to maintain a system of internal accounting controls. We are also required to maintain accurate information and control over sales and distributors’ activities that may fall within the purview of the FCPA, its books and records provisions and its anti-bribery provisions.

Consumer (Telehealth) Business

The practice of medicine is subject to various federal, state, and local certification and licensing laws, regulations, approvals and standards, relating to, among other things, the qualifications of the provider, the practice of medicine (including specific requirements relating to online or telephone consultations and the provision of remote care), the continuity and adequacy of medical care, the maintenance of medical records, the supervision of personnel, and the prerequisites for the prescription of medication and ordering of tests. Because the practice of telehealth is relatively new and rapidly developing, regulation of telehealth is evolving and the application, interpretation and enforcement of these laws, regulations and standards can be uncertain or uneven. As a result, we must continually monitor legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments regarding the practice of medicine and telehealth in order to support our PMCs.

Physicians, mid-level providers (e.g., physician assistants, nurse practitioners), and behavioral health providers who provide professional clinical services via telehealth must, in most instances, hold a valid license to provide the applicable professional services in the state in which the patient is located. We have established systems to assist the PMCs in ensuring that their providers are appropriately licensed under applicable state law and that their provision of telehealth to our customers occurs in each instance in compliance with applicable rules governing telehealth.

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In certain jurisdictions, the corporate practice of medicine doctrine generally prohibits non-physicians from practicing medicine, including by employing physicians to provide clinical services, directing the clinical practice of physicians, or holding an ownership interest in an entity that employs physicians. Other practices, such as professionals splitting their professional fees with non-professional persons or entities, is also prohibited in some jurisdictions. These laws are intended to prevent unlicensed persons from interfering with or unduly influencing a physician’s professional judgment. State laws and enforcement activities related to the corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting vary dramatically. In some states, even activities not directly related to the delivery of clinical services may be considered an element of the practice of medicine. For example, in some states the corporate practice of medicine restrictions may be implicated by non-clinical activities such as scheduling, contracting, setting rates, and the hiring and management of non-clinical personnel.

Because of the restrictions on the corporate practice of medicine doctrine and fee-splitting in various jurisdictions, we do not employ the healthcare providers who provide clinical services on our telehealth platform. Instead, the PMCs provide services on the platform and we contract with but do not own the PMCs. We provide administrative, non-clinical services to the PMCs and bill them a fixed amount for those services, based on what we believe to be the fair market value of the services, pursuant to our contracts. The PMCs and their providers maintain exclusive authority regarding the provision of healthcare services (including consultations that may lead to the writing of prescriptions) and remain responsible for retaining and compensating their providers, credentialing decisions regarding their providers, maintaining professional standards, maintaining clinical documentation within medical records, establishing their own fee schedule, and submitting accurate information to us so that we can bill customers. Despite our care in structuring arrangements with the PMCs, it is possible that a regulatory authority or another party, including providers affiliated with PMCs, could assert that we (or other organizations with similar business models) are engaged in the corporate practice of medicine or that the contractual arrangements with PMCs violate a state’s fee-splitting prohibition. Failure to comply with these state laws could lead to materially adverse consequences for the Company.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some state and federal regulatory authorities lowered certain barriers to the practice of telehealth in order to make remote healthcare services more accessible. Due to our business model, these changes did not dramatically change our operations, but these changes did introduce many people to the practice of telehealth. It is unclear whether these changes will have a long-term impact on the adoption of telehealth services by the general public or legislative and regulatory authorities.

Regulation of Pharmacy Services

Our pharmacy services are subject to laws of various state and federal agencies. Our affiliate pharmacies face regulation on a number of issues that vary from state-to-state, including pharmacist-to-technician supervision ratios, practice of pharmacy, quality, sufficiency of facilities and equipment, prescription requirements, patient-friendly medication labeling, controlled substance, scheduled listed chemical, and listed chemical regulation, and ensuring a patient’s freedom of choice in selecting their pharmacy, among a number of other requirements. On the federal level, pharmacies must comply with FDA’s requirements under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act which are intended to preserve the integrity of the U.S. drug supply chain. The Drug Supply Chain Security Act requires pharmacies and others in the U.S. drug supply chain to comply with requirements for product tracking and tracing, information and pedigree exchange, reporting, investigations, and product quarantine and disposition. Further federal regulations apply to those pharmacies that dispense controlled substances under the Controlled Substance Act, which is implemented by the Drug Enforcement Administration. For our affiliated retail pharmacy that accepts insurance reimbursement from government payors, further federal regulations, such as HIPAA (as defined below), the anti-kickback laws, and the federal False Claims Act apply, as well as regulations from additional state and federal agencies such as the DOJ and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Furthermore, each pharmacist and technician must also obtain appropriate professional licensure and are subject to upholding state professional standards of conduct and patient privacy laws.

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Privacy and Security Regulation

We are engaged in ongoing privacy compliance and oversight efforts, including in connection with the requirements of numerous local, state, federal and international laws, rules, and regulations relating to the privacy and security of directly or indirectly identifiable personal information (collectively, “Data Protection Laws”). Such Data Protection Laws address the collection, storage, sharing, use, disclosure, processing, transferring, and protection of personal information, including genetic information, and evolve frequently in scope and enforcement. There can also be uncertainty, differing interpretations, and contradictory requirements across the privacy and security legal and regulatory landscape. In the U.S., some of the notable Data Protection Laws we are subject to include the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA,” previously known as the California Consumer Privacy Act or “CCPA”), the California Genetic Information Privacy Act (“GIPA”), Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”) and, in the event of a data breach, various data breach laws across the 50 states and territories. Recently, new U.S. state comprehensive Data Protection Laws have developed in response to the CPRA, such as the Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”) and Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”). Outside of the U.S., numerous countries have their own Data Protection Laws, including, but not limited to, the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), now also enacted in the U.K. (“UK GDPR”). 23andMe also expects new Data Protection Laws to be proposed and enacted in the future, particularly in the U.S., and current Data Protection Laws to evolve frequently through new legislation and amendments to existing legislation and changes in enforcement. The effects of such changes may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another, and potentially far-reaching and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and incur substantial compliance-related costs and expenses. These new or modified Data Protection Laws, and other changes in laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection and information security, particularly any new or modified laws or regulations that require enhanced protection of certain types of data or new obligations with regard to data retention, transfer or disclosure, could greatly increase the cost of providing our offerings, require significant changes to our operations or even prevent us from providing certain offerings in jurisdictions in which we currently operate and in which we may operate in the future.

Data Protection Laws are enforced by the FTC, government authorities and agencies, including state attorneys general and data protection commissioners. Data Protection Laws require us to publish statements to our customers that describe how we handle personal information and the choices customers have about the way we handle their personal information. If such information that we publish is considered untrue or inaccurate, we may be subject to claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act or similar laws, which could lead to significant liabilities and consequences.

In the U.S., the CPRA was recently approved by California voters, resulting in a significant modification of the CCPA and additional costs and expenses to our compliance efforts. The CPRA will create additional obligations relating to consumer data, with enforcement beginning on July 1, 2023. The CPRA provides for fines of up to $7,500 per violation and a private right of action in the event of a data breach. Interpretation and enforcement of CPRA, including its current and forthcoming regulatory guidance, remain uncertain. Other states are presenting similar comprehensive privacy laws, some of which are more robust than the CPRA in certain aspects. For example, in 2023 new consumer privacy laws will become effective in Colorado, Virginia, and Utah.

Internationally, we are subject to, among other Data Protection Laws, the GDPR, UK GDPR, and PIPEDA which regulate collection, storage, sharing, use, disclosure, and protection of personal information, and impose stringent requirements with significant penalties and litigation risks for noncompliance. Like the U.S., international Data Protection Laws include national, state or provincial, and local laws, meaning compliance costs increase with every state, province, or locale we ship to. Failure to comply with the GDPR (and the UK GDPR) may result in fines of up to 20 million Euros/£17.5 million or up to 4% of the annual global revenue of the infringer, whichever is greater. It may also lead to civil litigation, with the risks of damages or injunctive relief, or regulatory orders adversely impacting the ways in which our business can use personal information. While Canada’s PIPEDA does not have as stringent requirements and fines as the GDPR at this time, Canadian legislators are actively working on reforms to PIPEDA to align it with the GDPR. We anticipate that any reforms to PIPEDA will further increase our compliance costs and liabilities.

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Where applicable, we rely on data transfer mechanisms to be able to transfer data between countries freely. We previously relied on the Privacy Shield certification for the purposes of transferring personal information out of the EU. In light of the invalidation of Privacy Shield, we continue to rely on standard contractual clauses to transfer EU/UK personal information outside of the EU/UK, or where applicable derogations provided for by law. These clauses have been being revised, and the process and the implementation of new requirements related to the clauses, such as conducting additional risk assessments and implementing additional safeguards, will increase our costs. On March 25, 2022, the EU and U.S. announced that they had reached an agreement in principle on a new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework (the “Framework”), which will be translated into legal documents to be adopted in the EU and U.S. to provide a renewed basis for transatlantic data transfers. However, if a new Framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on the standard contractual clauses or rely upon other alternative means of data transfers from the EU to the U.S., we will likely be unable to offer a number of services in the EU, which would materially and adversely affect our business. Additionally, in the U.S. and internationally, businesses are required to provide notice to affected customers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. Many countries and/or states require businesses to maintain safeguards and take certain actions in response to a data breach and may be required to also notify applicable regulatory authorities. Recently, some states, such as California, have explicitly added genetic information to their breach notification laws, which presents additional liabilities and costs to our business. Some U.S. states go beyond data breach notification and general security safeguards by requiring businesses to maintain specific security safeguards; for example, Massachusetts establishes minimum standards to be met in connection with the safeguarding of personal information contained in both paper and electronic records including maintaining security policies and procedures, security training for employees, regular audits. While many Data Protection Laws rely on regulatory enforcement for non-compliance with security safeguards or data breaches, there may be an increase in legislation like CPRA providing a private right of action for consumers in the event of a data breach. Civil litigation and security compliance present liabilities and costs with respect to maintaining and continually refining security safeguards and incident response processes.

We anticipate changes with Data Protection Laws as countries and states continue to propose comprehensive privacy laws and regulations addressing consumer data protection rights, transparency and cybersecurity. In certain states, these laws are directed specifically to genetic information or genetic testing companies, or more specifically direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. Data Protection Laws specific to genetic information have recently been enacted in a number of states, including, but not limited to, California, Utah, and Arizona. Many other states are considering similar laws regulating genetic information, some of which include private rights of action for consumers. Such private rights of action present liabilities and costs to our business with respect to implementing and maintaining compliance with such laws, and potentially responding to civil litigation. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, significant expenses in an effort to comply with privacy, data protection and information security standards and protocols imposed by Data Protection Laws. With substantial uncertainty over the interpretation and application of these and other laws and regulations (such as CPRA and genetic privacy laws), we may face challenges in addressing their requirements and making necessary changes to our policies and practices, and may incur significant costs and expenses in an effort to do so.

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Regulation of our Therapeutics Products and Programs

Government authorities in the U.S. at the federal, state and local level and in other countries regulate, among other things, the research, development, manufacture, testing, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, marketing and export and import of drug and biological products, diagnostics, including those we are developing as well as any future drugs. Generally, before a new drug, biologic or diagnostic can be marketed, considerable data demonstrating its quality, safety and efficacy must be obtained, organized into a format specific for each regulatory authority, submitted for review and approved, authorized, or cleared by the applicable regulatory authority. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate regional, federal, state, territorial and local statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or following approval may subject an applicant to administrative actions or judicial sanctions. These actions and sanctions could include, among other actions, a regulatory agency’s refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, license revocation, a clinical hold, untitled or warning letters, voluntary or mandatory product recalls or market withdrawals, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of or debarment from government contracts, FDA debarment, exclusion from federal healthcare programs, restitution, disgorgement and civil or criminal fines or penalties. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on our business, the market acceptance of our products and our reputation. Our drugs must be approved by the FDA through either a New Drug Application (“NDA”), or a Biologics License Application (“BLA”), process before they may be legally marketed in the U.S., and by similar processes for other regulatory regions. Moreover, the regulatory requirements governing our business are also evolving and will likely continue to evolve. By example, FDA has issued a number of guidance documents relating to gene therapies. Additionally, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, FDA has issued a number of guidance documents to assist companies navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Future changes in legislation may also take place. For example, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act is due for reauthorization by September 2022, which may result in changes to any of the requirements and programs discussed below.

Preclinical Studies

Before testing any drug, biological, or gene therapy candidate in humans, the drug must undergo rigorous preclinical testing. Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation of product chemistry and formulation, as well as in vitro and animal studies to assess safety and in some cases to establish a rationale for therapeutic use. The conduct of preclinical studies is subject to federal and state regulations and requirements, including Good Laboratory Practice ("GLP") regulations and requirements relating to animal testing. The sponsor submits the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature and plans for clinical trials, among other things, to the FDA or other regulatory or oversight committee as part of an IND or Clinical Trial Application ("CTA"). In the U.S., an IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational drug to humans, and must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. An IND will automatically become effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises concerns or questions and places the study on clinical hold. In that case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding FDA concerns or questions before clinical trials can proceed. Clinical holds may also be imposed by the FDA during the conduct of trials due to safety or compliance concerns. Some long-term preclinical testing, such as animal tests of reproductive adverse effects and carcinogenicity, may continue after the IND is submitted.

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Clinical Trials

The clinical stage of development involves the administration of the investigational product to healthy volunteers or patients under the supervision of qualified investigators, generally physicians not employed by or under the trial sponsor’s control, in accordance with good clinical practice (“GCP”) requirements, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent for their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the clinical trial, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria and the parameters to be used to monitor subject safety and assess efficacy. Furthermore, each clinical trial must be reviewed and approved by an IRB/ethics committee for each institution at which the clinical trial will be conducted to ensure that the risks to individuals participating in the clinical trials are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The IRB also approves the informed consent form that must be provided to each clinical trial subject or his or her legal representative as well as other subject communications and must monitor the clinical trial until completed. In the case of certain gene therapy studies, an Institutional Biosafety Committee (“IBC”) at the local level may also review and maintain oversight over the particular study, in addition to the IRB.

There also are requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical trials and completed clinical trial results to public registries. Information about certain clinical trials, including clinical trial results, must be submitted within specific timeframes for publication on the www.clinicaltrials.gov website or other comparable public trial registries. Sponsors of investigational products for the diagnosis, monitoring, or treatment of one or more serious disease or conditions must also have a publicly available policy on evaluating and responding to requests for expanded access. Investigators must further provide certain information to clinical trial sponsors to allow the sponsors to make certain financial disclosures to the FDA.

A sponsor who wishes to conduct a clinical trial outside of the U.S. may, but need not, obtain FDA authorization to conduct the clinical trial under an IND. If a foreign clinical trial is not conducted under an IND, the sponsor may submit data from the clinical trial to the FDA in support of an NDA or BLA. The FDA will accept a well-designed and well-conducted foreign clinical study not conducted under an IND if the study was conducted in accordance with GCP requirements, and the FDA is able to validate the data through an onsite inspection if deemed necessary. The data from the foreign clinical study must also be deemed by FDA to be meaningful to the U.S. population.

Clinical trials generally are conducted in three sequential phases, known as Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3, and may overlap.

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Additional kinds of data may also help support a BLA or NDA, such as patient experience data and real-world evidence. Real world evidence may also be used to assist in clinical trial design or support an NDA for already approved products. For genetically targeted populations and variant protein targeted products intended to address an unmet medical need in one or more patient subgroups with a serious or life threatening rare disease or condition, the FDA may allow a sponsor to rely upon data and information previously developed by the sponsor or for which the sponsor has a right of reference, that was submitted previously to support an approved application for a product that incorporates or utilizes the same or similar genetically targeted technology or a product that is the same or utilizes the same variant protein targeted drug as the product that is the subject of the application.

Post-approval trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication and are commonly intended to generate additional safety data regarding use of the product in a clinical setting. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA or BLA.

Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials, among other information, must be submitted at least annually to the relevant health authorities and IRBs. The sponsor must also notify relevant health authorities and the IRBs of adverse events or other significant safety information within specified timeframes. Certain reports may also be required to be submitted to the IBC. Changes to the enrollment of clinical trials, for example halting enrollment for a clinical safety signal, or completing expected clinical trial accrual may be reported on a clinical trial registration site such as clinicaltrials.gov and may provide publicly available information about the status of an ongoing clinical trial.

Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and other types of clinical trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, if at all. The health authority or the sponsor may suspend or terminate a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB or ethics committee can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at institutions under its jurisdiction if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with their requirements or if the drug or biologic has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. IBCs can also require that research activities be ceased if applicable requirements are not being met. Additionally, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. This group may monitor the continued safety of the study, provide recommendations on study continuation, and/or provide authorization for whether a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the trial.

The manufacture of investigational drugs and biologics for the conduct of human clinical trials is subject to cGMP requirements. Investigational drugs and biologics and active ingredients and therapeutic substances imported into the U.S. are also subject to regulation by the FDA. Further, the export of investigational products outside the U.S. is subject to regulatory requirements of the receiving country as well as U.S. export requirements.

Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional preclinical studies and also must develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug or biologic as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product and, among other things, companies must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality and purity of the final product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the drugs do not undergo unacceptable deterioration over their shelf life.

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FDA Review Process

Following completion of the clinical trials, data are analyzed to assess whether the investigational drug is safe and effective for the proposed indicated use or uses. The results of preclinical studies and clinical trials are then submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA or BLA, along with proposed labeling, chemistry and manufacturing information to ensure product quality and other relevant data. The NDA or BLA is a request for approval to market the drug or biologic for one or more specified indications and must contain proof of safety and efficacy for a drug or safety, purity and potency for a biologic. The application may include both negative and ambiguous results of preclinical studies and clinical trials, as well as positive findings. Data may come from company-sponsored clinical trials intended to test the safety and efficacy of a drug’s use or from a number of alternative sources, including studies initiated by investigators. To support marketing approval, the data submitted must be sufficient in quality and quantity to establish the safety and efficacy of the investigational drug to the satisfaction of FDA. FDA approval of an NDA or BLA must be obtained before a drug or biologic may be marketed in the U.S.

Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), as amended, each NDA or BLA subject to certain exceptions, must be accompanied by a user fee. FDA adjusts the PDUFA user fees on an annual basis. The FDA reviews all submitted NDAs and BLAs before it accepts them for filing and may request additional information rather than accepting the NDA or BLA for filing. The FDA must make a decision on accepting an NDA or BLA for filing within 60 days of receipt, and such decision could include a refusal to file by the FDA. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the NDA or BLA. Under the goals and policies agreed to by the FDA under PDUFA, the FDA targets ten months, from the filing date, in which to complete its initial review of a new molecular entity NDA or original BLA and respond to the applicant, and six months from the filing date of a new molecular entity NDA or original BLA designated for priority review, which are products that, if approved, would present significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of a serious condition. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority NDAs or BLAs, and the review process is often extended by FDA requests for or a sponsor’s submission of additional information or clarification. The FDA also may audit data from clinical trials and clinical trial sites to ensure compliance with GCP requirements. The FDA will also inspect the facilities that manufacture the product candidate and will not approve a marketing application unless the agency confirms the manufacturer’s compliance with GMP requirements. Additionally, the FDA may refer applications for novel products or products which present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee, a panel that includes clinicians and other experts, for review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions, if any. For product candidates for which no active ingredient has previously been approved, such a referral is mandatory unless FDA issues an action letter summarizing the reasons why it did not require an advisory committee review.

The FDA is not bound by recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations when making decisions on approval. The FDA likely will reanalyze the clinical trial data, which could result in extensive discussions between the FDA and the applicant during the review process. After the FDA evaluates an NDA or BLA, it will issue an approval letter or a Complete Response Letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug or biologic with specific prescribing information for specific indications. A Complete Response Letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete and the application will not be approved in its present form. If a Complete Response Letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the NDA or BLA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or withdraw the application or request an opportunity for a hearing. Even if such data and information are submitted, the FDA may decide that the NDA or BLA does not satisfy the criteria for approval. Data obtained from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than we interpret the same data. Even if approval is granted, the FDA may limit the approved product’s indications for use, require labeling with significant warnings, limitations, or contraindications, or place other conditions on the approval that restricts the ability to market the product. For instance, FDA may require post-approval testing or surveillance, or impose other restrictions on the product, including distribution restrictions or risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. The FDA may also not approve label statements that are necessary for successful commercialization and marketing.

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European Medicines Agency (EMA) Review Process

In the European Economic Area (“EEA”), which is comprised of the 27 Member States of the European Union (including Norway and excluding Croatia), Iceland and Liechtenstein, drugs can only be commercialized after obtaining a marketing authorization (“MA”). Before granting the MA, the EMA or the competent authorities of the Member States of the EEA make an assessment of the risk-benefit balance of the product on the basis of scientific criteria concerning its quality, safety and efficacy. There are two types of marketing authorizations:

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Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity

Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug or biological product intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S., or more than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making the product available in the U.S. for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an NDA or BLA. If there is another product approved by FDA for the same orphan indication, which FDA deems to be the same as the investigational product, the sponsor of the investigational product must also present a plausible hypothesis of clinical superiority for FDA to grant an orphan drug designation. This hypothesis must be demonstrated to obtain orphan drug exclusivity. After the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process. If a product that has orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusivity, which means that the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug for the same indication for seven years from the date of such approval, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan exclusivity by means of greater effectiveness, greater safety or providing a major contribution to patient care, or in instances of drug supply issues. Competitors, however, may receive approval of either a different product for the same indication or the same product for a different indication. In such cases, the second in time product could be used off-label in the orphan indication. Orphan drug exclusivity also could block the approval of one of our products for seven years if a competitor obtains approval before we do for the same product, as defined by the FDA, for the same indication we are seeking approval, or if our product is determined to be contained within the scope of the competitor’s product for the same indication or disease. If we pursue marketing approval for an indication broader than any orphan drug designation we have received, we may not be entitled to orphan drug exclusivity. Moreover, whether a gene therapy product qualifies for orphan designation is an evolving area. FDA issued a final draft guidance document on how the agency will determine gene therapy product “sameness.” Pursuant to the guidance, “sameness” will depend on the product’s transgene expression, viral vectors groups and variants, and other product features that may have a therapeutic effect. Generally, minor differences between gene therapy products will not result in a finding that two products are different. Any FDA sameness determinations could impact our ability to receive approval and obtain or maintain orphan exclusivity.

In the European Union, the EMA’s Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products grants orphan drug designation to promote the development of products that are intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions affecting not more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union community (or where it is unlikely that the development of the medicine would generate sufficient return to justify the investment) and for which no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment has been authorized (or, if a method exists, the product would be a significant benefit to those affected). In the EU, orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as reduction of fees or fee waivers and ten years of market exclusivity is granted following drug approval. This period may be reduced to six years if the orphan drug designation criteria are no longer met, including where it is shown that the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an application for marketing approval. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process.

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Expedited Development and Review Programs

A sponsor may seek to develop and obtain approval of its drugs under programs designed to accelerate the development, FDA review and approval of new drugs and biologics that meet certain criteria. For example, the FDA has a fast track program that is intended to expedite review of or facilitate development of new drugs and biologics that are intended to treat a serious or life threatening disease or condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the condition. Fast track designation applies to both the product and the specific indication for which it is being studied. If fast track designation is obtained, sponsors may be eligible for more frequent development meetings and correspondence with the FDA. For a fast track-designated product, the FDA may consider sections of the NDA or BLA for review on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the application, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the application and determines that the schedule is acceptable and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the application. The sponsor can request the FDA to designate the product for fast track status any time before receiving NDA or BLA approval, but ideally no later than the pre-NDA or pre-BLA meeting. A product submitted to the FDA for marketing, including under a fast track program, may be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite development or review, such as priority review and accelerated approval.

Priority review means that, for a new molecular entity or original BLA, the FDA sets a target date for FDA action on the marketing application at six months after accepting the application for filing as opposed to ten months. A drug is eligible for priority review if it is designed to treat a serious or life-threatening disease condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety and effectiveness compared to available drugs. If criteria are not met for priority review, the application for a new molecular entity or original BLA is subject to the standard FDA review period of ten months after FDA accepts the application for filing. Priority review designation does not change the scientific/medical standard for approval or the quality of evidence necessary to support approval.

A product may also be eligible for accelerated approval if it is designed to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrates an effect on either a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the disease or condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. The product must also provide a meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA requires that a sponsor of a drug or biologic receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled post-approval confirmatory clinical trials. In addition, the FDA requires as a condition for accelerated approval pre-review of promotional materials, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the product. FDA may withdraw approval of a drug or indication approved under accelerated approval using a streamlined process if, for example, the confirmatory trial fails to verify the predicted clinical benefit of the product. In recent years, the accelerated approval pathway has come under significant FDA and public scrutiny. Accordingly, FDA may become reluctant in granting accelerated approval or, if granted, may withdraw approval if clinical benefit is not confirmed.

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Additionally, a drug or biologic may be eligible for designation as a breakthrough therapy if the product is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs or biologics, to treat a serious or life-threatening condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product may demonstrate substantial improvement over currently approved drugs on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. If the FDA designates a breakthrough therapy, it may take actions appropriate to expedite the development and review of the application, which may include holding meetings with the sponsor and the review team throughout the development of the therapy; providing timely advice to, and interactive communication with, the sponsor regarding the development of the drug to help the sponsor design a development program to gather the nonclinical and clinical data necessary for approval as efficient as practicable; involving senior managers and experienced review staff, as appropriate, in a collaborative, cross-disciplinary review; assigning a cross-disciplinary project lead for the FDA review team to facilitate an efficient review of the development program and to serve as a scientific liaison between the review team and the sponsor; and considering alternative clinical trial designs when scientifically appropriate, which may result in smaller trials or more efficient trials that require less time to complete and may minimize the number of patients exposed to a potentially less efficacious treatment. The FDA may revoke breakthrough therapy designation if the Agency determines that the product no longer qualifies for this status, for example, if subsequent data does not confirm the clinical efficacy, or if another product addresses the previously serious condition.

Another expedited pathway is the Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (“RMAT”) designation. Qualifying products must be a cell therapy, therapeutic tissue engineering product, human cell and tissue product, or a combination of such products, and not a product solely regulated as a human cell and tissue product. The product must be intended to treat, modify, reverse, or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence must indicate that the product has the potential to address an unmet need for such disease or condition. Advantages of the RMAT designation include all the benefits of the Fast Track and breakthrough therapy designation programs, including early interactions with the FDA. These early interactions may be used to discuss potential surrogate or intermediate endpoints to support accelerated approval.

Even if a product qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or the time period for FDA review or approval may not be shortened. Furthermore, fast track designation, priority review, accelerated approval and breakthrough therapy designation do not change the standards for full approval.

Pediatric Information and Pediatric Exclusivity

In the U.S., under the Pediatric Research Equity Act (“PREA”), certain NDAs and BLAs and certain supplements to an NDA or BLA must contain data to assess the safety and efficacy of the drug for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. The FDA may grant deferrals for submission of pediatric data or full or partial waivers. PREA does not apply to products that have been granted orphan designation. However, PREA does apply if approval is sought for indications that are broader than or not covered by the orphan designation.

The FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017 introduced an additional provision regarding required pediatric studies. Under this statute, for product candidates intended for the treatment of adult cancer which are directed at molecular targets that the FDA determines to be substantially relevant to the growth or progression of pediatric cancer, original application sponsors must submit, with the marketing application, reports from molecularly targeted pediatric cancer investigations designed to yield clinically meaningful pediatric study data, gathered using appropriate formulations for each applicable age group, to inform potential pediatric labeling. The FDA may, on its own initiative or at the request of the applicant, grant deferrals or waivers of some or all of this data, as above. Unlike PREA, orphan products are not exempt from this requirement.

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A drug or biologic product can also obtain pediatric market exclusivity in the U.S. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, adds six months to existing exclusivity periods and, for drug products (as opposed to biologic products) any patent terms listed in FDA’s list of Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, which is commonly known as the Orange Book. This six-month exclusivity, which runs from the end of the applicable exclusivity protection or patent term, may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric study in accordance with an FDA-issued “Written Request” for such a study. To qualify for this exclusivity, the study must be completed in accordance with the Written Request and within specified time frames prior to the expiration of the underlying patents or market exclusivity periods that would be extended. The study is not required, however, to show that the product is safe or efficacious in pediatric populations.

In the EEA, MAAs for new drugs must include the results of studies conducted in the pediatric population, in compliance with a pediatric investigation plan, or PIP, agreed with the EMA’s Pediatric Committee (“PDCO”). The PIP sets out the timing and measures proposed to generate data to support a pediatric indication of the drug for which marketing authorization is being sought. The PDCO can grant a deferral of the obligation to implement some or all of the measures of the PIP until there are sufficient data to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the product in adults. Further, the obligation to provide pediatric clinical trial data can be waived by the PDCO when this data is not needed or appropriate because the product is likely to be ineffective or unsafe in children, the disease or condition for which the product is intended occurs only in adult populations, or when the product does not represent a significant therapeutic benefit over existing treatments for pediatric patients. Once the marketing authorization is obtained in all Member States of the European Union and trial results are included in the product information, even when negative, the product is eligible for six months’ supplementary protection certificate extension.

Post-Marketing Requirements

Following approval of a new product, the manufacturer and the approved product are subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, monitoring and record-keeping activities, reporting of adverse events, complying with promotion and advertising requirements, which include restrictions on promoting products for unapproved uses or patient populations (known as “off-label use”) and limitations on industry sponsored scientific and educational activities. Although physicians may prescribe legally available products for off-label uses, manufacturers may not market or promote such uses. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability, including investigation by federal and state authorities. Prescription drug promotional materials must be submitted to the FDA in conjunction with their first use or first publication. Further, if there are any modifications to the drug or biologic, including changes in indications, labeling or manufacturing processes or facilities, the applicant may be required to submit the change and/or obtain additional regulatory approval, for example, of a new supplementary NDA or BLA, which may require the development of additional data or preclinical studies and clinical trials.

Health authorities may also place other conditions on approvals, either at the time of approval or after, including the requirement for a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”), to assure the safe use of the product. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the NDA or BLA must submit a proposed REMS. The FDA will not approve the NDA or BLA without an approved REMS, if required. A REMS could include medication guides, physician communication plans, restricted physician prescribing, or other elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. Any of these limitations on approval or marketing could restrict the commercial promotion, distribution, prescription or dispensing of products. Product approvals may be withdrawn for non-compliance with regulatory standards or if problems occur following initial marketing.

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FDA regulations require that products be manufactured in specific approved facilities and in accordance with cGMP regulations. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical and commercial quantities of our products in accordance with cGMP regulations. These manufacturers must comply with cGMP regulations that require, among other things, quality control and quality assurance, the maintenance of records and documentation and the obligation to investigate and correct any deviations from cGMP. Certain GMP deviations also require reporting to FDA. Manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs or biologics are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and list the products produced at the facility. There are also continuing program user fees that product sponsors must pay. Recently, the information that must be submitted to FDA regarding manufactured products was expanded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act to include the volume of drugs produced during the prior year. These facilities are also subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP requirements and other laws. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance. The discovery of violative conditions, including failure to conform to cGMP regulations, could result in enforcement actions, and the discovery of problems with a product after approval may result in restrictions on a product, manufacturer or holder of an approved NDA or BLA, including recall. Once an approval is granted, the FDA may issue enforcement letters or withdraw the approval of the product if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the drug or biologic reaches the market. Corrective action could delay drug or biologic distribution and require significant time and financial expenditures. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a drug or biologic, including AEs of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; revisions to promotional material; the provision of corrective information; adverse publicity; imposition of post-market studies or clinical trials to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:

New or modified laws, regulations, and requirements may also be passed that could delay or prevent FDA approval of our product candidates or otherwise negatively impact our commercial prospects. For example, in March 2020, the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which includes various provisions regarding FDA drug shortage and manufacturing volume reporting requirements, as well as provisions regarding supply chain security, such as risk management plan requirements, and the promotion of supply chain redundancy and domestic manufacturing. As part of the CARES Act implementation, the FDA issued a guidance on the reporting of the volume of drugs produced, which reporting will require additional administrative efforts by drug manufacturers.

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Additional Biological and Gene Therapy Requirements

To help reduce the increased risk of the introduction of adventitious agents, the FDA statutes emphasize the importance of manufacturing controls for products whose attributes cannot be precisely defined and provides FDA with the authority to immediately suspend licenses in situations where there exists a danger to public health, to prepare or procure products in the event of shortages and critical public health needs, and to authorize the creation and enforcement of regulations to prevent the introduction or spread of communicable diseases in the U.S. and between states.

After a BLA is approved, the product may also be subject to official lot release as a condition of approval. As part of the manufacturing process, the manufacturer is required to perform certain tests on each lot of the product before it is released for distribution. If the product is subject to official release by the FDA, the manufacturer submits samples of each lot of product to the FDA together with a release protocol showing the results of all of the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot. The FDA may also perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products before releasing the lots for distribution by the manufacturer.

In addition, the FDA conducts laboratory research related to the regulatory standards on the safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness of biological products.

In addition to the regulations discussed above, there are a number of additional standards that apply to clinical trials involving the use of gene therapy. Certain gene therapy studies are subject to the National Institutes of Health’s Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules. The FDA has also issued various guidance documents regarding gene therapies, which outline additional factors that the FDA will consider during product development. These include guidance regarding preclinical and clinical studies; chemistry, manufacturing, and controls; the measurement of product potency; how FDA will determine whether a gene therapy product is the same as another product for the purpose of the agency’s orphan drug regulations; and long-term patient and clinical study subject follow up and regulatory reporting. FDA has also issued a guidance specific to gene therapy considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as disease specific guidance.

Biosimilars and Exclusivity

Certain of our drugs may be regulated as biologics. An abbreviated approval pathway for biological products shown to be similar to, or interchangeable with, an FDA-licensed reference biological product was created by the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCI Act”) as part of the ACA. This amendment to the PHSA, in part, attempts to minimize duplicative testing. The FDA has also issued a number of guidance documents outlining its approach to the review and approval of biosimilars, including guidance documents on the demonstration of interchangeability and the licensure of biosimilar and interchangeable products for fewer than all of the reference product’s licensed conditions of use.

Biosimilarity, which requires that the biological product be highly similar to the reference product notwithstanding minor differences in clinically inactive components and that there be no clinically meaningful differences between the product and the reference product in terms of safety, purity and potency, must be shown through analytical studies, animal studies and a clinical trial or trials, absent a waiver from FDA. There further must be no difference between the reference product and a biosimilar in terms of mechanism of action, conditions of use, route of administration, dosage form, and strength. Interchangeability requires that a biological product be biosimilar to the reference product and that the product can be expected to produce the same clinical results as the reference product in any given patient and, for products administered multiple times to an individual, that the product and the reference product may be alternated or switched after one has been previously administered without increasing safety risks or risks of diminished efficacy relative to exclusive use of the reference biological product without such alternation or switch.

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A reference biological product is granted twelve years of exclusivity from the time of first licensure of the product, during which time FDA will not approve a biosimilar product. Moreover, FDA will not accept an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product based on the reference biological product until four years after the date of first licensure of the reference product. “First licensure” typically means the initial date the particular product at issue was licensed in the U.S. Date of first licensure does not include the date of licensure of (and a new period of exclusivity is not available for) a biological product if the licensure is for a supplement for the biological product or for a subsequent application by the same sponsor or manufacturer of the biological product (or licensor, predecessor in interest, or other related entity) for a change (not including a modification to the structure of the biological product) that results in a new indication, route of administration, dosing schedule, dosage form, delivery system, delivery device or strength, or for a modification to the structure of the biological product that does not result in a change in safety, purity, or potency. Therefore, one must determine whether a new product includes a modification to the structure of a previously licensed product that results in a change in safety, purity, or potency to assess whether the licensure of the new product is a first licensure that triggers its own period of exclusivity. Whether a subsequent application, if approved, warrants exclusivity as the “first licensure” of a biological product is determined on a case-by-case basis with data submitted by the sponsor. The BPCI Act also created certain exclusivity periods for biosimilars approved as interchangeable products.

In addition to the above exclusivity periods, the BPCI Act also includes provisions to enable the settlement of potential patent disputes. The biosimilar product sponsor and reference product sponsor may exchange patent and product information to determine whether there should be a patent challenge. The reference product sponsor may be able to bring a patent infringement suit and injunction proceedings against the biosimilar product sponsor. The biosimilar applicant may also be able to bring an action for declaratory judgment concerning the patent.

The FDA maintains a publicly available online database of licensed biological products, which is commonly referred to as the “Purple Book.” The Purple Book lists product names, dates of licensure, and applicable periods of exclusivity. Further, pursuant to an enacted statute to enable biological product patent transparency, the reference product sponsor must provide patent information and patent expiry dates to FDA following the exchange of patent information between biosimilar and reference product sponsors. This information is then published in the Purple Book.

The Hatch-Waxman Act

Section 505 of the FDCA describes three types of marketing applications that may be submitted to the FDA to request marketing authorization for a new drug. A Section 505(b)(1) NDA is an application that contains full reports of investigations of safety and efficacy. A 505(b)(2) NDA is an application that contains full reports of investigations of safety and efficacy but where at least some of the information required for approval comes from investigations that were not conducted by or for the applicant and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference or use from the person by or for whom the investigations were conducted. This regulatory pathway enables the applicant to rely, in part, on the FDA’s prior findings of safety and efficacy for an existing product, or published literature, in support of its application. Section 505(j) establishes an abbreviated approval process for a generic version of approved drug products through the submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”). An ANDA provides for marketing of a generic drug product that has the same active ingredients, dosage form, strength, route of administration, labeling, performance characteristics and intended use to a previously approved product. ANDAs are termed “abbreviated” because they are generally not required to include preclinical (animal) and clinical (human) data to establish safety and efficacy. Instead, generic applicants must scientifically demonstrate that their product is bioequivalent to, or performs in the same manner as, the innovator drug through in vitro, in vivo, or other testing. The generic version must deliver the same amount of active ingredients to the site of action in the same amount of time as the innovator drug and can often be substituted by pharmacists under prescriptions written for the reference listed drug. In seeking approval for a drug through an NDA, applicants are required to list with the FDA each patent with claims that cover the applicant’s drug or a method of using the drug. Upon approval of a drug, each of the patents listed in the application for the drug is then published in the FDA’s Orange Book. Drugs listed in the Orange Book can, in turn, be cited by potential competitors in support of approval of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA. In an effort to clarify which patents must be listed in the Orange Book, in January 2021, Congress passed the Orange Book Transparency Act of 2020, which largely codifies FDA’s existing practices into the FDCA.

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Upon submission of an ANDA or a 505(b)(2) NDA, an applicant must certify to the FDA that (1) no patent information has been submitted to the FDA; (2) such patent has expired; (3) the date on which such patent expires; or (4) such patent is invalid or will not be infringed upon by the manufacture, use or sale of the drug product for which the application is submitted. The applicant may also elect to submit a “section viii” statement certifying that its proposed label does not contain (or carves out) any language regarding the patented method-of-use rather than certify to a listed method-of-use patent. Generally, the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA cannot be approved until all listed patents have expired, except where the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant challenges a listed patent through the last type of certification, also known as a paragraph IV certification. If the applicant does not challenge the listed patents or does not indicate that it is not seeking approval of a patented method of use, the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA application approval will not be made effective until all of the listed patents claiming the referenced product have expired.

If the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant has provided a paragraph IV certification to the FDA, the applicant must send notice of the certification to the NDA and patent holders. The NDA and patent holders may then initiate a patent infringement lawsuit in response to the notice of the paragraph IV certification, in which case the FDA may not make an approval effective until the earlier of 30 months from the patent or application owner’s receipt of the notice of the paragraph IV certification, the expiration of the patent, when the infringement case concerning each such patent is favorably decided in the applicant’s favor or settled, or such shorter or longer period as may be ordered by a court. This prohibition is generally referred to as the 30-month stay. In instances where an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant files a paragraph IV certification, the NDA holder or patent owner(s) regularly take action to trigger the 30-month stay. Thus, approval of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA could be delayed for a significant period of time depending on the patent certification the applicant makes and the reference drug sponsor’s decision to initiate patent litigation.

The Hatch-Waxman Act establishes periods of regulatory exclusivity for certain approved drug products, during which the FDA cannot accept an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application. The holder of an NDA, including a 505(b)(2) NDA, may obtain five years of exclusivity upon approval of a new drug containing new chemical entities (“NCEs”) that have not been previously approved by the FDA. A drug is a new chemical entity if the FDA has not previously approved any other new drug containing the same active moiety, which is the molecule or ion responsible for the therapeutic activity of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not accept for review an ANDA or a 505(b)(2) NDA submitted by another company that contains the previously approved active moiety. However, an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement.

The Hatch-Waxman Act also provides three years of marketing exclusivity to the holder of an NDA (including a 505(b)(2) NDA) for a particular condition of approval, or change to a marketed product, such as a new indication or formulation for a previously approved product, if one or more new clinical studies (other than bioavailability or bioequivalence studies) was essential to the approval of the application and was conducted/sponsored by the applicant. This three-year exclusivity period protects against the FDA making an ANDA and 505(b)(2) NDA approval effective for the condition of the new drug’s approval. As a general matter, the three-year exclusivity does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs or 505(b)(2) NDAs for generic or modified versions of the original, unmodified drug product. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full NDA; however, an applicant submitting a full NDA would be required to conduct or obtain a right of reference to all of the preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and efficacy.

Recently, Congress, the Administration, and administrative agencies have taken certain measures to increase drug and biologic competition by facilitating the entry of generic and biosimilar products to the market. For example, measures have been proposed and implemented to facilitate product importation. Congress also passed a bill requiring sponsors of NDA and BLA approved products to provide sufficient quantities of drug product on commercially reasonable market-based terms to entities developing generic, biosimilar, and 505(b)(2) products. This bill also included provisions on shared and individual REMS for generic drug products.

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Patent Term Restoration

If approved, drug and biologic products may also be eligible for periods of U.S. patent term restoration. If granted, patent term restoration extends the patent life of a single unexpired patent that has not previously been extended, for a maximum of five years. The total patent life of the product with the extension also cannot exceed fourteen years from the product’ approval date. Subject to the prior limitations, the period of the extension is calculated by adding half of the time from the effective date of an IND to the initial submission of a marketing application, and all of the time between the submission of the marketing application and its approval. This period may also be reduced by any time that the applicant did not act with due diligence.

Coverage and Reimbursement

Successful commercialization of new drug products depends in part on the extent to which reimbursement for those drug products will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers, and other organizations. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drug products they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. The availability and extent of reimbursement by governmental and private payors is essential for most patients to be able to afford a drug product. Sales of drug products depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of drugs products are paid for by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or reimbursed by government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers and other third-party payors.

A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular drug products and requiring payment of manufacturer rebates. In many countries, the prices of drug products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. In general, the prices of drug products under such systems are substantially lower than in the U.S. Certain countries allow companies to fix their own prices for drug products initially, but either assess cost-benefit subsequently or monitor and control company profits. Accordingly, in markets outside the U.S., the reimbursement for drug products may be reduced compared with the U.S.

In the U.S., the principal decisions about reimbursement for new drug products under federal healthcare plans are typically made by CMS, an agency within the HHS. CMS decides whether and to what extent a new drug product will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare, and private payors tend to follow CMS to a substantial degree. However, no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for drug products exists among third-party payors. New products may not be covered, and coverage and reimbursement levels for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor.

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The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“MMA”) established the Medicare Part D program to provide a voluntary prescription drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries. Under Part D, Medicare beneficiaries may enroll in prescription drug plans offered by private entities that provide coverage of outpatient prescription drugs. Unlike Medicare Parts A and B, Part D coverage is not standardized. Part D prescription drug plan sponsors are not required to pay for all covered Part D drugs, and each drug plan can develop its own drug formulary that identifies which drugs it will cover and at what tier or level. While all Medicare drug plans must give at least a standard level of coverage set by Medicare, Part D prescription drug plan sponsors are not required to pay for all covered Part D drugs, and each drug plan can develop its own drug formulary that identifies which drugs it will cover and at what tier or level. However, Part D prescription drug formularies must include drugs within each therapeutic category and class of covered Part D drugs, though not necessarily all the drugs in each category or class. Any formulary used by a Part D prescription drug plan must be developed and reviewed by a pharmacy and therapeutic committee. Government payment for some of the costs of prescription drugs may increase demand for drugs for which we obtain marketing approval. Any negotiated prices for any of our products covered by a Part D prescription drug plan will likely be lower than the prices we might otherwise obtain, and, in addition, we may be required to pay significant Part D coverage gap discounts on certain Part D utilization. Moreover, while the MMA applies only to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own payment rates. Any reduction in payment that results from the MMA may result in a similar reduction in payments from non-governmental payors.

For a drug product to receive federal reimbursement under the Medicaid or Medicare Part B programs or to be sold directly to U.S. government agencies, the manufacturer must extend discounts to entities eligible to participate in the 340B drug pricing program. The required 340B discount on a given product is calculated based on the average manufacturer price (“AMP”) and Medicaid unit rebate amounts reported by the manufacturer. As of 2010, the ACA expanded the types of entities eligible to receive discounted 340B pricing, although under the current state of the law these newly eligible entities (with the exception of children’s hospitals) are not eligible to receive discounted 340B pricing on orphan drugs. As 340B drug pricing is determined based on AMP and Medicaid unit rebate data, revisions to the Medicaid rebate formula and AMP definition described above could cause the required 340B discount to increase. Moreover, multiple federal enactments have established initiatives to compare the effectiveness of different treatments for the same illness. Although the results of the comparative effectiveness studies are not intended to mandate coverage policies for public or private payors, it is not clear what effect, if any, the research will have on the sales of our drug candidates, if any such drug or the condition that they are intended to treat are the subject of a trial. It is also possible that comparative effectiveness research demonstrating benefits in a competitor’s drug could adversely affect the sales of our drug candidate. If third-party payors do not consider our drugs to be cost-effective compared to other available therapies, they may not cover our drugs after approval as a benefit under their plans or, if they do, the level of payment may not be sufficient to allow us to sell our drugs on a profitable basis.

For a drug product to receive federal reimbursement under the Medicaid, the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 requires, as a condition of payment by certain federal agencies and the Medicaid program, that manufacturers of “covered drugs” (including all drugs approved under an NDA) enter into a Master Agreement and Federal Supply Schedule contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs through which their covered drugs must be offered for sale at a mandatory ceiling price calculated at a statutory discount to certain federal agencies, including the VA and Department of Defense.

These laws, and future state and federal healthcare reform measures may be adopted in the future, any of which may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding and otherwise affect the prices we may obtain for any drugs for which we may obtain regulatory approval or the frequency with which any such drug is prescribed or used.

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Outside of the U.S., the pricing of pharmaceutical products and medical devices is subject to governmental control in many countries. For example, in the European Union, pricing and reimbursement schemes vary widely from country to country. Some countries provide that products may be marketed only after a reimbursement price has been agreed. Some countries may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost effectiveness of a particular drug to currently available drugs or so-called health technology assessments, in order to obtain reimbursement or pricing approval. Other countries may allow companies to fix their own prices for products, but monitor and control product volumes and issue guidance to physicians to limit prescriptions. Efforts to control prices and utilization of pharmaceutical products and medical devices will likely continue as countries attempt to manage healthcare expenditures.

Regulation of Companion Diagnostics/Delivery Devices

We believe that the success of certain of our drug candidates may depend, in part, on the development and commercialization of a companion diagnostic. Companion diagnostics are in vitro diagnostic devices that provide information that is essential for the safe and effective use of a corresponding therapeutic. The use of a companion diagnostic is stipulated in the labeling of both the diagnostic device and the corresponding therapeutic. Companion diagnostics may identify patients who are most likely to benefit from a particular therapeutic product; identify patients likely to be at increased risk for serious side effects as a result of treatment with a particular therapeutic product; or monitor response to treatment with a particular therapeutic product for the purpose of adjusting treatment to achieve improved safety or effectiveness. Companion diagnostics are regulated as medical devices by the FDA. As noted in the “Regulation of In Vitro (“IVD”) Diagnostics and Medical Devices” section above, the FDCA and its implementing regulations govern the development, testing, manufacturing, labeling, advertising, marketing and distribution, and market surveillance of medical devices which includes companion diagnostics. Unless exempt, companion diagnostics are subject to FDA premarket review before commercialization. Companion diagnostics are generally subject to the 510(k) or PMA regulatory pathways but where appropriate, can be authorized through the De Novo process.

On August 6, 2014, the FDA issued a final guidance document addressing the development and approval process for “In Vitro Companion Diagnostic Devices.” According to the guidance document, for therapeutic products that depend on the use of a diagnostic test and where the diagnostic device is essential for the safe and effective use of the corresponding therapeutic product, the premarket application for the companion diagnostic device should be developed and approved or cleared via a medical device regulatory pathway contemporaneously with the therapeutic, although the FDA recognizes that there may be cases when contemporaneous development may not be possible. However, in cases where a drug cannot be used safely or effectively without the companion diagnostic, the FDA’s guidance indicates it will generally not approve the drug without the approval or clearance of the diagnostic device. The FDA also issued a draft guidance in July 2016 setting forth the principles for co-development of an in vitro companion diagnostic device with a therapeutic product. The draft guidance describes principles to guide the development and contemporaneous marketing authorization for the therapeutic product and its corresponding in vitro companion diagnostic. As noted in the “Regulation of In Vitro (“IVD”) Diagnostics and Medical Devices” section above, the companion diagnostic device is subject to FDA’s general controls including the QSR, facility registration, device listing, reporting of, adverse events, and reporting of corrections and removals. As a device manufacturer, companion diagnostic makers are subject to periodic FDA inspections. As noted in the “Regulation of In Vitro (“IVD”) Diagnostics and Medical Devices” section above, noncompliance with the FDCA and its implementing regulation can subject a manufacturer to enforcement including administrative actions, civil penalties, and criminal penalties.

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To the extent a therapeutic drug or biologic product requires a delivery device (e.g., syringe), the delivery device will also be regulated as a medical device. Unless exempt, delivery devices are subject to FDA premarket review before commercialization as outlined in the “Regulation of In Vitro (“IVD”) Diagnostics and Medical Devices” section above. In addition to the traditional medical device regulatory pathway, the delivery device could also be authorized as a combination product with the therapeutic drug or biologic product. When authorized as a combination product, medical device quality system and adverse event reporting requirements still apply to the device portion of the combination product. However, the combination product manufacturer may be able to streamline some of these obligations in accordance with 21 C.F.R. Part 4.

Other Laws—Environmental, Occupational Safety and Health

We may be subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. From time to time and in the future, our operations may involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials, and may also produce hazardous waste products. Even if we contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and waste products, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of contamination or injury resulting from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from the use or disposal of our hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties for failure to comply with such laws and regulations. We maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees, but this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. However, we do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us. In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. Current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. In addition, failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.

Human Capital Resources

We believe that our talent is our competitive edge in the global marketplace. We strive to attract and retain a uniquely talented and high performing workforce across all aspects of diversity and aim to foster a team-first culture of innovation.

Workforce

As of March 31, 2022, we employed approximately 768 employees worldwide, of which approximately 728 were full-time employees and approximately 94% were U.S.-based employees.

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I)

We strive to provide opportunity for all: our employees, our community, and our customers. We believe in welcoming and embracing various cultures and backgrounds, as we recognize the value of employing a workforce of unique and varying viewpoints and experiences. Currently, 51% of our U.S. workforce are women. 40% of our Board of Directors identify as people of color and three of our nine directors identify as female.

Our DE&I strategy is focused on workplace, workforce, marketplace and community, and is deeply ingrained in our organizational insights, employee data, and industry research and benchmarks. In fiscal 2022, we achieved the following important milestones of our long-term DE&I strategy:

We aim to grow, learn, and shape our approach to DE&I for the betterment of our workforce and the communities we serve. To that end, we will continue to ensure we are creating an environment that welcomes uncomfortable conversations about issues that impact our workforce, customers and the broader community.

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

We provide all benefit-eligible employees working at least 20 hours per week with a comprehensive benefit and compensation package, which includes:

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As a company, we offer postpartum and return-to-work assistance which includes on-site lactation rooms and flexible work hours. For nursing moms who travel for work, we provide reimbursement for the shipment of breast milk back to their homes. We also offer back-up child and elder care. We offer one week of company paid family leave for employees who need to care for a family member who has a serious health condition and provide unlimited sick leave for COVID related illness.

We firmly believe in investing into the health, well-being, and wellness of our employees. We provide complimentary health and fitness classes, including instructor-led yoga, pilates, cardio, strength, and meditation classes. We host individual and team wellness challenges that incorporate mental, emotional, physical, and nutritional elements of a healthy lifestyle. We provide an online navigation and advocacy service to find the right care and deal with medical bills questions.

Talent Development

Employee development is considered to be a strategic priority. We support employee growth and development by offering a variety of benefits. Our focus areas at this time are on leadership development, career development, DE&I and supporting hybrid teams/leadership. Our flagship leadership program is for leaders at all levels (program, project, people, and/or team leaders), which provides employees to be able to lead from any seat. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, over 16% of all employees participated in this 4-month cohort based leadership program. We plan to continue to offer this program and support more employees through their leadership journey.

Other talent development benefits we offer are tuition reimbursement, department learning budgets and internal mentorship programs. We recently launched our Company-wide BestYou@23andMe Framework, a performance management framework designed to support and foster career advancement. BestYou@23andMe encompasses three areas:

Our objective is having a clear approach towards career development, programs/benefits allowing employees with healthier lives, and an ability to participate in the community celebrating individuality. Our talent development programs are designed to support a work environment where employees are empowered to promote their unique perspectives.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available, free of charge, on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and our Investor Relations website at https://investors.23andme.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such materials with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We use our Investor Relations website as a means of disclosing material non-public information. Accordingly, investors should monitor our Investor Relations website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.

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Our corporate governance materials, including our corporate governance guidelines, the charters of our audit and compensation committees, and our code of business conduct and ethics may also be found under the Investor Relations section of our website at https://investors.23andme.com. A copy of the corporate governance materials is also available upon written request. Additionally, our investor presentations are available under the Investor Relations section of our website at https://investors.23andme.com. These materials are available no later than the time they are presented at investor conferences. Except to the extent expressly stated otherwise, information contained on or accessible from our web site or any other web site is not incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this report.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Investing in our securities involves risks. Before you make a decision to buy our securities, in addition to the risks and uncertainties discussed above under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” you should carefully consider the specific risks set forth herein. If any of these risks actually occur, it may materially harm our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. As a result, the market price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Additionally, the risks and uncertainties described in this Form 10-K are not the only risks and uncertainties that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may become material and adversely affect our business.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, references in this “Risk Factors” section to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and similar terms refer to 23andMe Holding Co., a Delaware corporation formerly known as VG Acquisition Corp., and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Summary of Principal Risk Factors

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Risks Related to Our Business

Consumer and Research Services Business Risks

The market for personal genetics products and services has experienced a recent overall decline, which corresponds with the recent and significant decreases in our revenues. If this trend continues or worsens, it would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our revenue model has historically been derived principally from customers who purchase our PGS services. For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, PGS revenue accounted for 75%, 81% and 89% of revenues, respectively. There is no assurance that our business model will be successful or that it will generate increased revenues or become profitable as a result of marketing our current PGS services or any future products or services. We may be forced to make significant changes to our anticipated pricing, sales and revenue model to compete with our competitors’ offerings, and even if such changes are implemented, there is no guarantee that they will be successful. If the current market trend continues or worsens, or we are unable to adjust our approach to meet market demands, our revenues and results of operations will be adversely affected.

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We operate in highly competitive markets, and competition in the personal genetics and telehealth markets present an ongoing threat to the success of our business.

With respect to our PGS business, the number of companies entering the market with offerings similar to our PGS services continues to increase. We believe that our ability to compete depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including the following:

We also face competition from other companies attempting to capitalize on the same, or similar, opportunities as it is, including from existing diagnostic, laboratory services and other companies entering the personal genetics market with new offerings such as direct access and/or consumer self-pay tests and genetic interpretation services. Some of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories and greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to respond more quickly or efficiently than it can to new or emerging technologies. These competitors may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more aggressive pricing policies, which may allow them to build larger customer bases than we have. Our competitors may develop products or services that are similar to our products and services or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services. This could attract customers away from our services and reduce our market share.

Similarly, the markets for healthcare are intensely competitive, subject to rapid change, and significantly affected by new product and technological introductions and other market activities of industry participants. We compete directly not only with other established telehealth providers but also traditional healthcare providers and pharmacies. Our current competitors include traditional healthcare providers expanding into the telehealth market, incumbent telehealth providers, as well as new entrants into our market that are focused on direct-to-consumer healthcare. Our competitors include enterprise-focused companies that may enter the direct-to-consumer healthcare industry, as well as direct-to-consumer healthcare providers. Many of our current and potential competitors may have greater name and brand recognition, longer operating histories, significantly greater resources than we do, and may be able to offer products and services similar to those offered on our platform at more attractive prices than we can.

Additionally, we believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced many new users to telehealth and further reinforced its benefits to potential competitors. We believe this may drive additional industry consolidation or collaboration involving competitors that may create competitors with greater resources and access to potential patients. The COVID-19 pandemic may also cause various traditional healthcare providers to evaluate and eventually pursue telehealth options that can be paired with their in-person capabilities. These industry changes could better position our competitors to serve certain segments of our current or future markets, which could create additional price pressure. In light of these factors, even if our offerings are more effective than those of our competitors, current or potential patients may accept competitive solutions in lieu of purchasing from us.

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If our competitors receive further FDA marketing approval for in vitro diagnostic products, our business could be adversely affected.

We were the first direct-to-consumer genetic testing company to include FDA-authorized genetic health risk, carrier status and pharmacogenetic reports. Our competitors had previously released products that were not cleared or approved by the FDA and required partnership with independent physicians, but in August 2020, one of our competitors received premarket notification, also called 510(k) clearance, for their saliva collection kit and one of their genetic health risk reports, and in December 2020 another competitor received a 510(k) clearance for one of their health risk reports. Following these FDA clearances, our competitors can now market those cleared reports directly to consumers rather than relying on clinician network partners. If our competitors receive further FDA approvals, our business could be adversely affected.

The sizes of the markets and forecasts of market growth for the demand of our products and services, including our research services and other key potential success factors are based on a number of complex assumptions and estimates, and may be inaccurate.

We estimate annual total addressable markets and forecasts of market growth for our PGS. We have also developed a standard set of key performance indicators in order to enable us to assess the performance of our business in and across multiple markets, and to forecast future revenue. These estimates, forecasts and key performance indicators are based on a number of complex assumptions, internal and third-party estimates and other business data, including assumptions and estimates relating to our ability to generate revenue from the development of new workflows. While we believe our assumptions and the data underlying our estimates and key performance indicators are reasonable, there are inherent challenges in measuring or forecasting such information. As a result, these assumptions and estimates may not be correct and the conditions supporting our assumptions or estimates may change at any time, thereby reducing the predictive accuracy of these underlying factors and indicators. Consequently, our estimates of the annual total addressable market and our forecasts of market growth and future revenue from our products and services, including our research services may prove to be incorrect, and our key business metrics may not reflect our actual performance. For example, if the annual total addressable market or the potential market growth for our products and services is smaller than we have estimated or if the key business metrics we utilize to forecast revenue are inaccurate, it may impair our sales growth and have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The telehealth market is immature and volatile, and if it does not develop, if it encounters negative publicity, or if the increased use of telehealth solutions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic does not continue after the pandemic, then the growth of our business and our results of operation will be harmed.

The telehealth market is relatively new and unproven, and it is uncertain whether it will achieve and sustain high levels of demand, consumer acceptance, and market adoption. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased utilization of telehealth services, but it is uncertain whether such increase in demand will continue. The success of our telehealth business will depend to a substantial extent on the willingness of our patients and members to use, and to increase the frequency and extent of their utilization of, our solution, as well as on our ability to demonstrate the value of telehealth to patients. Negative publicity concerning our telehealth services, or the telehealth market as a whole, could limit market acceptance of our solution. If our telehealth patients and members do not perceive the benefits of our services, then our market may develop more slowly than we expect or not at all. Similarly, individual and healthcare industry concerns or negative publicity regarding patient confidentiality and privacy in the context of telehealth could limit market acceptance of our healthcare services. If any of these events occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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We rely on key sole suppliers to manufacture and perform services used by customers who purchase our PGS. Our reliance on limited contracted manufacturing and supply chain capacity could adversely affect our ability to meet customer demand.

We do not have manufacturing capabilities and do not plan to develop such capacity in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, we rely on third-party suppliers to provide materials (such as our saliva collection kits, bead chips, reagents or other materials and equipment used in our laboratory operations) and services (such as our laboratory processing services). Currently, we rely on a sole supplier to manufacture our saliva collection kits used by customers who purchase our PGS. Change in the supplier or design of certain of the materials which we rely on, in particular the bead chip and saliva collection kit, could result in a requirement that we seek additional premarket review from the FDA before making such a change. We also are required to validate any new laboratory or laboratories in accordance with FDA standards prior to utilizing their services for our U.S. customers. We cannot be certain that we will be able to secure alternative laboratory processing services, materials and equipment, and bring such alternative materials and equipment on line and revalidate them without experiencing interruptions in our workflow, or that any alternative materials will meet our quality control and performance requirements of our contracted laboratory.

Although we maintain relationships with suppliers with the objective of ensuring that we have adequate supply for the delivery of our services, increases in demand for such items can result in shortages and higher costs. Our suppliers may not be able to meet our delivery schedules, we may lose a significant or sole supplier, a supplier may not be able to meet performance and quality specifications and we may not be able to purchase such items at a competitive cost. Further, we may experience shortages in certain items as a result of limited availability, increased demand, pandemics (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) or other outbreaks of contagious diseases, weather conditions and natural disasters, as well as other factors outside of our control. Our freight costs may increase due to factors such as limited carrier availability, increased fuel costs, increased compliance costs associated with new or changing government regulations, pandemics (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) or other outbreaks of contagious diseases and inflation. Higher prices for natural gas, propane, electricity and fuel also may increase our production and delivery costs. The prices charged for our products may not reflect changes in our packaging material, freight, tariff and energy costs at the time they occur, or at all.

In order for other parties to perform manufacturing and participate in our supply chain, we sometimes must transfer technology to the other party, which can be time consuming and may not be successfully accomplished without considerable cost and expense, or at all. We will have to depend on these other parties to perform effectively on a timely basis and to comply with regulatory requirements. If for any reason they are unable to do so, and as a result we are unable to manufacture and supply sufficient quantities of our products on acceptable terms, or if we should encounter delays or other difficulties with the third parties on which we rely for our supply chain, our business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition may be materially harmed.

Our business significantly depends upon the strength of our brand, and if we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, our ability to expand our customer base may be impaired and our business and operating results may be harmed.

We believe that the brand identity that we have developed has significantly contributed to the success of our business. We also believe that maintaining and enhancing the “23andMe” brand is a significant factor in expanding our customer base and current and future business opportunities. Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make substantial investments and these investments may not be successful. If we fail to promote and maintain the “23andMe” brand, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected. We anticipate that, as our market becomes increasingly competitive, maintaining and enhancing our brand may become increasingly difficult and expensive.

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We have a limited history introducing new products and services to our customers and patients. If our efforts to attract new customers and patients and engage existing customers and patients with enhanced products and services, are unsuccessful or if such efforts are more costly than we expect, our business may be harmed.

Our success depends on our ability to attract new customers and patients and engage existing customers and patients in a cost-effective manner. To acquire and engage customers and patients, we must, among other things, promote and sustain our platform and provide high-quality products, user experiences, and service. If customers do not perceive our PGS and PGS reports to be reliable and of high quality, if we fail to introduce new and improved products and services, or if we introduce new products or services that are not favorably received by the market, we may not be able to attract or retain customers and patients.

For example, the increased growth of our subscription service, 23andMe+, depends upon how compelling this offering is to our customers. Many of our 23andMe+ subscribers may initially access the subscription service for a discount. While we strive to demonstrate the value of our subscription service to our customers, and encourage eligible customers to become paid subscribers of 23andMe+, these customers may not convert to a fully paid subscription to 23andMe+ after they take advantage of our promotions. Moreover, if we are unable to keep existing customers engaged, including by their participation in research and responses to questionnaires, our ability to grow our database and discover new insights about the relationship between genetics and disease will be compromised. If we are unable to attract new customers or engage existing customers, including as subscribers of 23andMe+, our revenue and our operating results may grow slower than expected or decline.

Our telehealth business provides patients with access to telehealth-based consultations with healthcare providers and prescription medication services. In order to attract new telehealth patients and members and grow our telehealth business, we need to continue expanding the scope of our products and services and enter into new categories that will provide access to consultation and treatment of additional conditions. It is uncertain whether any such offerings will achieve and sustain high levels of demand and market adoption. Unless we are able to attract new telehealth patients and members and retain existing patients, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be harmed.

Our marketing efforts currently include various initiatives and consist primarily of digital marketing on a variety of social media channels, such as Facebook, search engine optimization on websites, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!, various branding strategies, and mobile “push” notifications and email. During the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we spent $100.3 million, $43.2 million and $110.5 million on sales and marketing, representing 37%, 18% and 36% of our revenue, respectively. We anticipate that sales and marketing expenses will continue to represent a significant percentage of our overall operating costs for the foreseeable future. We have historically acquired a significant number of our users through digital advertising on platforms and websites owned by Facebook and Google, which may terminate their agreements with us at any time. Our investments in sales and marketing may not effectively reach potential customers and/or patients, potential customers and/or patients may decide not to buy our products or services, or customer or patient spend for our products and services may not yield the intended return on investment, any of which could negatively affect our financial results.

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Many factors, some of which are beyond our control, may reduce our ability to acquire, maintain and further engage with customers and patients, including those described in this “Risk Factors” section and the following:

In addition, we believe that many of our new customers and patients originate from word-of-mouth and other non-paid referrals from existing customers and patients, including purchases of kits for gift-giving, so we must ensure that our existing customers and patients remain loyal and continue to derive value from our service in order to continue receiving those referrals. If our efforts to satisfy our existing customers and patients are not successful, we may not be able to attract new customers and patients. Further, if our customer base does not continue to grow, we may be required to incur significantly higher marketing expenses than we currently anticipate to attract new customers and patients. A significant decline in our customer base would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Revenue derived from our kit sales is dependent on seasonal holiday demand and the timing of Amazon Prime Day, which could lead to significant quarterly fluctuations in revenue and results of operations.

Our kit sales are dependent on seasonal holiday demand, as well as the timing of Amazon Prime Day, which has varied in recent years. We generate a significant amount of our PGS revenue during the fourth quarter of our fiscal year, due to seasonal holiday demand and to the fact that kits that are ordered during the holiday season (which occurs during the third quarter of our fiscal year) are recognized as revenue when the customer sends in their kit to the laboratory to be processed and genetic reports are delivered to the customer, which typically for holiday purchases tends to occur in the fourth fiscal quarter. For example, in fiscal 2022, 2021 and 2020, fourth quarter PGS revenue represented 36%, 39% and 31% of our total PGS revenue, respectively. Our promotional activity is also higher in the third fiscal quarter, which may reduce gross margin during this period. Purchasing patterns of kit sales are also aligned with other gift-giving and family-oriented holidays such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
 

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This seasonality causes our operating results to vary considerably from quarter to quarter. Additionally, any decrease in sales or profitability during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year could have a disproportionately adverse effect on our results of operations, which could, in turn, cause the value of our Class A common stock to fluctuate or decrease. This seasonality also could become more pronounced and may cause our operating results to fluctuate more widely.

We also may experience an increase in lab processing times and costs associated with shipping orders due to freight surcharges due to peak capacity constraints and additional long-zone shipments necessary to ensure timely delivery for the holiday season. Such delays could lead to an inability to meet advertised estimated lab processing times, resulting in customer dissatisfaction or reputational damage. If too many customers access our website within a short period of time, we may experience system interruptions that make our website unavailable or prevent us from efficiently fulfilling orders, which may reduce the volume of kits sold. Also, third-party delivery and direct ship vendors may be unable to deliver merchandise on a timely basis.

Our ability to meet demand in the Amazon retail channel is dependent upon Amazon’s stocking policies.

We offer for sale both the Health + Ancestry Service kit and the Ancestry + Traits Service kit through Amazon in the US, Canada and the U.K. Demand for our PGS kits through Amazon varies considerably based upon seasonal holiday and other gift-giving and family-oriented holiday demand, as well as the timing of Amazon Prime Day.

Amazon’s stocking policies restrict the total number of PGS kits available for shipment to Amazon customers. These policies, including the inventory cap, change frequently, and as a result, our inventory available for shipment through Amazon fluctuates. We may not be able to accurately predict the mix of Health + Ancestry Service kits and Ancestry + Traits Service kits to effectively meet demand for each service type by Amazon customers. We also may experience an increase in costs associated with expedited shipping or use of intermediaries to enable additional stock being made available through Amazon.

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We have limited operating experience abroad and may be subject to increased business and economic risks that could impact our financial results.

Our PGS is available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and in certain other markets globally, and our telehealth services are available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.K. We plan to continue to pursue international expansion of our business operations and we may expand our offering in existing international markets or enter new international markets where we have limited or no experience in marketing, selling and deploying our product and services. If we fail to deploy or manage our operations in these countries successfully, our business and operations may suffer. In addition, we are subject to a variety of risks inherent in doing business internationally, including:

If we are unable to manage the complexity of global operations successfully, our financial performance and operating results could suffer.

Our pricing strategies may not meet customers’ price expectations or may adversely affect our revenues.

Our pricing strategies have had, and may continue to have, a significant impact on our revenue. From time to time, we offer discounted prices as a means of attracting customers. Such offers and discounts, however, may reduce our revenue and margins. In addition, our competitors’ pricing and marketing strategies are beyond our control and can significantly affect the results of our pricing strategies. If our pricing strategies, which may evolve over time, fail to meet our customers’ price expectations or fail to result in increased margins, or if we are unable to compete effectively with our competitors if they engage in aggressive pricing strategies or other competitive activities, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We depend on our relationships with the PMCs, which we do not own, to provide telehealth consultation services, and our business could be adversely affected if those relationships were disrupted.

In certain jurisdictions, the corporate practice of medicine doctrine generally prohibits non-physicians from practicing medicine, including by employing physicians to provide clinical services, directing the clinical practice of physicians, or holding an ownership interest in an entity that employs or contracts with physicians. Some states have similar doctrines with respect to other professional licensure categories, including behavioral health services and providers. Other practices, such as professionals splitting their professional fees with a non-professional, are also prohibited in some jurisdictions. Many states also limit the extent to which nurse practitioners can practice independently and require that they practice under the supervision of or in collaboration with a supervising physician.

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Through our platform, our patients gain access to one or more licensed healthcare providers for telehealth consultations. These providers are employed by or contracted with PMCs, which are professional entities owned by licensed physicians and that engage licensed healthcare professionals, to provide telehealth consultations and related services, including applicable physician supervision of nurse practitioners. We enter into certain contractual arrangements with the PMCs and their provider owners, including an administrative services agreement with each PMC for the exclusive provision by us of non-clinical services and support for the PMCs. While we expect that these relationships with the PMCs will continue, we cannot guarantee that they will. We believe that our arrangements with the PMCs have been structured to comply with applicable law and allow the healthcare providers the ability to maintain exclusive authority regarding the provision of clinical healthcare services (including consults that may lead to the writing of prescriptions), but there can be no assurance that government entities or courts would find our approach to be consistent with their interpretation of, and enforcement activities or initiatives related to, these laws and the corporate practice of medicine doctrine or similar prohibitions. If our arrangements are deemed to be inconsistent with any applicable government entity’s interpretation of a law or regulation prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine, a fee-splitting law, or similar regulatory prohibitions, we would need to restructure the arrangements with the PMCs to create a compliant arrangement or terminate the arrangement, and we could face fines or other penalties in connection with such arrangements. A material change in our relationships with the PMCs, whether resulting from a dispute, a change in government regulation, or enforcement patterns, a determination of non-compliance, or the loss of these agreements or business relationships, could impair our ability to provide products and services to our patients and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Violations of the prohibition on corporate practice of medicine doctrine, fee-splitting, or similar laws may impose penalties (e.g., fines or license suspension) on healthcare providers, which could discourage professionals from entering into arrangements with the PMCs and using our platform and could result in lawsuits by providers against the PMCs and us. These laws and regulations are subject to change and enforcement based upon political, regulatory, and other influences. More restrictive treatment of healthcare professionals’ relationships with non-professionals, such as our Company, in the healthcare services delivery context could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We depend on a number of other companies to perform functions critical to our ability to operate our platform, generate revenue from patients.

We depend on the PMCs and their providers and our Affiliated Pharmacies to deliver quality healthcare consultations and pharmacy services through our platform. Any interruption in the availability of a sufficient number of providers or supply from our Affiliated Pharmacies could materially and adversely affect our ability to satisfy our patients and ensure they receive consultation services and prescription medication. If we were to lose our relationship with one of the PMCs, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to ensure access to a sufficient network of providers. Similarly, if we were to lose our relationship with one of our Affiliated Pharmacies, or are unable to obtain access for patients to low-cost pharmaceutical products through such pharmacies, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find, perform due diligence on, and engage with one or more replacement partners in a timely manner. Our ability to service customer requirements could be materially impaired or interrupted in the event that our relationship with a PMC or Affiliated Pharmacy is terminated or otherwise impaired, which can happen due to a variety of circumstances, including, but not limited to, noncompliance on the part of the third-party entity. We also depend on cloud infrastructure providers, payment processors, and various others that allow our platform to function effectively and serve the needs of our patients. Difficulties with our significant partners and suppliers, regardless of the reason, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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If we are unable to attract and retain high quality healthcare providers for our patients, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our success is dependent upon our continued ability to maintain a network of qualified telehealth providers. If we are unable to recruit and retain board-certified physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals, it would adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations and ability to grow. In any particular market, providers could demand higher payments or take other actions that could result in higher medical costs, less attractive service for our patients, or difficulty meeting regulatory or accreditation requirements. The failure to maintain or to secure new cost-effective provider contracts may result in a loss of or inability to grow our membership base, higher costs, less attractive service for our patients, and/or difficulty in meeting regulatory or accreditation requirements, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Any significant disruption in service on our website, mobile applications, or in our computer or logistics systems, whether due to a failure with our information technology systems or that of a third-party vendor, could harm our reputation and may result in a loss of customers.

Customers purchase our PGS and access its services through our website or our mobile applications. We also provide our telehealth services to patients and members through our website and mobile applications. Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our customers, patients, and members is dependent upon the reliable performance of our website, mobile applications, network infrastructure and content delivery processes. Interruptions in any of these systems, whether due to system failures, computer viruses or physical or electronic break-ins, could affect the security or availability of our website or mobile applications, including our databases, and prevent our customers, patients, and members from accessing and using our services.

Our systems and operations are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failure, terrorist attacks, acts of war, electronic and physical break-ins, earthquake and similar events. For example, our headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area which over the past several years has been subject to planned power outages to reduce the risk of wildfire, and these power outages can last for several days, which may limit or curtail certain operations. In the event of any catastrophic failure involving our website, we may be unable to serve our web traffic. In addition, our Lemonaid pharmacy fulfillment business is processed from a single location, which operations would be materially disrupted in the event any of these events were to occur at such facility. The occurrence of any of the foregoing risks could result in damage to our systems or could cause them to fail completely, and our insurance may not cover such risks or may be insufficient to compensate us for losses that may occur.

Additionally, our PGS business model is dependent on our ability to deliver kits to customers and have kits processed and returned to us. This requires coordination between our logistics providers and third-party shipping services. Operational disruptions may be caused by factors outside of our control such as hostilities, political unrest, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, pandemics (such as COVID-19) and public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, affecting the geographies where our operations and customers are located. We may not be effective at preventing or mitigating the effects of such disruptions, particularly in the case of a catastrophic event. In addition, operational disruptions may occur during the holiday season, causing delays or failures in deliveries of PGS kits. Any such disruption may result in lost revenues, a loss of customers and reputational damage, which would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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If we are unable to deliver a rewarding experience on mobile devices, whether through our mobile website or our mobile application, we may be unable to attract and retain customers and patients.

We believe that current and prospective customers and patients are increasingly interested in accessing our PGS and telehealth offerings through mobile devices. We maintain mobile websites and mobile applications for our PGS and telehealth offerings. Developing and supporting a mobile website and mobile application across multiple operating systems and devices requires substantial time and resources. Notwithstanding our efforts to develop mobile solutions, our mobile solutions may fail to meet the needs of our customers and patients or consistently provide rewarding customer and patient experiences. As a result, our ability to attract new customers and patients could be impaired and customers and patients we meet through our mobile websites or mobile applications may not choose to use our offerings at the same rate as customers and patients we meet through our websites.

As new mobile devices and mobile operating systems are released, we may encounter problems in developing or supporting our mobile websites or mobile applications for them. Our ability to offer commercially successful mobile websites and mobile applications could also be harmed by factors outside of our control, such as:

If our customers or patients experience difficulty accessing or using, or if they elect not to use, our mobile websites or mobile applications, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Use of social media and email may adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties.

We use social media and email as part of our approach to marketing. As laws and regulations rapidly evolve to govern the use of these channels, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting on our behalf or at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these channels could adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines, other penalties, or lawsuits. Although we continue to update our practices as these laws change over time, we may be subject to lawsuits or investigations alleging our failure to comply with such laws. In addition, our employees or third parties acting on our behalf or at our direction may knowingly or inadvertently use social media, including through advertisements, in ways that could lead to the loss or infringement of intellectual property, as well as the public disclosure of proprietary, confidential, or sensitive personal information of our business, employees, customers, patients, members, or others. Any such inappropriate use of social media and emails could also cause reputational damage.

Our customers may engage with us online through social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, by providing feedback and public commentary about all aspects of our business. Information concerning us, whether accurate or not, may be posted on social media platforms at any time and may have a disproportionately adverse impact on our brand, reputation, or business. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.

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Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to extend our presence in the personal genetics market, provide customers with a high level of service at a competitive price, achieve sufficient sales volume to realize economies of scale, and create innovative new features, products, and services to offer to our customers. Our failure to achieve any of these outcomes would adversely affect our business.

Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to extend our presence in the personal genetics market, provide customers with a high level of service at a competitive price, achieve sufficient sales volume to realize economies of scale, and create innovative new features, products and services to offer to our customers. The growth and expansion of our business and service offerings places a continuous significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. We are required to manage multiple relationships with various strategic suppliers, customers and other third parties, and regulatory agencies and advisors. To effectively manage our growth, we must continue to implement and improve our operational, financial and management information systems and to expand, train and manage our employee base. We further must continue to work to scale our own operations and our supplier operations to meet increases in demand for our services. In the event of further growth of our operations or in the number of our third-party relationships, our supply, systems, procedures, or internal controls may not be adequate to support our operations and our management may not be able to manage any such growth effectively.

Our current and future expense levels are, to a large extent, fixed and are largely based on our investment plans and our estimates of future revenue. Because the timing and amount of revenue from our PGS is difficult to forecast when revenue does not meet our expectations we may not be able to adjust our spending promptly or reduce our spending to levels commensurate with our revenue.

Even if we are able to successfully scale our infrastructure and operations, we cannot ensure that demand for our services will increase at levels consistent with the growth of our infrastructure. If we fail to generate demand commensurate with this growth or if we fail to scale our infrastructure sufficiently in advance to meet such demand, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected, which may affect our ability to attract personnel or retain or motivate existing personnel.

Our Consumer and Research Services business relies on the continual growth of our database of information provided by customers who consent to participate in our research. If the number of our customers consenting to participate in our research programs declines or fails to grow, our research services revenue may be adversely affected, and our database may become less effective in facilitating our ability to identify new drug targets and to create new features, products and services to offer to our customers.

Our Consumer and Research Services business is based on our ongoing analysis of the continually growing quantity of data in our proprietary database of genotypic and phenotypic information provided by customers who have consented to participate in our research programs. Over 80% of our customers have consented to participate in our research programs. If this percentage were to decline, or if consenting customers were to decide to opt out of our research programs, such that we cannot continue to grow our research database, the utility and value of our database would be adversely affected.

Our Consumer and Research Services business requires us to continue to improve and develop new data mining technologies and innovations in the use of genotypic and phenotypic data.

Our research services business uses our database and data mining tools and technologies to analyze the impacts of genetics on the sources and risks of disease, and to identify promising drug targets. If we do not continue to improve and develop new data mining technologies and innovations in our use of genotypic and phenotypic data, and to attract and retain skilled scientists to analyze our data, our business would be adversely affected.

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Although we believe that our genetics-powered target discovery platform has the potential to identify more promising drugs than traditional methods, our focus on using our genetics-powered platform to discover targets with therapeutic potential may not result in the discovery of commercially viable drug targets for us or our collaborators.

Our scientific approach focuses on using our propriety genotypic and phenotypic database to identify promising drug targets and predict their key properties without conducting time-consuming and expensive physical experiments. Our proprietary data mining techniques underpin, our target identification collaborations and our own internal target identification programs. While we believe that our research platform has been successful to date in identifying promising drug targets, we have no assurance that our early success will continue or lead to future success in identifying such targets.

Media reports have in the past reported on consumer data privacy and security concerns and the use of genetic information accessed from other genetic databases by law enforcement and governmental agencies. These reports may decrease the overall consumer demand for personal genetic products and services, including ours.

We receive a high degree of media coverage. Unfavorable publicity or consumer perception of our product and service offerings, including consumer privacy concerns related to any of our past, existing, or future collaborations, could adversely affect our reputation, resulting in a negative impact on the size of our customer base, the loyalty of our customers, the percentage of our customers that consent to participate in our research program, and our ability to attract new customers.

Therapeutics Business Risks

We expect to make significant investments in our continued efforts to develop new therapies as part of our Therapeutics business; these efforts may not be successful. We do not have any experience in successful drug development or commercialization and our failure to execute on successful drug development or commercialization would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Drug development is expensive, takes years to complete, and can have uncertain outcomes. Failure can occur at any stage of development. We expect to incur significant expenses to advance our therapeutic development efforts, which may be unsuccessful. Developing new drugs is a speculative, risky, and highly competitive endeavor. Drugs which may initially show promise may fail to achieve the desired results in development and clinical studies and may ultimately not prove to be safe and effective or meet expectations for clinical utility. We may need to alter our offerings in development and repeat clinical studies before we develop a potentially successful drug. If, after development, a drug appears successful, we or our collaborators will still need to obtain FDA and other regulatory approvals before we can market it. The FDA’s approval pathways are likely to involve significant time, as well as additional research, development, and clinical study expenditures. The FDA may not approve any drug we develop. Even if we develop a drug that receives regulatory approval, we or our collaborators would need to commit substantial resources to commercialize, sell and market it before it could be profitable, and the drug may never be commercially successful. Additionally, development of any product or service may be disrupted or made less viable by the development of competing products or services. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing drugs, we are unable to predict whether or when our Therapeutics business may successfully commercialize a drug target.

New potential products and services may fail at any stage of development or commercialization and if we determine that any of our current or future products or services are unlikely to succeed, we may abandon them without any return on our investment. If we are unsuccessful in developing additional products or services, our potential for growth may be impaired.

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Even if we or our drug discovery collaborators are able to develop drugs that demonstrate potential in preclinical or early stage clinical studies, we or they may not succeed in demonstrating safety and efficacy of drugs in human clinical trials.

Even if we or our drug discovery collaborators are able to develop drugs that demonstrate potential in preclinical or early stage clinical studies, we or they may not succeed in demonstrating safety and efficacy of drugs in human clinical trials. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their drugs performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their drugs.

If we fail to succeed in our drug development efforts, or to develop and commercialize additional products and services, our ability to expand our business and achieve our strategic objectives would be impaired.

Our Therapeutics business is focused on leveraging our proprietary genotypic and phenotypic database in order to speed the development of successful new drugs. However, we may never succeed in developing a viable drug target. There are many lengthy and complex processes that all must yield successful results in order for us to ultimately succeed in developing and commercializing a drug. There are numerous stages of the drug development process, from initial target identification and validation, through various stages of rigorous preclinical research, to the selection of a lead drug which is suitable for human clinical testing. Once a clinical drug is selected, there are several stages of clinical testing it must undergo, each dependent upon success in the prior stage. This is a long and costly process that will require significant time and resources and, if not successful, for any number of reasons that we cannot anticipate, would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, external competition by other therapeutic companies can adversely affect our expected market share and revenues of our drugs.

Developing new products and services requires substantial technical, financial and human resources, whether or not any products or services are ultimately commercialized. We may pursue what we believe is a promising opportunity only to discover that certain of our risk or resource allocation decisions were incorrect or insufficient, or that individual products, services or our science in general has technology or biology risks that were previously unknown or underappreciated. In the event material decisions in any of these areas turn out to be incorrect or sub-optimal, we may experience a material adverse impact on our business and ability to fund our operations.

Our Therapeutics business faces substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing or commercializing drugs before or more successfully than we can.

We have not yet developed and commercialized, and may never successfully develop or commercialize, a drug target. Our Therapeutics business faces substantial competition from larger, more established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with marketed products that have been accepted by the medical community, patients, and third-party payors, as well as smaller companies in our industry that have successfully identified and developed drugs. Our ability to compete in this industry may be affected by the previous adoption of such products by the medical community, patients, and third-party payors.

We recognize that other companies, including larger pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, may be developing or have plans to develop drugs and therapies that may compete with ours. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, and human resources than we have. In addition, many of our competitors have significantly greater experience than we have in undertaking preclinical studies and human clinical trials of drugs, obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of drugs for use in healthcare and manufacturing, and marketing and selling approved drugs. Our competitors may discover, develop, or commercialize drugs or other novel technologies that are more effective, safer or less costly than any that we are developing. Our competitors may also obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their drugs more rapidly than we may obtain approval for any drug that we develop.
 

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We anticipate that the competition with our drugs and therapies will be based on a number of factors, including product efficacy, safety, availability, and price. The timing of market introduction of any successful drug and competitive drugs will also affect competition among products. We expect the relative speed with which we can develop drugs, complete the clinical trials and approval processes, and supply commercial quantities of such drugs to the market to be important competitive factors. Our competitive position will also depend upon our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, to obtain patent protection or otherwise develop proprietary products or processes, and protect our intellectual property, and to secure sufficient capital resources for the period between target identification and commercial sales of the resulting drug product.

Our long-term success will depend, in part, upon our ability to develop, receive regulatory approval for, and commercialize our drugs.

In the U.S., our drugs and the activities associated with their development, including testing, manufacture, recordkeeping, storage and approval, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA. Failure to obtain regulatory approval for a drug will prevent us from commercializing such target. We have limited resources for use in preparing, filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain regulatory approvals and expect to rely on third-party contract research organizations and consultants to assist us in this process. The FDA and other comparable regulatory agencies in foreign countries impose substantial and rigorous requirements for the development, production, marketing authorization and commercial introduction of drugs. These requirements include pre-clinical, laboratory and clinical testing procedures, sampling activities, manufacturing development, clinical trials and other costly and time-consuming procedures. In addition, regulation is not static, and regulatory authorities, including the FDA evolve in their interpretations and practices and may impose more stringent or different requirements than currently in effect, which may adversely affect our planned and ongoing development and/or our sales and marketing efforts.

Developing and obtaining regulatory approval for drugs is a lengthy process, often taking many years, is uncertain and is expensive. All of the drugs that we are developing, or may develop in the future, require research and development, pre-clinical studies, nonclinical testing, manufacturing development, and clinical trials prior to seeking regulatory approval and commencing commercial sales. In addition, we may need to address a number of technological challenges in order to complete development of our drugs. As a result, the development of drugs may take longer than anticipated or not be successful at all. There can be no assurance that the FDA will ever permit us to market any new drug that we develop. Even if regulatory approval is granted, such approval may include significant limitations on indicated uses, which could materially and adversely affect the prospects of any new therapeutic.

To market any drugs outside of the U.S., we must establish and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries regarding safety and effectiveness. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not mean that regulatory approval will be obtained in any other country. Approval processes vary among countries and can involve additional drug testing and validation and additional or different administrative review periods from those in the U.S., including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, as clinical trials conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions.

Seeking foreign regulatory approval could result in difficulties and costs and require additional nonclinical studies or clinical trials, which could be costly and time-consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our drugs in those countries. The foreign regulatory approval process may include all the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. We do not have any drugs approved for sale in any jurisdiction, including international markets, and we do not have experience in obtaining regulatory approval in international markets. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory approval in international markets is delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our drugs will be harmed.

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Our drugs are in preclinical or clinical development, which is a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes and the potential for substantial delays. We cannot give any assurance that any of our drugs will receive regulatory approval, which is necessary before they can be commercialized.

Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of our drugs, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the drugs in humans. We have focused our collaborative efforts and significant financial resources on developing new drugs. We cannot be certain that any clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. Our inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us and negatively impact our ability to generate revenue. Our future success is dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and then successfully commercialize drugs. We currently have no drugs approved for sale and have not generated any revenue from sales of drugs, and we may never be able to develop or successfully commercialize a marketable drug. The results of early-stage clinical trials and preclinical studies may not be predictive of future results. Initial data in clinical trials may not be indicative of results obtained when these trials are completed or in later stage trials.

All our identified drugs require additional development, management of preclinical, clinical, and manufacturing activities, and regulatory approval. In addition, we will need to obtain adequate manufacturing supply, build a commercial organization, commence marketing efforts, and obtain reimbursement before we generate any significant revenue from commercial product sales, if ever. Many of our drugs are in early-stage research or translational phases of development, and the risk of failure for these programs is high. We cannot be certain that any of our drugs will be successful in clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Further, our drugs may not receive regulatory approval even if they are successful in clinical trials. If we do not receive regulatory approvals for our drugs, we and our subsidiaries may not be able to continue operations.

If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.

Our ability to identify and qualify clinical trial participants in an expeditious manner is critical to the success of our clinical development activities. The timing of our clinical studies depends on the speed at which we can recruit trial participants to participate in testing our drugs. Delays in enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our drugs. If trial participants are unwilling to participate in our studies because of negative publicity of our trials or other trials of similar drugs, or those related to a specific therapeutic area, or for other reasons, including competitive clinical studies for similar patient populations, the timeline for recruiting trial participants, conducting studies, and obtaining regulatory approval of potential drugs may be delayed. We also may face delays in enrolling patients and conducting clinical studies, and may need to make adjustments to our development programs as a result of unforeseen global circumstances as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any delays could result in increased costs, delays in advancing our drug development, delays in testing the effectiveness of our drugs, or termination of the clinical studies altogether.

Use of our therapeutic drugs could be associated with side effects, adverse events or other properties or safety risks, which could delay or halt their clinical development, prevent their regulatory approval, cause us to suspend or discontinue clinical trials, abandon a drug, limit their commercial potential, if approved, or result in other significant negative consequences that could severely harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.

Undesirable or unacceptable side effects caused by our drugs, including drugs that are part of our collaboration with GSK, could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Results of clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. Even if any of our current or future therapeutic drugs receive regulatory approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success, in which case we may not generate significant revenues or become profitable.

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Our use of third parties to manufacture and develop our drugs for preclinical studies and clinical trials may increase the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our drugs, products, or necessary quantities of such materials on time or at an acceptable cost or quality.

We have no experience in drug formulation or manufacturing and we lack the resources and expertise to formulate or manufacture our own therapeutic drugs internally. Therefore, we rely on third-party expertise to support us in this area. We entered into a contract with a third-party manufacturer to manufacture our drugs, and we intend to enter into contracts with third-party manufacturers to supply, store and distribute supplies of our drugs for our clinical trials. If any of our drugs receives FDA approval, we expect to rely on third-party contractors to manufacture our drugs. We have no current plans to build internal manufacturing capacity for any drug, and we have no long-term supply arrangements.

Our reliance on third-party manufacturers exposes us to potential risks, such as the following:

If our contract manufacturers or other third parties fail to deliver our drugs for clinical investigation and, if approved, for commercial sale on a timely basis, with sufficient quality, and at commercially reasonable prices, we may be required to delay or suspend development and commercialization of our drugs. For example, our clinical trials must be conducted with product that complies with cGMP. Failure to comply may require us to repeat or conduct additional preclinical and/or clinical trials, which would increase our development costs and delay the regulatory approval process and our ability to generate and grow revenues. The FDA or other regulatory authorities may also determine that our third-party manufacturers do not maintain quality systems sufficient for product approval and/or may find that the manufacturing data and development does not meet FDA’s approval standards.

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In addition, any significant disruption in our supplier relationships could harm our business. We source key materials from third parties, either directly through agreements with suppliers or indirectly through our manufacturers who have agreements with suppliers. There are a small number of suppliers for certain capital equipment and key materials that are used to manufacture our drugs. Such suppliers may not sell these key materials to our manufacturers at the times we need them or on commercially reasonable terms. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition of these key materials by our manufacturers. Moreover, we currently do not have agreements for the commercial production of a number of these key materials which are used in the manufacture of our drugs. Any significant delay in the supply of a drug or its key materials for an ongoing clinical study could considerably delay completion of our clinical studies, drug testing and potential regulatory approval of our drugs. If our manufacturers or we are unable to purchase these key materials for our drugs after regulatory approval, the commercial launch of our drugs could be delayed or there could be a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues from the sale of our drugs, if approved.

Each of these risks, if realized, could delay or have other adverse impacts on our clinical trials and the approval and commercialization of our drugs, potentially resulting in higher costs, reduced revenues or both.

As an organization, we have limited experience designing or implementing clinical trials. Failure to adequately design a trial, or incorrect assumptions about the design of the trial, could adversely affect our ability to initiate the trial, enroll patients, complete the trial, or obtain regulatory approval on the basis of the trial results, as well as lead to increased or unexpected costs.

The design and implementation of clinical trials is a complex process. We have limited experience designing or implementing clinical trials, and we may not successfully or cost-effectively design and implement clinical trials that achieve our desired clinical endpoints efficiently, or at all. A clinical trial that is not well-designed, planned or conducted, including with respect to the FDA’s GCP requirements, may delay or even prevent initiation of the trial, can lead to increased difficulty in enrolling patients, may make it more difficult to obtain regulatory approval for the drug on the basis of the study results, or, even if a drug is approved, could make it more difficult to commercialize the product successfully or obtain reimbursement from third-party payors. Additionally, a trial that is not well-designed, planned or conducted could be inefficient or more expensive than it otherwise would have been, or we may incorrectly estimate the costs to implement the clinical trial, which could lead to a shortfall in funding. Failure to comply with the FDA’s regulatory requirements for clinical trials can also result in enforcement actions.

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 approved drug by a regulatory agency, we may not be successful in commercializing those drugs if and when they are approved.

We currently have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities and have no experience in marketing drugs. We do not currently have an in-house marketing organization or sales force but may develop such organization and sales force in the future, which will require significant capital expenditures, management resources and time. We will have to compete with other healthcare companies to recruit, hire, train and retain marketing and sales personnel.

In addition to establishing internal sales, marketing, and distribution capabilities, we intend to pursue collaborative arrangements regarding the sales and marketing of our products, however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements, or if we are able to do so, that we will have effective sales forces. Any revenue we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third parties, which may not be successful. We may have little or no control over the marketing and sales efforts of such third parties and our revenue from product sales may be lower than if we had commercialized our drug ourselves. We also face competition in our search for third parties to assist us with the sales and marketing efforts of our drugs.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop in-house sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or establish or maintain relationships with third-party collaborators to commercialize any product in the U.S. or overseas.

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General Business Risks

We may be subject to legal proceedings and litigation, which are costly to defend and could materially harm our business and results of operations.

We may be party to lawsuits and legal proceedings in the normal course of business. These matters are often expensive and disruptive to normal business operations. We may face allegations, lawsuits, and regulatory inquiries, audits, and investigations regarding data privacy, security, product liability, labor and employment, consumer protection, practice of medicine, and intellectual property infringement, including claims related to privacy, patents, publicity, trademarks, copyrights, open source software, and other rights. A portion of the technologies we use incorporates open source software, and we may face claims claiming ownership of open source software or patents related to that software, rights to our intellectual property or breach of open source license terms, including a demand to release material portions of our source code or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. We may also face allegations or litigation related to our acquisitions, securities issuances or business practices, including public disclosures about our business. Litigation and regulatory proceedings, and particularly the healthcare regulatory and class action matters we could face, may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict. Certain of these matters may include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages and include claims for injunctive relief. Additionally, our litigation costs could be significant. Adverse outcomes with respect to litigation or any of these legal proceedings may result in significant settlement costs or judgments, penalties and fines, or require us to modify our activities or solution or require us to stop offering certain features, all of which could negatively impact our acquisition of customers and revenue growth. Litigation or other proceedings can also have an adverse impact on our therapeutic development program. We may also become subject to periodic audits, which could likely increase our regulatory compliance costs and may require us to change our business practices, which could negatively impact our revenue growth. Managing legal proceedings, litigation and audits, even if we achieve favorable outcomes, is time-consuming and diverts management’s attention from our business.

The results of regulatory proceedings, litigation, claims, and audits cannot be predicted with certainty, and determining reserves for pending litigation and other legal, regulatory and audit matters requires significant judgment. There can be no assurance that our expectations will prove correct, and even if these matters are resolved in our favor or without significant cash settlements, these matters, and the time and resources necessary to litigate or resolve them, could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

The U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union could have an adverse impact on our business.

The changes to the trading relationship between the UK and EU resulting from the UK’s exit from the EU on January 31, 2020 (commonly referred to as “Brexit”) may result in additional regulatory requirements for us to market our products and services in the UK and an increased cost of goods imported into and exported from the UK. Additional currency volatility could result in a weaker British pound, which increases the cost of goods imported into the UK from sales to UK-based customers and patients. Agreements regarding tariff, trade, regulatory and other aspects of the UK’s future relationship with the EU and its member status were reached on December 24, 2020. The agreements came into force on May 1, 2021 following a period of provisional application that began on January 1, 2021. Our business in the UK may be adversely impacted by ongoing uncertainty, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, changes in trade policies, or changes in tax, data privacy or other laws. Any of these effects, among others, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

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Our business and future operating results may be adversely affected by catastrophic or other events outside of our control.

We conduct our research and development in our facilities located in South San Francisco, California and Sunnyvale, California. Any damage to our facilities or the servers we rely on for our database would be costly and could require substantial lead-time to repair or replace. In addition, many of our employees work remotely and would be significantly impacted by any disruption to our servers. Our business and operating results may be harmed due to interruption of our research and development by events outside of our control, including earthquakes and fires. Other possible disruptions may include power loss and telecommunications failures. In the event of a prolonged disruption, we may lose customers and we may be unable to regain those customers thereafter. Our insurance may not be sufficient to cover all our potential losses and may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.

We may need additional capital, and we cannot be sure that additional financing will be available at acceptable terms or at all.

As of March 31, 2022, our principal source of liquidity was cash of $553.2 million, which was held for working capital purposes. On November 1, 2021, we paid approximately $101.9 million in cash consideration for the acquisition of Lemonaid Health (of which approximately $13.0 million was placed in escrow to cover a potential purchase price adjustment and to secure the indemnification obligations of the former equity holders of Lemonaid Health), which decreased our cash reserve. Since our inception, we have generated significant operating losses as reflected in our accumulated deficit and negative cash flows from operations. We had an accumulated deficit of $1,194.7 million as of March 31, 2022.

Although we currently anticipate that our available funds and cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our near-term cash needs, we may require additional financing. Our ability to obtain financing may depend on, among other things, our development efforts, business plans, operating performance and condition of the capital markets at the time we seek financing. We cannot assure you that additional financing will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to the rights of Class A common stock, and our stockholders may experience dilution.

We depend on the continued services and performance of our highly qualified key personnel, and our business and research and development initiatives depend on our ability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel, including highly-skilled scientists and other specialized individuals. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified scientists and other specialized individuals in the future due to the competition for qualified personnel among life science and technology businesses.

We currently depend on the continued services and performance of our highly qualified key personnel, and, in particular, Anne Wojcicki, our CEO and co-founder. The loss of Ms. Wojcicki or other key personnel, including key members of management as well as our research, therapeutics, regulatory, product development, engineering, legal, finance, and other personnel, could disrupt our operations and may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives. To retain our key personnel, we use various measures, including an equity incentive program for key executive officers and other employees. These measures may not be enough to retain the personnel we require to operate our business effectively. In addition, volatility in the price of our stock may adversely affect our ability to attract or retain our key personnel, as the fluctuating value of equity-based awards may limit their effectiveness as an employee incentive and retention tool.

The market for qualified personnel in our industry is intensely competitive. Inability to meet the ever-increasing expenses, including salaries, benefits, perks, and technology costs, of attracting and retaining talent may threaten our ability to provide the human resources needed to execute our growth strategy. Many of the companies with which we compete for a relatively limited pool of experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. An inability to attract, retain, and motivate additional highly skilled employees required for the planned expansion of our business could harm our results of operations and impair our ability to grow.

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Specifically, our research and development initiatives and Therapeutics business depend on our ability to attract and retain highly-skilled scientists and other specialized individuals and competition for these resources is especially intense. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified scientists and other specialized individuals in the future due to the competition for qualified personnel among life science and technology businesses, particularly near our therapeutics laboratory facilities located in South San Francisco, California. We also face competition from universities and public and private research institutions in recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientific personnel. Recruiting, training and retention difficulties can limit our ability to support our research and development and commercialization efforts. All our employees are at-will, which means that either we or the employee may terminate their employment at any time. In addition, we rely on consultants, contractors and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist it in formulating our research and development, regulatory and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may provide services to other organizations and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. The loss of the services of one or more of our current consultants or advisors could impede the achievement of our research, development, regulatory and commercialization objectives.

Certain other areas of our operations require employing highly specialized individuals, which makes our recruiting efforts more challenging. If we do not succeed in attracting excellent personnel or retaining or motivating existing personnel, we may be unable to achieve our business objectives or grow effectively.

We face risks related to epidemics and other outbreaks of communicable diseases, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, which could significantly disrupt our operations and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Our operations, business and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected by epidemics and other outbreaks of communicable diseases, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, and by the economic and operational disruptions caused by the attempts of governmental entities to contain or flatten the spread of the disease. The continued spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. and in California, where we are headquartered, could materially and adversely affect our operations, including without limitation, disruptions of our ability to test and process DNA samples, reduced consumer demand for our personal genetic testing services, disruptions in the operations of our suppliers and partners, negative effects on our research and development initiatives and on our recruitment and retention efforts, the continued productivity and health of our employees, and curtailment of business travel and other business activities that may be necessary or helpful to our operations. These factors and resultant uncertainties may have a material adverse effect on our revenue, liquidity and any financing activities that we may undertake. The duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the efforts being made to contain it or to flatten the spread of the disease cannot be predicted with any accuracy, and this uncertainty creates additional risk factors affecting the economy generally, as well as our business. Additionally, the presence or absence of government stimulus funding programs has had and may continue to have an impact on consumer discretionary spending and, consequently, purchases of PGS kits. Without timely and robust government stimulus funding programs, consumers may have less money to spend on discretionary items such as our PGS products, which could harm our business and results of operations. Furthermore, our operations, business and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected by a continued economic downturn and its effects on financial markets as well as by the direct impacts of the pandemic on our employees, customers, patients, members, suppliers and other third parties on which we rely.

Economic uncertainty or downturns, particularly affecting the markets and industries in which we operate, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In recent years, the United States and global economy has been volatile, and worldwide economic conditions remain uncertain. Economic uncertainty and associated macroeconomic conditions, including market volatility, inflation, and supply chain issues, make it extremely difficult for us, as well as for our collaborators, sales channel partners and suppliers, to accurately forecast and plan future business activities. Supply chain issues could limit the ability of our affiliated pharmacies to purchase sufficient quantities of pharmaceutical products from suppliers, which could adversely affect our ability to fulfill patient orders. In addition, economic uncertainty could cause our customers and patients to slow spending on our PGS and telehealth offerings.

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To the extent purchases of our PGS and telehealth offerings are perceived by customers and patients and potential customers and patients as discretionary, our revenue may be disproportionately affected by delays or reductions in Kit purchases and general healthcare spending. Also, competitors may respond to challenging market conditions by lowering prices and attempting to lure away our customers and patients.

We cannot predict the timing, strength, or duration of any economic slowdown or any subsequent recovery generally, or any industry in particular. If the conditions in the general economy and the markets in which we operate worsen from present levels, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

We may enter new business areas, such as additional primary care services, including diagnostics/behavior modification, where we do not have any experience. If we were to enter new business areas, we would likely face competition from entities more familiar with those businesses, and our efforts may not succeed.

In the future, we may expand our operations into business areas, such as additional primary care services, including diagnostics/behavior modification, where we do not have any experience. These areas would be new to our product development and marketing personnel, and we cannot be assured that the markets for these products and services will develop or that we will be able to compete effectively or will generate significant revenues in these new areas making our success in this area difficult to predict. Many companies of all sizes, including major pharmaceutical companies, specialized biotechnology companies and traditional healthcare providers, are engaged in redesigning approaches to medical care and diagnostic medicine. Competitors operating in these potential new business areas may have substantially greater financial and other resources, larger research and development staff, and more experience in these business areas. There can be no assurances that if we undertake new business areas, that the market will accept our offerings, or that such offerings will generate significant revenues for us.

We may make acquisitions to expand our business, and if any of those acquisitions are unsuccessful, our business may be harmed.

We may choose to expand our current business through the acquisition of other businesses, products or technologies, or through strategic alliances.

Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the following:

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Risks Related to Our Collaborations

Our Therapeutics business is substantially dependent on our collaboration with GSK for the development and commercialization of any drugs discovered during the discovery term of the agreement. If we, GSK and any future collaborators are unable to successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approval for, or commercialize any drugs, or experience delays in doing so, our business may be materially harmed. We may engage and depend on other third parties for the development and commercialization of drugs and therapeutic programs discovered following the expiration of the GSK Agreement or outside its scope. If those collaborations are not successful, we may not be able to capitalize on our investment in our Therapeutic business.

In July 2018, we entered into a collaboration agreement with GSK focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs that are identified utilizing our proprietary databases and data mining technologies (the “GSK Agreement”). Under the GSK Agreement, GSK is our exclusive collaborator for drug discovery programs for a four-year period, which has been extended for a fifth year by GSK, pursuant to the terms of the GSK Agreement. Under the GSK Agreement, we and GSK jointly research potential drugs based on reports generated from our proprietary databases and using our proprietary data mining technologies. Once promising drugs are identified through these joint efforts, we and GSK share equally in the costs of discovery, development, and commercialization of any resultant drugs. Both parties have the right to opt out or reduce their share of the funding upon the occurrence of certain specified development milestones, in which case such party would no longer be entitled to share equally in the results of a successful collaboration, but instead would receive certain royalty payments on sales of the resultant drugs, depending on the timing and extent to which such party has reduced its funding or opted out. If GSK were to exercise any of the rights described in the prior sentence, and we elected to continue development, we would be required to supply any necessary funding to continue the development of the applicable drug. In addition, if we were to opt out of a program, GSK has the right to unilaterally decide to terminate the program or fail to develop a drug product, in which case we would not receive any royalty payments. In addition, substantially all our research services revenue is derived from the required payments for research services under the GSK Agreement. When the discovery term of the GSK Agreement terminates, there can be no assurance that we will be able to generate research services revenue from other sources. While the GSK Agreement may not be terminated for convenience, GSK has the ability to terminate the GSK Agreement if certain conditions are met. If GSK were to terminate the GSK Agreement, to reduce its funding or opt out of any drugs thereunder, or to shift its research and development focus so as to deemphasize any programs under the GSK Agreement, our revenues, operating results and our ability to fund and advance drug programs and conduct our Therapeutics business would be adversely affected. We cannot provide any assurance with respect to the success of any research, development or commercialization efforts pursuant to the GSK Agreement.

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Our current collaboration with GSK poses, and potential additional collaborations involving drug development activities outside of the GSK Agreement with GSK pose, the following risks to us:

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GSK and any other potential drug discovery collaborators will have significant discretion in determining when to make announcements, if any, about the status of our collaborations, including results from clinical trials, and timelines for advancing collaborative programs. As a consequence, the price of our Class A common stock may decline as a result of announcements of unexpected clinical trial results or data relative to our research and development programs.

Our drug discovery collaborators have significant discretion in determining when to make announcements about the status of our collaborations, including about preclinical and clinical developments and timelines for advancing the collaborative programs. While as a general matter we intend to periodically report on the status of our collaborations, our drug discovery collaborators, and in particular, our privately-held collaborators, may wish to report such information more or less frequently than we intend to or may not wish to report such information at all. The price of our Class A common stock may decline as a result of the public announcement of unexpected results or developments in our collaborations, or as a result of our collaborators withholding such information.

We may seek to establish additional collaborations in the future, and, if we are not able to establish them on commercially reasonable terms, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans.

Our Therapeutics business and the potential commercialization of any drugs will require substantial additional cash to fund expenses. If the GSK Agreement is terminated, or following its expiration, we may decide to collaborate with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for drug development, manufacture and commercialization activities. These collaborations may not be successful, which would adversely impact our business and results of operations.

Under the GSK Agreement, we have granted exclusive rights to GSK with respect to the identification, development and commercialization of drugs until fiscal 2024, subject to certain limited exceptions. During the discovery term of the GSK Agreement, we are restricted from granting similar rights to other parties. This exclusivity currently limits our ability to enter into strategic drug discovery collaborations with other third parties. To the extent we seek additional collaboration opportunities in the future, we will face significant competition. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant number of business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to successfully enter into collaborations in the future, we may have to curtail our drug discovery and development activities including reducing or delaying individual development programs, potential commercialization plans, or any sales or marketing activities for a drug. We may also have to increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our drugs or bring them to market and generate product revenue.

Our collaborators may not achieve projected discovery and development milestones and other anticipated key events in the expected timelines or at all, which could have an adverse impact on our business.

Our current drug discovery collaborators, from whom we are entitled to receive milestone payments upon achievement of various development, regulatory, and commercial milestones as well as royalties on commercial sales, if any, under the collaboration agreements that we have entered into with them, face numerous risks in the development of drugs, including the conduct of preclinical and clinical testing, obtaining regulatory approval, and achieving product sales. In addition, the amounts we are entitled to receive upon the achievement of such milestones tend to be smaller for near-term development milestones and increase if and as a collaborative drug advances through regulatory development to commercialization and will vary depending on the level of commercial success achieved, if any. We do not anticipate receiving significant milestone payments from many of our drug discovery collaborators for several years, if at all, and our drug discovery collaborators may never achieve milestones that result in significant cash payments to us. Accordingly, our business could be adversely affected if projected discovery and development milestones are not achieved.

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Risks Related to Governmental Regulation

Our products and services are subject to extensive regulation by various U.S. federal and state agencies and compliance with existing or future regulations could result in unanticipated expenses, or limit our ability to offer our products and services.

On November 22, 2013, we received a warning letter from the FDA to discontinue marketing our health-related genetic test in the U.S. until we received FDA marketing authorization for the device. We were allowed to continue to offer genetic ancestry services in the U.S.

In June 2014, we submitted a 510(k) seeking premarket clearance for our Bloom Syndrome carrier test. On February 19, 2015, FDA granted marketing authorization pursuant to its de novo review standard for our Bloom Syndrome carrier test. The FDA also determined that certain of our other similar autosomal recessive carrier reports were exempt moderate risk reports, which subject to special controls, could be marketed by us without further premarket review. In October 2015, we began marketing our new Personal Genome Service in the U.S., which includes detailed reports on carrier status, pursuant to our FDA authorization and exemption, as well as research reports and reports on wellness, traits and ancestry, which we believe do not require premarket authorization.

We continued to submit additional requests to the FDA seeking authorization to market certain Genetic Health Risk (“GHR”) reports. On April 6, 2017, the FDA granted marketing authorization pursuant to its de novo review standard for our GHR reports for ten disease conditions. The FDA also determined that certain of our other similar genetic health risk reports were exempt low-to-moderate risk reports, which subject to certain special controls, could be marketed by us without further premarket review. On March 6, 2018, the FDA granted marketing authorization pursuant to its de novo review standard for our Genetic Health Risk report for BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants). On January 22, 2019, we received FDA clearance for a Genetic Health Risk report for MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP), a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome. On October 31, 2018, the FDA granted marketing authorization pursuant to its de novo review standard for our Pharmacogenetic reports, including our Pharmacogenetics report for CYP2C19. On August 17, 2020, the FDA granted a 510(k) clearance for our Pharmacogenetics report for CYP2C19, modifying the labeling of the report authorized in 2018 to remove the need for confirmatory testing, allowing us to report interpretive drug information for two medications. On January 10, 2022, the FDA granted a 510(k) clearance for our Genetic Health Risk report for Hereditary Prostate Cancer (HOXB13-Related).

We may be required to seek FDA-premarket review of other products and services, including reports that we do not currently believe require premarket authorization but could be subject to additional regulation including premarket review. The Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT Development Act of 2021 (the “VALID Act of 2021,” the “VALID Act” or the “Act”) was introduced in both the House and Senate on June 24, 2021 which seeks to regulate laboratory testing and to modernize FDA regulations of diagnostic products and it could increase the types of our reports which are subject to premarket review. For any such review, we are required to conduct extensive analytical validation and user comprehension studies to demonstrate the accuracy of our test results and that they are appropriate for sale directly to consumers. This process will likely be costly, time-consuming and uncertain. Delays in receipt of, or failure to obtain, authorizations or clearances could materially delay or prevent us from commercializing new products and services or result in substantial additional costs. We may not be able to obtain FDA authorization for all our products and services.

We and/or our finished device contract manufacturers may be inspected by the FDA which may result in the issuance of inspectional observations that suggest noncompliance with the FDCA and its implementing regulations (including the QSR). If the FDA determines that we and/or our finished device contract manufacturers are not in compliance with the FDCA, we may have to recall product and/or be subject to an FDA enforcement action. The process for resolving the inspectional observations and/or potential enforcement action could be costly and time-consuming.

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We will face legal, reputational, and financial risks if we fail to protect our customer data from security breaches or cyberattacks. Changes in laws or regulations relating to privacy or the protection or transfer of data relating to individuals, or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations or any other obligations relating to privacy or the protection or transfer of data relating to individuals, could adversely affect our business.

We receive and store a large volume of personally identifiable information (“PII”), genetic and health information, and other data relating to our customers and patients, as well as other PII and other data relating to individuals such as our employees. Security breaches, employee malfeasance, or human or technological error could lead to potential unauthorized disclosure of our customers’ and patients' personal information. Even the perception that the privacy of personal information is not satisfactorily protected or does not meet regulatory requirements could inhibit sales of our solutions and any failure to comply with such laws and regulations could lead to significant fines, penalties or other liabilities.

Increased global IT security threats and more sophisticated and targeted computer crime pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks and the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of our data. There have been several recent, highly publicized cases in which organizations of various types and sizes have reported the unauthorized disclosure of customer or other confidential information, as well as cyberattacks involving the dissemination, theft, and destruction of corporate information, intellectual property, cash, or other valuable assets. There have also been several highly publicized cases in which hackers have requested “ransom” payments in exchange for not disclosing customer or other confidential information or for not disabling the target company’s computer or other systems. A security breach or privacy violation that leads to disclosure or unauthorized use or modification of, or that prevents access to or otherwise impacts the confidentiality, security, or integrity of, sensitive, confidential, or proprietary information we or our third-party service providers maintain or otherwise process, could compel us to comply with breach notification laws, and cause us to incur significant costs for remediation, fines, penalties, notification to individuals and governmental authorities, implementation of measures intended to repair or replace systems or technology, and to prevent future occurrences, potential increases in insurance premiums, and forensic security audits or investigations. Additionally, a security compromise of our information systems or of those of businesses with whom we interact that results in confidential information being accessed by unauthorized or improper persons could harm our reputation and expose us to customer and patient attrition, and claims brought by our customers, patients, or others for breaching contractual confidentiality and security provisions or data protection laws. Monetary damages imposed on us could be significant and not covered by our liability insurance. As a result, a security breach or privacy violation could result in increased costs or loss of revenue.

Techniques used by bad actors to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems evolve frequently and may not immediately produce signs of intrusion, and we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.

We believe that, because of our operating processes, and except for our affiliated retail pharmacy, which represents a small component of our pharmacy operations, we are not a covered entity or a business associate under HIPAA, which establishes a set of national privacy and security standards for the protection of protected health information by health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and certain healthcare providers, referred to as covered entities, and the business associates with whom such covered entities contract for services. However, if the laws change, or to the extent we begin accepting payment from third parties or insurance providers in our telehealth business generally, we may become subject to HIPAA and could face penalties and fines if we fail to comply with applicable requirements of HIPAA and its implementing regulations. Regardless of whether or not we meet the definition of a covered entity or business associate under HIPAA, we voluntarily adhere to certain HIPAA-related requirements.

We have developed and maintain policies and procedures with respect to health information and personal information that we use or disclose in connection with our operations, including the adoption of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect the privacy and security of such information. As our business operations continue to develop, including through the launch of new product offerings or the development of new services, we may collect additional sensitive health and personal information from our customers and patients that could create additional compliance obligations and may increase our exposure to compliance and regulatory risks regarding the protection and dissemination of such information.

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In addition to HIPAA, numerous other local, municipal, state, federal, and international laws and regulations address privacy and the collection, storing, sharing, use, disclosure, and protection of certain types of data, including the California Online Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, or the TCPA, Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and effective as of January 1, 2020, the CCPA. These laws, rules, and regulations evolve frequently, and their scope may continually change, through new legislation, amendments to existing legislation, and changes in enforcement, and may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another. For example, the CCPA, which went into effect on January 1, 2020, among other things, requires new disclosures to California consumers and affords such consumers new abilities to opt out of certain sales of personal information. The CCPA provides for fines of up to $7,500 per violation. Aspects of the CCPA and its interpretation and enforcement remain uncertain. The effects of this legislation potentially are far-reaching and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and incur substantial compliance-related costs and expenses. The CCPA has been amended on multiple occasions. For example, in November 2020, the CPRA was approved by California voters and significantly modifies the CCPA, potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. The CPRA does not become operative until January 1, 2023 (and then applies only to consumer data collected on or after January 1, 2022, (the “lookback period”), with enforcement beginning July 1, 2023. While the CCPA will remain operative and enforceable from now until July 1, 2023, we will continue to monitor developments related to the CPRA. The effects of this legislation potentially are far-reaching, however, and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and incur substantial compliance-related costs and expenses. Additionally, many laws and regulations relating to privacy and the collection, storing, sharing, use, disclosure, and protection of certain types of data are subject to varying degrees of enforcement and new and changing interpretations by courts. The CCPA and other changes in laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection, breach notifications, and information security, particularly any new or modified laws or regulations, or changes to the interpretation or enforcement of such laws or regulations, that require enhanced protection of certain types of data or new obligations with regard to data retention, transfer, or disclosure, could greatly increase the cost of providing our platform, require significant changes to our operations, or even prevent us from providing our platform in jurisdictions in which we currently operate and in which we may operate in the future.

We also are required to comply with increasingly complex and changing data security and privacy regulations in the U.K., the EU and in other jurisdictions in which we conduct business that regulate the collection, use and transfer of personal data, including the transfer of personal data between or among countries. For example, the European Union’s GDPR, now also enacted in the U.K. (“U.K. GDPR”), has imposed stringent compliance obligations regarding the handling of personal data and has resulted in the issuance of significant financial penalties for noncompliance. Further, in July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union released a decision in the Schrems II case (Data Protection Commission v. Facebook Ireland, Schrems), declaring the EU-US Privacy Shield invalid and calling into question data transfers carried out under the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. As a result of the decision, we may face additional scrutiny from EU regulators in relation to the transfer of personal data from the EU to the US. Noncompliance with the GDPR can trigger fines of up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of global annual revenues. In the U.S., there have been proposals for federal privacy legislation and many new state privacy laws proposed. Since 2021, laws specific to genetic testing companies have passed in California, Utah, Arizona, Maryland, Kentucky and Wyoming and legislation has been proposed in other states. Other countries have enacted or are considering enacting data localization laws that require certain data to stay within their borders. We may also face audits or investigations by one or more domestic or foreign government agencies or our customers or patients pursuant to our contractual obligations relating to our compliance with these regulations. Complying with changing regulatory requirements requires us to incur substantial costs, exposes us to potential regulatory action or litigation, and may require changes to our business practices in certain jurisdictions, any of which could materially adversely affect our business operations and operating results.

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Despite our efforts to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security, it is possible that our interpretations of the law, practices, or platform could be inconsistent with, or fail or be alleged to fail to meet all requirements of, such laws, regulations, or obligations. Our failure, or the failure by our third-party providers on our platform, to comply with applicable laws or regulations or any other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, or information security, or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access to, or use or release of PII or other data relating to our customers and patients, or other individuals, or the perception that any of the foregoing types of failure or compromise have occurred, could damage our reputation, discourage new and existing customers and patients from using our platform, or result in fines, investigations, or proceedings by governmental agencies and private claims and litigation, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Even if not subject to legal challenge, the perception of privacy concerns, whether or not valid, may harm our reputation and brand and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We plan to continue to expand operations abroad where we have limited operating experience and we may be subject to increased regulatory risks and local competition. If we are unsuccessful in efforts to expand internationally, our business may be harmed.

Regulations exist or are under consideration in countries outside the U.S., which limit or prevent the sale of direct-to-consumer genetic tests. Some countries, including Australia, require premarket review by their regulatory body similar to that required in the U.S. by FDA. Some countries, including Australia, Germany, France and Switzerland require a physician prescription for genetic tests providing health information, thus limiting our offering in those countries to an ancestry-only test. Other countries require mandatory genetic counseling prior to genetic testing. These regulations limit the available market for our products and services and increase the costs associated with marketing the products and services where we are able to offer our products. Legal developments in the EU have created a range of new compliance obligations regarding transfers of personal data from the European Union to the U.S., including GDPR and U.K. GDPR, which applies to certain of our activities related to services that we offer or may offer to individuals located in the EU. Significant effort and expense will continue to be required to ensure compliance with the GDPR and U.K. GDPR, and could cause us to change our business practices. Moreover, requirements under the GDPR and U.K. GDPR may change periodically or may be modified by the EU/U.K. and/or national law. The GDPR and U.K. GDPR impose stringent compliance obligations regarding the handling of personal data and have resulted in the issuance of significant financial penalties for noncompliance, including possible fines of up to 4% of global annual turnover for the preceding financial year or €20 million/£17.5 million (whichever is higher) for the most serious violations.

The EU adopted the IVDR which increased the regulatory requirements applicable to IVDs in the EU and requires that we classify and obtain pre-market approval from an independent certified notified body for our PGS health reports, which will be subject to the IVDR as of May 25, 2022. We must also achieve and maintain International Standards Organization (ISO) certification of our Quality Management Systems. If we are not able to achieve or maintain regulatory compliance, we may not be permitted to market our health reports and/or may be subject to enforcement by EU Competent Authorities, bodies with authority to act on behalf of the government of the applicable EU Member State, or other nations which adopt IVDR standards, to ensure that the requirements of the directive or regulation are met. In October 2021, the European Commission proposed a delay in the implementation of certain requirements of the IVDR due to a shortage of independent notified bodies to provide certification for the volume of products requiring it. The proposal will not be effective unless and until the European Parliament adopts modifications to the IVDR directive.

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Additionally, in September 2020 the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) announced regulations requiring a new United Kingdom Conformity Assessed mark (“UKCA”) applicable to medical devices, including testing products and services like our PGS health reports, to be placed on the market beginning January 1, 2021 or for products already on the market, to be maintained on the market after June 30, 2023 which requires that a Declaration of Conformity be obtained based on technical files for all products to which the UKCA applies. Aspects of the UKCA took effect January 1, 2021 and require that medical devices be registered with MHRA. In addition to registration requirements, manufacturers of medical devices based outside of the U.K., including us, must designate a United Kingdom Responsible Person to maintain documents supporting the UKCA and Declaration of Conformity and respond to inquiries from MHRA. If we are not able to achieve or maintain regulatory compliance, we may not be permitted to market our health reports and/or may be subject to enforcement action by MHRA.

If we fail to comply with any of these regulations, we could become subject to enforcement actions or the imposition of significant monetary fines, other penalties, or claims, which could harm our operating results or our ability to conduct our business.

Government regulation of healthcare creates risks and challenges with respect to our compliance efforts and our business strategies, and if we fail to comply with applicable healthcare and other governmental regulations, we could face substantial penalties, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected, and we may be required to restructure our operations.

The healthcare industry is subject to changing political, economic, and regulatory influences that may affect our telehealth business. During the past several years, the healthcare industry has been subject to an increase in governmental regulation and subject to potential disruption due to legislative initiatives and government regulation, as well as judicial interpretations thereof. While these regulations may not directly impact us or our offerings in every instance, they will affect the healthcare industry as a whole and may impact patient use of our services. We currently accept payments only from our patients—not any third-party payors, such as government healthcare programs or health insurers. Because of this approach, we are not subject to many of the laws and regulations that impact many other participants in the healthcare industry.

If the government asserts broader regulatory control over companies like ours or if we determine that we will change our business model and accept payment from and/or participate in third-party payor programs, the complexity of our operations and our compliance obligations will materially increase. Failure to comply with any applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Even within the narrowed band of applicable healthcare laws and regulations, because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of available statutory and regulatory exemptions, it is possible that some of our activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. Any action brought against us for violations of these laws or regulations, even if successfully defended, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business.

Although we have adopted policies and procedures designed to comply with these laws and regulations and conduct internal reviews of our compliance with these laws, our compliance is also subject to governmental review. The growth of our business and organization and our future continued expansion outside of the United States may increase the potential of violating these laws or our internal policies and procedures. The risk of our being found in violation of these or other laws and regulations is further increased by the fact that many have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of interpretations. Any action brought against us for violation of these or other laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the federal, state, and foreign laws described above or any other current or future fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including significant criminal, civil, and administrative penalties, damages and fines, disgorgement, additional reporting requirements and oversight, and imprisonment for individuals, as well as contractual damages and reputational harm. We could also be required to curtail or cease our operations. Any of the foregoing consequences could seriously harm our business and our financial results.

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Our ability to offer access to telehealth services internationally is subject to the applicable laws governing remote care and the practice of medicine in the applicable jurisdiction. Each country’s interpretation and enforcement of these laws is evolving and could vary significantly. We cannot provide assurance that we have accurately interpreted each such law and regulation. Moreover, these laws and regulations may change significantly as this manner of providing products and services evolves. New or revised laws and regulations (or interpretations thereof) could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As part of our telehealth business, we provide pharmacy and prescription medication services, which subjects us to additional healthcare laws and regulations and increases the complexity and extent of our compliance and regulatory obligations.

The operations of the Affiliated Pharmacies subjects us to extensive federal, state, and local regulation. Pharmacies, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians are subject to a variety of federal and state statutes and regulations governing various aspects of the pharmacy business, including the distribution and dispensing of drugs; operation of mail-order pharmacies; licensure of facilities and professionals, including pharmacists, technicians, and other healthcare professionals; packaging, storing, distributing, shipping, and tracking of pharmaceuticals; repackaging of drug products; labeling, medication guides, and other consumer disclosures; interactions with prescribing professionals; compounding of prescription medications; counseling of patients; prescription transfers; advertisement of prescription products and pharmacy services; security; the handling, security, diversion control, dispensing, monitoring, and record keeping of controlled substances, listed chemicals, and scheduled listed chemicals; supply chain security, including requirements related to information exchange, investigations, and reporting; as well as additional requirements of various governmental authorities, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the FDA, state boards of pharmacy, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and other state enforcement or regulatory agencies. Many states have laws and regulations requiring out-of-state mail-order pharmacies to register with that state’s board of pharmacy. The Federal Trade Commission also has requirements for mail-order sellers of goods. The U.S. Postal Service (the “USPS”) has statutory authority to restrict the transmission of drugs and medicines through the mail to a degree that may have an adverse effect on our mail-order operations. The USPS historically has exercised this statutory authority only with respect to controlled substances. If the USPS restricts our ability to deliver drugs through the mail, alternative means of delivery are available to us. However, alternative means of delivery could be significantly more expensive. The U.S. Department of Transportation has regulatory authority to impose restrictions on drugs inserted into the stream of commerce. These regulations generally do not apply to the USPS and its operations. Failure or perceived failure by us or our Affiliated Pharmacies to comply with any applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and may expose us to civil and criminal penalties.

State legislative and regulatory changes specific to the area of telehealth or pharmacy law may present the PMCs and/or Affiliated Pharmacies with additional requirements and state compliance costs, which may create additional operational complexity and increase costs.

The PMCs and their providers’ ability to provide telehealth services to patients in a particular jurisdiction is dependent upon the laws that govern the provision of remote care, professional practice standards, and healthcare delivery in general in that jurisdiction. Likewise, the ability of the Affiliated Pharmacies to fulfill prescriptions and distribute pharmaceutical products is dependent upon the laws that govern licensed pharmacies and the fulfillment and distribution of prescription medication and other pharmaceutical products, which include in some cases requirements relating to telehealth. Laws and regulations governing the provision of telehealth services and the compounding, fulfillment, and/or distribution of pharmaceutical products are evolving at a rapid pace and are subject to changing political, regulatory, and other influences. Some states’ regulatory agencies or medical boards may have established rules or interpreted existing rules in a manner that limits or restricts providers’ ability to provide telehealth services or for physicians to supervise nurse practitioners remotely. Additionally, there may be limitations placed on the modality through which telehealth services are delivered. For example, some states specifically require synchronous (or “live”) communications and restrict or exclude the use of asynchronous telehealth modalities, which is also known as “store-and-forward” telehealth. However, other states do not distinguish between synchronous and asynchronous telehealth services. Similarly, the FDA as well as some states’ regulatory agencies or pharmacy boards have established rules or interpreted existing rules in a manner that limits or restricts the manner in which prescription medications can be prescribed, dispensed and sold.

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Because these are developing areas of law and regulation, we continually monitor our compliance in every jurisdiction in which we operate. However, we cannot be assured that our or the PMCs’, providers’, or Affiliated Pharmacies’ activities and arrangements, if challenged, will be found to be in compliance with the law or that a new or existing law will not be implemented, enforced, or changed in manner that is unfavorable to our business model. We cannot predict the regulatory landscape for those jurisdictions in which we operate and any significant changes in law, policies, or standards, or the interpretation or enforcement thereof, could occur with little or no notice. If there is a change in laws or regulations related to our business, or the interpretation or enforcement thereof, that adversely affects our structure or operations, including greater restrictions on the use of asynchronous telehealth or remote supervision of nurse practitioners, or limitations on the ability to develop or distribute pharmaceutical products, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property and Legal Proceedings

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be adversely affected.

We depend on our proprietary technology, intellectual property and services for our success and ability to compete. We rely and expect to continue to rely on a combination of confidentiality and other agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties with whom we have relationships and who may have access to confidential or patentable aspects of our research and development output, as well as trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret protection laws, to protect our proprietary rights. Although we enter into these confidentiality and other agreements, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose information before a patent application is filed and jeopardize our ability to seek patent protection. In addition, our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents depends on whether the differences between our inventions and the prior art allow our inventions to be patentable over the prior art. Since publications in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications do not publish until 18 months after filing, we are never certain that we are the first to make the inventions claimed in any of our patents or that we are the first to file for patent protection of such patents. We have filed various applications for certain aspects of our intellectual property in the U.S. and other countries. However, third parties may knowingly or unknowingly infringe our proprietary rights, third parties may challenge proprietary rights held by us, pending and future patent, copyright, trademark and other applications may not be approved and we may not be able to prevent infringement without incurring substantial expense. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent, as do the laws of the U.S.

If the protection of our proprietary rights is inadequate to prevent use or appropriation by third parties, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished and competitors may be able to more effectively mimic our service and methods of operations. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, attempts may be made to copy or reverse engineer aspects of our products or services, or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Accordingly, we may be unable to protect our proprietary rights against unauthorized third party copying or use. Furthermore, policing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property would be difficult for us. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Litigation and/or any of the events above could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial condition and consolidated results of operations.

We may be unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for therapeutic drugs we develop.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the U.S. and other countries for our proprietary therapeutic drugs and other technologies. Since the development of our therapeutic drugs is at an early stage, our intellectual property portfolio is also at an early stage. We have filed and intend to file patent applications. However, there are no assurances that any such patent application will issue as a granted patent. Any failure to file a non-provisional application within one year of a provisional patent application may cause us to lose the ability to obtain patent protection for the inventions disclosed in the provisional patent application.
 

In addition, in some cases, we may not be able to obtain issued claims covering compositions relating to our programs and therapeutic drugs, as well as other technologies important to our business. Instead, we may rely on

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patent applications covering a method of use and/or method of manufacture for protection of such programs and therapeutic drugs. There is no assurance that any such patent application will issue as a granted patent, and even if they are granted, the claims may not be sufficient to prevent third parties from utilizing our technology. Any failure to obtain or maintain patent protection with respect to our programs and therapeutic drugs could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

We may be unable to obtain sufficiently broad protection, or we may lose patent protection.

As patent prosecution of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions, and has been the subject of litigation in recent years, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in granted patents that protect our drugs or technologies which would render us unable to prevent others from commercializing competitive drugs or technologies. The coverage of patent claims may be significantly reduced during patent prosecution before the patent is granted and the scope can also be reinterpreted after grant, which may not provide us meaningful protection, may not allow us to exclude competitors or may not provide us with any competitive advantage.

Litigation with respect to our intellectual property rights or our commercial activities could result in unanticipated expenses and, if resolved unfavorably, could harm our business.

Companies in the genetics, pharmaceutical, medical device, Internet, technology, and online payment industries own large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets and frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. We have, in the past, received notice from patent holders and other parties alleging that we have infringed their intellectual property rights. As we face increasing competition and become increasingly high profile, the possibility of intellectual property rights claims against us grows. Our technologies and services may not be able to withstand any third-party claims or rights against their use. We may in the future be subject to litigation on the foregoing grounds or other grounds. The costs of supporting such litigation are considerable, and there can be no assurances that a favorable outcome will be obtained. We may be required to settle such litigation on terms that are unfavorable to us. Similarly, if any litigation to which we may be a party fails to settle and we go to trial, we may be subject to an unfavorable judgment, which may not be reversible upon appeal. The terms of such a settlement or judgment may require us to cease some or all of our operations or require the payment of substantial amounts to the other party.

With respect to any intellectual property rights claim, we may have to seek a license to continue practices found to be in violation of a third party's rights, which may not be available on reasonable terms and may significantly increase our operating expenses. A license to continue such practices may not be available to us at all. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology or practices or discontinue such practices. The development of alternative non-infringing technology or practices could require significant effort and expense. Our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected as a result.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on our products and services in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S., and we may encounter difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the U.S., or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the U.S. or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the U.S. These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

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Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of many other countries do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents in such countries. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

Changes in patent law in the U.S. and other jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products and services.

Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the U.S. or other countries or regions may diminish the value of our intellectual property. We cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third-party patents. In the U.S., prior to March 16, 2013, assuming that other requirements for patentability were satisfied, the first to invent the claimed invention was entitled to the patent, while outside the U.S., the first to file a patent application was entitled to the patent. On or after March 16, 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“America Invents Act”), enacted on September 16, 2011, the U.S. transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that other requirements for patentability are satisfied, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third party was the first to invent the claimed invention. As such, a third party that files a patent application in the USPTO before us could be awarded a patent covering an invention of ours even if we had made the invention before it was made by such third party. This will require us 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, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to either file any patent application related to our products or services or invent any of the inventions claimed in our or our licensor’s patents or patent applications.

The America Invents 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 our 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 America Invents Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our owned or in-licensed patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our owned or in-licensed issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have also narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened 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 decisions by the U.S. 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 our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.

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Issued patents covering our products and services could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability and some of our patents or patent applications, including licensed patents, may be challenged, in courts or patent offices in the U.S. and abroad. We or our collaborators may be subject to a third-party preissuance submission of prior art to the USPTO or be involved in opposition, derivation, revocation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference or other similar proceedings challenging our or our collaborators’ patent rights. An adverse decision in any such submission, proceeding, or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate or render unenforceable, such patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our drugs or other technologies 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. Additionally, if we and our licensing partners initiate or become involved in legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our products or technologies, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product is invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the U.S., 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 patent eligible subject matter, lack of novelty, obviousness or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. In addition, the U.S. now awards patent priority to the first party to file a patent application, and others may submit patent claims covering our inventions prior to us. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. A successful third-party challenge to our patents could result in the unenforceability or invalidity of such patents, which could have a material adverse impact on our business. Furthermore, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future products and services.

We may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our drug pipeline, products and services. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the U.S. and other jurisdictions are typically not published until approximately 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not until such patent applications issue as patents. We might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and we might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions. To determine the priority of these inventions, we may have to participate in interference proceedings, derivation proceedings or other post-grant proceedings declared by the USPTO. The outcome of such proceedings is uncertain, and other patent applications may have priority over our patent applications. Such proceedings could also result in substantial costs to us and divert our management’s attention and resources.

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

We employ, and expect to employ in the future, individuals who were previously employed at universities or other companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers or other third parties, or to claims that we have improperly used or obtained such trade secrets. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could adversely impact our business. A loss of key research personnel work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize potential products and services, which could harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

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We may not be able to protect and enforce our trademarks.

We have not yet registered certain of our trademarks in all of our potential markets, although we have registered 23andMe, and other 23andMe logos and product and service names in the U.S., the EU and a number of other countries and are seeking to register additional trademarks. As we apply to register our unregistered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries, our applications may not be allowed for registration in a timely fashion or at all, and our registered trademarks may not be maintained or enforced. In addition, opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademark applications and registrations, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. In certain countries outside of the U.S., trademark registration is required to enforce trademark rights. If we do not secure registrations for our trademarks, we may encounter more difficulty in enforcing them against third parties than we otherwise would.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.

We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. Ownership disputes may arise, for example, from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants or others who are involved in developing our future products and services.

Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims by a third party challenging inventorship of our or our licensors’ ownership of our owned or in-licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property. If we or our licensors 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, intellectual property that is important to our product or services. Alternatively, we may need to obtain one or more additional licenses from the third party which will be time-consuming and expensive and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

If we become involved in patent litigation or other proceedings related to a determination of rights, we could incur substantial costs and expenses, substantial liability for damages or be required to stop our development and commercialization efforts of our products and services.

There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the U.S., involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the life sciences, clinical diagnostics and drug discovery industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, declaratory judgment litigation and adversarial proceedings before the USPTO, including interferences, derivation proceedings, ex parte reexaminations, post-grant review and inter partes review, as well as corresponding proceedings in foreign courts and foreign patent offices.

We may, in the future, become involved with litigation or actions at the USPTO or foreign patent offices with various third parties. We expect that the number of such claims may increase as our industry expands, more patents are issued, the number of products or services increases and the level of competition in our industry increases. Any infringement claim, regardless of its validity, could harm our business by, among other things, resulting in time-consuming and costly litigation, diverting management’s time and attention from the development of our business, requiring the payment of monetary damages (including treble damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses) or royalty payments.

It may be necessary for us to pursue litigation or adversarial proceedings before the patent office to enforce our patent and proprietary rights or to determine the scope, coverage and validity of the proprietary rights of others. The outcome of any such litigation might not be favorable to us, and even if we were to prevail, such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition.

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As we move into new markets and expand our products or services offerings, incumbent participants in such markets may assert their patents and other proprietary rights against us as a means of slowing our entry into such markets or as a means to extract substantial license and royalty payments from us. In addition, future litigation may involve patent holding companies or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant product or service revenue and against whom our own patents may provide little or no deterrence or protection.

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 products, technologies and services may infringe. We cannot be certain that we have identified or addressed all potentially significant third-party patents in advance of an infringement claim being made against us. In addition, similar to what other companies in our industry have experienced, we expect our competitors and others may have patents or may in the future obtain patents and claim that making, having made, using, selling, offering to sell or importing our products or services infringes these patents. Defense of infringement and other claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of management and employee resources from our business. Parties making claims against us may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. Parties making claims against us may be able to obtain injunctive or other relief, which could block our ability to develop, commercialize and sell products or services and could result in the award of substantial damages against us, including treble damages, attorney’s fees, costs and expenses if we are found to have willfully infringed. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be required to pay damages and ongoing royalties and obtain one or more licenses from third parties, or be prohibited from selling certain products or services. We may not be able to obtain these licenses on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or these licenses may be non-exclusive, which could result in our competitors gaining access to the same intellectual property. In addition, we could encounter delays in product or service introductions while we attempt to develop alternative products or services to avoid infringing third-party patents or proprietary rights. Defense of any lawsuit or failure to obtain any of these licenses could prevent us from commercializing products or services, and the prohibition of sale of any of our products or services could materially affect our business and our ability to gain market acceptance for our products or services.

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

In addition, our agreements with some of our customers, patients, suppliers or other entities with whom we do business require us to defend or indemnify these parties to the extent they become involved in infringement claims, including the types of claims described above. We could also voluntarily agree to defend or indemnify third parties in instances where we are not obligated to do so if we determine it would be important to our business relationships. If we are required or agree to defend or indemnify third parties in connection with any infringement claims, we could incur significant costs and expenses that could adversely affect our business, operating results or financial condition.

Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our products and services for an adequate amount of time.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the U.S., if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our products and services are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition from competitive products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new products and services, patents protecting such products and services might expire before or shortly after such products and services are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

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We may not obtain patent term extension and data exclusivity for our drugs.

Depending upon the timing, duration and details of any FDA marketing approval of any drugs, our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (Hatch-Waxman Act), which permits a maximum of 5 years of patent term extension to account for patent term lost during FDA regulatory review. The extended patent term must not extend 14 years beyond the date of product approval, and may be used to extend only one patent and may be only used to extend a patent with claims covering the approved drug, a method of using it or a method of manufacturing the drug. Similar extensions are available in other foreign jurisdictions outside of the U.S., such as Supplemental Patent Certificates in Europe. Such extensions may not be granted in situations where there is a failure to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review phase, failure to apply within the deadline, failure to apply prior to expiration of the relevant patent, or failure to satisfy the applicable requirements. In addition, the term of patent extension that is granted may be less than is requested. Failure to obtain patent term extension, allows our competitors to obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and may harm our business and financial and growth prospects.

We may not be successful in obtaining, through acquisitions or otherwise, accessory rights to our drugs.

As other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and academic entities are competing with us, they may have patents or have filed and are likely filing patent applications potentially relevant to our business. We may find it necessary to obtain licenses to such patents from such third parties to avoid infringing on these third-party patents. The licensing of these third-party patents may be competitive and if we are unable to successfully obtain such rights, we may have to abandon development of the drug which may affect our business and financial and growth prospects.

We utilize open source software, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary software and source code.

We use open source software in our proprietary software and will use open source software in the future. Companies that incorporate open source software into their proprietary software and products have, from time to time, faced claims challenging the use of open source software and compliance with open source license terms. Some licenses governing the use of open source software contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. By the terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, and to make our proprietary software available under open source licenses to third parties at no cost, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in certain manners. Although we monitor our use of open source software, we cannot assure you that all open source software is reviewed prior to use in our software, that our developers have not incorporated open source software into our proprietary software, or that they will not do so in the future. Additionally, the terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts. There is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market or provide our proprietary software. Companies that incorporate open source software into their products have, in the past, faced claims seeking enforcement of open source license provisions and claims asserting ownership of open source software incorporated into their proprietary software. If an author or other third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we have not complied with the conditions of an open source license, we could incur significant legal costs defending ourselves against such allegations. In the event such claims were successful, we could be subject to significant damages or be enjoined from the distribution of our proprietary software. In addition, the terms of open source software licenses may require us to provide software that we develop using such open source software to others on unfavorable license terms. As a result of our current or future use of open source software, we may face claims or litigation, be required to release our proprietary source code, pay damages for breach of contract, re-engineer our proprietary software, discontinue making our proprietary software available in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis, discontinue certain aspects or functionality of our PGS, or take other remedial action. Any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts could require significant additional research and development resources, and we may not be able to successfully complete any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts. Further, in addition to risks related to license requirements, use of certain open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Risks Relating to Financial Reporting and Results of Operations

A material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting was identified as of March 31, 2020 and 2021, and remains unremediated at March 31, 2022. If our remediation of this material weakness is not effective, or if we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, our ability to produce accurate and timely consolidated financial statements could be impaired. This could adversely affect investor confidence in the Company and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.

A material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting was identified as of March 31, 2020 and 2021, and remains unremediated at March 31, 2022. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weakness identified was a lack of sufficient resources in our finance function to meet our financial reporting requirements. This material weakness resulted in insufficient management review of journal entries, account reconciliations, and review of financial statements. Management continues to review and make necessary changes to the overall design of our internal control environment, including implementing additional internal controls over journal entries, account reconciliation and the review of financial statements. We are in the process of adding additional resources to our finance function to enhance the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting. The material weakness will not be considered remediated until the applicable remedial controls operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively. Although we plan to complete this remediation process as quickly as possible, we cannot estimate at this time how long it will take.

Additionally, as discussed elsewhere in this Form 10-K, we completed the Business Combination on June 16, 2021. Prior to the Business Combination, we were a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. As a result, previously existing internal controls are no longer applicable or comprehensive enough as of the assessment date, as our operations prior to the Business Combination were insignificant compared to those of the consolidated entity post-Business Combination. The design and implementation of internal control over financial reporting post-Business Combinations has required and will continue to require significant time and resources from management and other personnel. Because of this, the design and ongoing development of our framework for implementation and evaluation of internal control over financial reporting is in its preliminary stages. As a result, management was unable, without incurring unreasonable effort or expense, to conduct an assessment of our internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2022. Accordingly, we are excluding management’s report on internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 215.02 of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s Regulation S-K Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations. See Item 9A, Controls and Procedures, of this Annual Report for more information.

Failure to maintain effective internal control over our financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect. In addition, if we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide an attestation and an unqualified report as to the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, investors might lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of our securities.

Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly.

Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly due to seasonality and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, including negative publicity relating to our products and services, changes on customer and patient preferences, and competitive conditions, resulting in a decline in the price of our Class A common stock. Any fluctuation in our operating results, especially if below the expectations of securities analysts, could adversely affect the market price of our securities. Any reduction in the market price of our securities could make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of shares of Class A common stock or other securities.

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Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards may be subject to limitations.

As of March 31, 2022, we had approximately $1.0 billion of federal net operating loss carryforwards available to reduce future taxable income, which will begin to expire in 2026. Realization of any tax benefit from our carryforwards is dependent on our ability to generate future taxable income and the absence of certain “ownership changes” of our Class A common stock. An “ownership change,” as defined in the applicable federal income tax rules, could place significant limitations, on an annual basis, on the amount of our future taxable income that may be offset by our carryforwards. Such limitations, in conjunction with the net operating loss expiration provisions, could effectively eliminate our ability to utilize a substantial portion of our carryforwards. We have conducted a study as of March 31, 2022 and determined that no “ownership change” has occurred.

We have incurred significant losses since inception, we expect to incur losses in the future, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and maintain profitability.

We have incurred significant losses since our inception. For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we incurred net losses of $217.5 million, $183.6 million and $250.9 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $1.2 billion. We expect to incur substantial operating losses in future periods.

We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future as we continue to expand therapeutic research and development efforts, develop drugs with collaborators or on our own, enhance our existing consumer products, services and business model, broaden our customer base, work with the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and hire additional employees to support our growth. Historically, we have devoted most of our financial resources to the research and development of our PGS, as well as our Therapeutics business, which we launched in April 2015. The discovery and development of safe and effective therapies is a complex and uncertain process, which takes many years and involves significant costs. We may not succeed in increasing our revenues, which historically have been reliant on sales of our PGS, in a manner that will be sufficient to offset these higher expenses. Any failure to increase our revenues as we implement initiatives to grow our business could prevent us from achieving profitability. We cannot be certain that we will be able to achieve profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. If we are unable to address these risks and difficulties as we encounter them, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.

We have incurred and will continue to incur increased costs as a result of being a public company.

As a public company, we are subject to enhanced internal controls standards have incurred and will continue to incur increased legal, accounting, insurance and other costs not incurred as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq regulate the corporate governance practices of public companies. Compliance with these requirements has increased and will continue increase our expenses and make some activities more time-consuming than they have been in the past when we were a private company. Such additional costs going forward could negatively affect our financial results.

Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S.

Generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SEC, and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. Any change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.

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We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance, and public disclosure that have increased our costs and the risk of non-compliance.

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention.

Moreover, because these laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

Risks Related to Acquisitions

We face additional risks as a result of the Lemonaid Acquisition and may be unable to integrate our businesses successfully and realize the anticipated synergies and related benefits of the Lemonaid Acquisition or do so within the anticipated timeframe.

On November 1, 2021, we completed our acquisition of Lemonaid Health. As a result of the Lemonaid Acquisition, we face various additional risks, including, among others, the following:

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Our ability to execute all such plans will depend on various factors, many of which remain outside our control. Any of these risks could adversely affect our business and financial results.

The process of integrating Lemonaid Health’s operations into our operations could result in unforeseen operating difficulties and require significant resources.

The following factors, among others, could reduce our revenues and earnings, increase our operating costs, and result in a loss of projected synergies:

The process of integrating Lemonaid Health and its associated services and technologies involves numerous risks that could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or stock price.

The following factors, among others, could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or stock price:

Notwithstanding the due diligence investigation we performed in connection with the Lemonaid Acquisition, Lemonaid Health may have liabilities, losses, or other exposures for which we do not have adequate insurance coverage, indemnification, or other protection.

While we performed significant due diligence on Lemonaid Health prior to signing the Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (the “Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement”), dated as of October 21, 2021, by and among 23andMe, Life Merger Sub One, Inc., Life Merger Sub Two, Inc., Lemonaid Health, and Fortis Advisors LLC, in its capacity as representative of the Indemnifying Parties (as defined in the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement), we are dependent on the accuracy and completeness of statements and disclosures made or actions taken by Lemonaid Health and its representatives in connection with our due diligence investigation and our evaluation of the results of such due diligence. We did not control and may be unaware of activities of Lemonaid Health before the Lemonaid Acquisition, including intellectual property and other litigation or disputes, information security vulnerabilities, violations of laws, policies, rules and regulations, commercial disputes, tax liabilities, and other liabilities.

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Our post-closing recourse is limited under the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement.

Our remedies for breaches of representations and warranties under the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement are limited to recoveries under the representation and warranty policy described below and the indemnification provisions of the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement. The Indemnifying Parties’ (as defined in the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement) obligations to indemnify us are limited to, among others, breaches of specified representations and warranties and covenants included in the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement and other specific indemnities as set forth in the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement. In the event of a breach of a representation or warranty, we cannot recover in respect of a claim for indemnification pursuant to the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement unless and until the indemnifiable losses exceed $2,000,000 (the “Deductible”), which is the portion of the retention amount under the representation and warranty insurance policy referenced below, for which we are responsible. Additionally, we may not recover losses for breaches of certain representations and warranties from the former stockholders of Lemonaid in excess of $2,000,000 (except as otherwise specified below), which is the portion of the retention amount for which the former stockholders of Lemonaid provide indemnification (the “Cap”). The Deductible and the Cap do not apply to indemnification claims based on breaches of Fundamental Representations or Fraud (each as defined in the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement) or to other specific indemnities; furthermore, the Cap does not apply to indemnification claims based on breaches of Specified Representations (as defined in the Lemonaid Health Merger Agreement) or to other specific indemnities.

We cannot make an indemnification claim against the Indemnifying Parties for a breach of a representation or warranty after the date that is 18 months after the date of closing of the Lemonaid Acquisition (the “Closing”), other than claims based on breaches of Fundamental Representations, which survive until 6 years after the Closing, and claims based on breaches of Specified Representations, which survive until 30 months after the Closing.

We obtained a representation and warranty insurance policy to insure against certain losses arising from breaches of, or inaccuracies in, the representations and warranties of Lemonaid Health. The policy is subject to a retention amount of $4 million, as referenced above, as well as to exclusions, policy limits, and certain other terms and conditions.

If any issues arise post-closing, we may not be entitled to sufficient, or any, indemnification or recourse from the Indemnifying Parties or pursuant to the representation and warranty insurance policy, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

Our corporate headquarters was previously located in Sunnyvale, California and consisted of approximately 154,987 square feet of space under a lease that expires on July 31, 2031. Effective April 1, 2022, we relocated our corporate headquarters to South San Francisco, California. This location consists of approximately 65,340 square feet of space under a lease that expires on January 31, 2025. We use these facilities for communications, engineering, finance, healthcare operations, information technology and security, legal, marketing, human resources, product, research and science, supply chain, and other administrative functions. We also conduct our therapeutics research and development in our laboratory facilities located in the South San Francisco location.

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we are party to litigation and subject to claims incident to the ordinary course of business. As our growth continues, we may become party to an increasing number of litigation matters and claims. The outcome of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, and the resolution of these matters could materially affect our future results of operations, cash flows, or financial position. We are not presently party to any legal proceedings that, in the opinion of management, if determined adversely to us, would individually or taken together have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, or cash flows.

As previously disclosed, on December 10, 2019, Celmatix Inc. (“Celmatix”) filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against us (Index No. 657329/2019) asserting claims against us for breach of contract and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and tortious interference with contract and prospective economic advantage, alleging damages that, according to the compliant, plaintiff “believed to be in excess of $100 million.” On February 14, 2020, we filed its answer, denying all of the material allegations of the complaint and asserting counterclaims against Celmatix for breach of contract. Celmatix amended its complaint on July 13, 2021, asserting an additional claim against us for fraudulent inducement of contract. On July 19, 2021, we filed its answer to the amended complaint, denying all of the material allegations and asserting a counterclaim and an additional defense of fraudulent inducement of contract. On October 29, 2021, both parties made motions for partial summary judgment in their favor. Briefing of the parties’ respective motions was completed in December 2021. On March 30, 2022, both parties agreed to a settlement, pursuant to which we made a payment of $10.0 million net of insurance coverage and all claims and counter-claims were released. The parties filed a Stipulation of Dismissal and Discontinuance with Prejudice on April 22, 2022. On April 25, 2022, the presiding judge entered an order noting that the motions for summary judgment are moot, canceling all future appearances and marking the case as disposed.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our Class A common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “ME”.

Holders

As of May 20, 2022, there were 219 holders of record of our Class A common stock and 140 holders of record of our Class B common stock. Because many of our shares of Class A common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders. However, we believe a substantially greater number of beneficial owners hold shares of Class A common stock through brokers, banks, or other nominees.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our Class A common stock to date. The payment of any cash dividends is within the discretion of our Board and our Board does not currently contemplate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.

Stock Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total return to stockholders on our Class A common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 Index, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index, and the Russell 2000 Index. An investment of $100 (with reinvestment of all dividends) is assumed to have been made in our Class A common stock and in each index on June 17, 2021, the date our Class A common stock began trading on the Nasdaq, and its relative performance is tracked through March 31, 2022. The returns shown are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance.

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Item 6. [Reserved]

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis provides information that management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of our consolidated results of operations and financial condition. You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K. This section of the Form 10-K generally discusses fiscal 2022 and 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2022 and 2021, as well as certain fiscal 2020 items. Discussions of fiscal 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 21, 2021, including the audited consolidated financial statements of 23andMe, Inc. as of March 31, 2021 and 2020 filed as Exhibit 99.1 thereto and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included therein.

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to 23andMe Holding Co., a Delaware corporation formerly known as VG Acquisition Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries. References to VG Acquisition Corp. or “VGAC” refer to the Company prior to the consummation of the Business Combination.

Overview

23andMe Holding Co., formerly known as VG Acquisition Corp., is a mission-driven company dedicated to empowering customers to live healthier lives. Our mission is to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome.

We pioneered direct-to-customer genetic testing through our PGS products and services. Our PGS business provides customers with a full suite of genetic reports, including information on customers’ genetic ancestral origins, personal genetic health risks, and chances of passing on certain rare carrier conditions to their children, as well as reports on how genetics can affect responses to medications. We believe that by providing customers with direct access to their genetic information, we can empower them to make better decisions by arming them with information about their risks of developing certain diseases or conditions and by highlighting opportunities for prevention and mitigation of disease. We provide customers with an engaging experience, including access to frequent updates to their genetic health and ancestry reports and new product features, the ability to connect with genetic relatives, and a subscription option for extended health insights. Customers have the option to participate in our research programs and over 80% of our customers have done so. We analyze consenting customers’ genotypic data together with phenotypic data they provide to us concerning their physical characteristics, family origins, lifestyle, and other habits. We analyze this data using our proprietary machine learning and other analytic techniques in order to discover insights into whether and how particular genetic variants affect the likelihood of individuals developing specific diseases. These insights may highlight opportunities to develop a drug to treat or cure a specific disease.

We completed our acquisition of Lemonaid Health on November 1, 2021. Lemonaid Health, an on-demand platform for accessing medical care and pharmacy services online, offers telemedicine, lab, and pharmacy services to patients in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.K. We believe that the addition of Lemonaid Health's telehealth services to our consumer business will enable us to bring better healthcare to individuals in an affordable and accessible way and offer personalized healthcare, based on a patient’s wellness, choices, and genetics.

Our Therapeutics business focuses on the use of genetic insights to validate and develop novel therapies to improve patients’ lives. We currently have research programs across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases. In July 2018, we signed an exclusive agreement with GSK to leverage genetic insights to validate, develop, and commercialize promising drugs. This multi-year collaboration is expected to identify and prioritize genetically validated drug targets, enable rapid progression of clinical programs, and bring useful new drugs to market. In addition to our collaboration with GSK, we have several proprietary programs, one of which is being pursued in collaboration with Almirall, S.A.

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Our second most advanced program, 23ME-00610, is an antibody that blocks the suppression of T-cells by tumors and reactivates their immune response. 23ME-00610 is wholly owned by the Company, and this program entered Phase 1 clinical trials in January 2022. Following the expiration of the GSK Agreement, we will have the opportunity to collaborate with, or out-license other wholly owned programs to third parties or to develop them independently.

We operate in two reporting segments: Consumer & Research Services and Therapeutics. The Consumer & Research Services segment consists of our PGS and telehealth business, as well as research services that we perform under agreements with third parties, including the GSK Agreement, relating to the use of our genotypic and phenotypic data to identify promising drug targets. The Therapeutics segment consists of revenues from the out-licensing of intellectual property associated with identified drug targets and expenses related to therapeutic product candidates under clinical development. For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, substantially all our revenues were derived from our Consumer & Research Services segment.

The table below reflects our revenue for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022 and 2021:

The table below reflects our two segments’ Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below) for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2022 and 2021: